canada-revenues

Random Ramblings on Canadian Revenues 1868 -1897

By John Hillson F.C.P.S.

If one had been there to attend any of the philatelic exhibitions around the turn of the last century one might have been surprised to discover just how many exhibits were devoted to revenue stamps which at that time enjoyed almost as much popularity as postage stamps. However this situation did not last and collecting them went into decline. Surprising in some ways as governments were never tempted to regard revenue stamp collectors as milch-cows in the way that postage stamps collectors are. Moreover the production values and designs were at least the equal of, and at times surpassed their more popular brethren.

Revenue stamps were, and are, a basic way of collecting various forms of tax. It was the imposition of ‘Stamp Duty’ - I.e. tax ‘without representation’ that triggered the American War of Independence. You dear reader, maybe too young to remember when cheque books were charged for, each cheque having a 2d. tax stamp impressed on it, and when every receipt, however trivial, would have a two penny postage - and revenue, stamp stuck on it and duly pen cancelled.

In Canada, stamps never served the dual purpose of postage and revenue as did the stamps of Great Britain, even in Colonial times. This meant that quite different stamps were produced to take care of each function. It has been alleged by some that the printers awarded the contract for both during the period under discussion, the British American Bank Note Company, were more anxious to secure the contract for revenue work rather than for postage stamps and their determination over thirty years to hang on to the latter, come hell or high water, was because of the lucrative revenue work. This may or may not be true; I suspect the argument has been overstated, particularly when one remembers the rapid expansion of postal business during those three decades.

My interest in Canadian Federal revenues was sparked because I thought their study might throw further light on the progression of events that occurred in production of the Small Queen postage stamps, my main field of study. I am not sure as things are turning out that was entirely wise as you will find below when perforations are discussed!

In 1868 what is known as the Third Bill Issue made its debut. The design is based on a photograph of Queen Victoria sitting a at table taken probably a year or two beforehand. Some time ago I tried to discover who took the original photo, and when an item came up in an American auction of the Queen sitting facing right, described as a die essay I bid for it in the hope that having the whole picture rather than just the head and shoulders of the stamp design, which faces left, would help me to track down the photographer. I was lucky - actually very lucky - in securing the item [Fig 1] as neither the previous owner, nor the auctioneer, nor I had recognised it for what it actually is, that is the centrepiece of the well known Sample Sheet of 1869 when the BABNCo showed all its postage and revenue stamp designs in one go, which I only realised when looking at a photocopy of the sheet. However, as to the photographer, neither the National Portrait Gallery nor the keeper of Royal Portraits at Windsor Castle could positively identify the individual, but felt it was probably the work of either W. & D. Downey or of John Edwin Mayall who in 1863 had taken a somewhat similar portrait of the Queen sitting at a spinning wheel. In his book ‘The Royal Image: a classification of British Royal portraits on stamps’ Louis E. Young had suggested that it was the work of ‘Hill and Saunders’. However the firm of Hills and Saunders (the correct name of the firm) is unknown before 1869, and since the photograph must have been taken by 1867 at the latest, they can be discounted.

fig 1

Incidentally the lot was described as an ‘engraved die essay’ - when I received it my first thought was that it was itself a photograph! No it isn’t, the engraving is superb and indicative of the extremely high quality of the work the printers were, and are, capable of.

As stated, the designs of the Bill Issue, of which there are three, were based on this portrait but with the Queen facing to the left instead of to the right. There was one design for the low values, 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 8c, 9c; one the middle values - 10c, 20c, 30c, 40c, and 50c, and a third the three $1 values which were bi-coloured. The fiscal charge for cheques and promissory notes was 3c per $100 or part thereof. In 1893 two postage stamps (SG 115/116) were issued in the same design as the middle values with only the wording changed at the top from ‘CANADA BILL STAMP’ to ‘CANADA POSTAGE’. We know that in fact the master dies of the 20c & 50c Bill Stamps were used to produce the dies for the postage stamps because in the right hand bottom corner, just outside the design, is a mark on the 50c Bill Stamp which is found on the postage stamp also [fig 2] - there is no such mark on the two 20c. stamps.

fig 2

Sheets and Imprints

The stamps were printed in sheets of 100 arranged 10 x 10 with a counter in the top selvage which indicated the value of each stamp. On either side of this was placed the Type IV imprint [fig 3], and there were two other imprints in the bottom selvage directly below those on the top.

fig 3

For fig 3 Full size click here

Colours. 10c to 50c were all printed in blue; the 1c, 4c & 8c were brown, the 2c, 5c & 7c were orange, and the 3c, 6c and 9c were printed in green. The $1 was blue with the vignette in black, the $2 was red and the $3 green, again both with black vignettes [fig 4]. It can be seen that bi-coloured revenue stamps were printed long before the first bi-coloured Canadian postage stamp which did not appear until 1952. Indeed even the preceding provincial revenues of 1865, the 2^nd Bill Issue had high value bi-coloured stamps.

fig 4

Varieties

The Two Cents is known in an error of colour, brown instead of orange, and shown [fig 5] is a never-hinged block of four which is possibly the only one known.

fig 5 fig 6

The 1c exists imperforate, 2c imperforate between pair, the 3c imperforate between vertical pair as well as imperforate all round [fig 6], the 6c is also known imperforate between vertical pair, the 5c imperforate at the left and imperforate horizontally between vertical pair on the left [fig 7], and the 4c is known imperforate on the left and imperforate on the right. Of the higher values the 20c and 30c can be found imperforate on the left, additionally one vertically imperforate pair of the20c. is known. The $1 comes imperforate [fig 8].

fig 7 fig 8

Two main types of paper were used, the medium to thick wove familiar to collectors of early Canadian postage stamps, and pelure paper, sometimes known as ‘onionskin’ paper because of its translucence. On rare occasions the odd sheet found its way on to the pile used for postage stamps; since 1965 when I got serious about the Small Queen issue I have managed to find just one, a 6c. Small Queen from the late Montreal printing period [fig 9]. Revenue stamps on pelure are much more readily available. However, both the 3c and 6c exist on the famous Bothwell watermarked paper [fig 10].

fig 9

fig 10

This watermark which read ‘E & G BOTHWELL CLUTHA MILLS’ in two lines and in double lined letters, extended over the middle twenty stamps, both of the Large Queens, with which it is associated, and of these two revenues on which it has been found. It was a made up trademark of the Edinburgh firm of paper merchants, Andrew Whyte and Sons who had a warehouse in Bothwell St. Glasgow. Clutha is the old British name for the River Clyde. The paper was actually made by Messrs. W. & J. Somerville of Bitton Mills, Gloucester. A glance at the catalogue will show how pricey watermarked the Large Queens of 1868 are. Watermarked 3^rd Bill are of a similar scarcity to the Half Cent Large Queen. Luckily they do not command anything like the price.

Perforations

Here I confess I ran into difficulty. It is not unreasonable to assume the pattern followed those of the Large and in turn the Small Queens. Well sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t! Take Perforation 11 ¾ which is the normal perforation for nearly all Small Queens of the 1^st Ottawa period - or actually just above it on the old accurate thick plastic Instanta which measures up to 16 gauge only. I assumed that Revenues measuring thus must be from the same period -1870 - 1872, or very early 1873. Documents with these revenues on them tend to be dated somewhat later - well into the Montreal period in fact. So it raises the intriguing possibility that one perforator gauging thus at least was reserved for use on the Revenues after the move to Montreal and had not been retired due to wear. Assuming there were two, one for the sides, the other for the tops and bottoms, the second one continue to be used for postage stamps for about a couple of years after the move - early Montreal catalogued as gauging 11 ½ x 12 actually gauge 11 ½ x 11 ¾ but don’t tell the catalogue editor as we don’t want him upset. On the other hand a revenue gauging 11 ¾ x 12 , (which seems to have been confined to postage stamps in 1877 only), is dated 1877 as one would expect. There seems to be scope for further study here.

At the beginning of the article it was mentioned that in Canada stamps either had a postal use, or a revenue use, but never both. But it did happen that on occasion a postage stamp was incorrectly used on a promissory note as for example the 6c Small Queen [fig 11].

fig 11

And sometimes a Bill stamp was used in lieu of a postage stamp without attracting the wrath of the postal authorities [fig 12] in the form of a payment of double the deficiency being demanded from the poor recipient.

fig 12

[Showing reuse of fiscal with cancel still evident].

Indeed in the case of the trans Atlantic cover shown in fig 11 even the British postal authorities did not always spot the error. Perhaps they were confused! Both events are rare.

So what else came to the printers with the government contract? Naturally there was excise levied on tea. And tobacco. And booze. And the inspection of gas appliances, electric equipment, and checking the accuracy of scales. Just to go on with [figs 13 and 14].

fig 13 fig 14

My own favorite are the tobacco stamps which in my view are the most beautiful productions of the period. Two are illustrated, the Cavendish stamp which came in blue and in black and which were packed in exactly 10lb lots [fig 15], and one of the general stamps which range from 15lb to 100lb, plus coupons for odd amounts over, and which were printed in both blue and green [fig 16]. It is said that it took up to eighteen months just to make a plate for each one of these. Looking at them that is no surprise.

fig 15

fig 16

	home Random Ramblings on Canadian Revenues 1868 -1897 By John Hillson F.C.P.S. If one had been there to attend any of the philatelic exhibitions around the turn of the last century one might have been surprised to discover just how many exhibits were devoted to revenue stamps which at that time enjoyed almost as much popularity as postage stamps. However this situation did not last and collecting them went into decline. Surprising in some ways as governments were never tempted to regard revenue stamp collectors as milch-cows in the way that postage stamps collectors are. Moreover the production values and designs were at least the equal of, and at times surpassed their more popular brethren. Revenue stamps were, and are, a basic way of collecting various forms of tax. It was the imposition of ‘Stamp Duty’ - I.e. tax ‘without representation’ that triggered the American War of Independence. You dear reader, maybe too young to remember when cheque books were charged for, each cheque having a 2d. tax stamp impressed on it, and when every receipt, however trivial, would have a two penny postage - and revenue, stamp stuck on it and duly pen cancelled. In Canada, stamps never served the dual purpose of postage and revenue as did the stamps of Great Britain, even in Colonial times. This meant that quite different stamps were produced to take care of each function. It has been alleged by some that the printers awarded the contract for both during the period under discussion, the British American Bank Note Company, were more anxious to secure the contract for revenue work rather than for postage stamps and their determination over thirty years to hang on to the latter, come hell or high water, was because of the lucrative revenue work. This may or may not be true; I suspect the argument has been overstated, particularly when one remembers the rapid expansion of postal business during those three decades. My interest in Canadian Federal revenues was sparked because I thought their study might throw further light on the progression of events that occurred in production of the Small Queen postage stamps, my main field of study. I am not sure as things are turning out that was entirely wise as you will find below when perforations are discussed! In 1868 what is known as the Third Bill Issue made its debut. The design is based on a photograph of Queen Victoria sitting a at table taken probably a year or two beforehand. Some time ago I tried to discover who took the original photo, and when an item came up in an American auction of the Queen sitting facing right, described as a die essay I bid for it in the hope that having the whole picture rather than just the head and shoulders of the stamp design, which faces left, would help me to track down the photographer. I was lucky - actually very lucky - in securing the item [Fig 1] as neither the previous owner, nor the auctioneer, nor I had recognised it for what it actually is, that is the centrepiece of the well known Sample Sheet of 1869 when the BABNCo showed all its postage and revenue stamp designs in one go, which I only realised when looking at a photocopy of the sheet. However, as to the photographer, neither the National Portrait Gallery nor the keeper of Royal Portraits at Windsor Castle could positively identify the individual, but felt it was probably the work of either W. & D. Downey or of John Edwin Mayall who in 1863 had taken a somewhat similar portrait of the Queen sitting at a spinning wheel. In his book ‘The Royal Image: a classification of British Royal portraits on stamps’ Louis E. Young had suggested that it was the work of ‘Hill and Saunders’. However the firm of Hills and Saunders (the correct name of the firm) is unknown before 1869, and since the photograph must have been taken by 1867 at the latest, they can be discounted. fig 1 Incidentally the lot was described as an ‘engraved die essay’ - when I received it my first thought was that it was itself a photograph! No it isn’t, the engraving is superb and indicative of the extremely high quality of the work the printers were, and are, capable of. As stated, the designs of the Bill Issue, of which there are three, were based on this portrait but with the Queen facing to the left instead of to the right. There was one design for the low values, 1c, 2c, 3c, 4c, 5c, 6c, 8c, 9c; one the middle values - 10c, 20c, 30c, 40c, and 50c, and a third the three $1 values which were bi-coloured. The fiscal charge for cheques and promissory notes was 3c per $100 or part thereof. In 1893 two postage stamps (SG 115/116) were issued in the same design as the middle values with only the wording changed at the top from ‘CANADA BILL STAMP’ to ‘CANADA POSTAGE’. We know that in fact the master dies of the 20c & 50c Bill Stamps were used to produce the dies for the postage stamps because in the right hand bottom corner, just outside the design, is a mark on the 50c Bill Stamp which is found on the postage stamp also [fig 2] - there is no such mark on the two 20c. stamps. fig 2 Sheets and Imprints The stamps were printed in sheets of 100 arranged 10 x 10 with a counter in the top selvage which indicated the value of each stamp. On either side of this was placed the Type IV imprint [fig 3], and there were two other imprints in the bottom selvage directly below those on the top. fig 3 For fig 3 Full size click here Colours. 10c to 50c were all printed in blue; the 1c, 4c & 8c were brown, the 2c, 5c & 7c were orange, and the 3c, 6c and 9c were printed in green. The $1 was blue with the vignette in black, the $2 was red and the $3 green, again both with black vignettes [fig 4]. It can be seen that bi-coloured revenue stamps were printed long before the first bi-coloured Canadian postage stamp which did not appear until 1952. Indeed even the preceding provincial revenues of 1865, the 2^nd Bill Issue had high value bi-coloured stamps. fig 4 Varieties The Two Cents is known in an error of colour, brown instead of orange, and shown [fig 5] is a never-hinged block of four which is possibly the only one known. fig 5 fig 6 The 1c exists imperforate, 2c imperforate between pair, the 3c imperforate between vertical pair as well as imperforate all round [fig 6], the 6c is also known imperforate between vertical pair, the 5c imperforate at the left and imperforate horizontally between vertical pair on the left [fig 7], and the 4c is known imperforate on the left and imperforate on the right. Of the higher values the 20c and 30c can be found imperforate on the left, additionally one vertically imperforate pair of the20c. is known. The $1 comes imperforate [fig 8]. fig 7 fig 8 Two main types of paper were used, the medium to thick wove familiar to collectors of early Canadian postage stamps, and pelure paper, sometimes known as ‘onionskin’ paper because of its translucence. On rare occasions the odd sheet found its way on to the pile used for postage stamps; since 1965 when I got serious about the Small Queen issue I have managed to find just one, a 6c. Small Queen from the late Montreal printing period [fig 9]. Revenue stamps on pelure are much more readily available. However, both the 3c and 6c exist on the famous Bothwell watermarked paper [fig 10]. fig 9 fig 10 This watermark which read ‘E & G BOTHWELL CLUTHA MILLS’ in two lines and in double lined letters, extended over the middle twenty stamps, both of the Large Queens, with which it is associated, and of these two revenues on which it has been found. It was a made up trademark of the Edinburgh firm of paper merchants, Andrew Whyte and Sons who had a warehouse in Bothwell St. Glasgow. Clutha is the old British name for the River Clyde. The paper was actually made by Messrs. W. & J. Somerville of Bitton Mills, Gloucester. A glance at the catalogue will show how pricey watermarked the Large Queens of 1868 are. Watermarked 3^rd Bill are of a similar scarcity to the Half Cent Large Queen. Luckily they do not command anything like the price. Perforations Here I confess I ran into difficulty. It is not unreasonable to assume the pattern followed those of the Large and in turn the Small Queens. Well sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t! Take Perforation 11 ¾ which is the normal perforation for nearly all Small Queens of the 1^st Ottawa period - or actually just above it on the old accurate thick plastic Instanta which measures up to 16 gauge only. I assumed that Revenues measuring thus must be from the same period -1870 - 1872, or very early 1873. Documents with these revenues on them tend to be dated somewhat later - well into the Montreal period in fact. So it raises the intriguing possibility that one perforator gauging thus at least was reserved for use on the Revenues after the move to Montreal and had not been retired due to wear. Assuming there were two, one for the sides, the other for the tops and bottoms, the second one continue to be used for postage stamps for about a couple of years after the move - early Montreal catalogued as gauging 11 ½ x 12 actually gauge 11 ½ x 11 ¾ but don’t tell the catalogue editor as we don’t want him upset. On the other hand a revenue gauging 11 ¾ x 12 , (which seems to have been confined to postage stamps in 1877 only), is dated 1877 as one would expect. There seems to be scope for further study here. At the beginning of the article it was mentioned that in Canada stamps either had a postal use, or a revenue use, but never both. But it did happen that on occasion a postage stamp was incorrectly used on a promissory note as for example the 6c Small Queen [fig 11]. fig 11 And sometimes a Bill stamp was used in lieu of a postage stamp without attracting the wrath of the postal authorities [fig 12] in the form of a payment of double the deficiency being demanded from the poor recipient. fig 12 [Showing reuse of fiscal with cancel still evident]. Indeed in the case of the trans Atlantic cover shown in fig 11 even the British postal authorities did not always spot the error. Perhaps they were confused! Both events are rare. So what else came to the printers with the government contract? Naturally there was excise levied on tea. And tobacco. And booze. And the inspection of gas appliances, electric equipment, and checking the accuracy of scales. Just to go on with [figs 13 and 14]. fig 13 fig 14 My own favorite are the tobacco stamps which in my view are the most beautiful productions of the period. Two are illustrated, the Cavendish stamp which came in blue and in black and which were packed in exactly 10lb lots [fig 15], and one of the general stamps which range from 15lb to 100lb, plus coupons for odd amounts over, and which were printed in both blue and green [fig 16]. It is said that it took up to eighteen months just to make a plate for each one of these. Looking at them that is no surprise. fig 15 fig 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This article originally appeared in GSM (Gibbons Stamp Monthly) in November 2007. © John Hillson 2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------