First Postage Stamps After Confederation

The stamps pictured here (catalogue values of $169, $100, and $42) are part of a series (stamp numbers 21-33) that were issued between 1868 and 1875. The stamps have different values and colours but are all the same image. The new Dominion of Canada chose this bust of Queen Victoria as the symbol for its first postage stamps. This is normal - most countries pictured the current Head of State on both coins and postage stamps. It's just not quite as interesting as the beaver image used in 1851. Since Prince Albert passed away in 1861, it was no longer necessary to put his image on a stamp.

Postage Stamps 1851-1867

Between 1851 and 1867, Canadian stamps just continued to alternate through four different images that I have previously posted about: The Beaver, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, and Jacques Cartier. The only stamps that I have in my personal collection are #14,#15,#17(incorrectly labelled in picture), and #19 pictured above. The catalogue values of stamps in this condition are about $100, $40, $160,and $330 respectively, which means that you could realistically sell them for about 10% of that listed price
The real question is why was Canada making postage stamps at all before 1867... Isn't that when we became a country? Perhaps this is one more piece of evidence that our emergence as an independent country was (and still is?) a gradual process. When did our country really start anyways?
1534 - Jacques Cartier dubbed the region "canada"
1763 - Treaty of Paris after England gained possession of the region
1791 - Upper and Lower Canada formed as colonies
1812 - Canadians united in anti-American resolve
1840 - The Act of Union between Upper and Lower Canada
1851 - Canada issues its first postage stamp with an image of a beaver instead of the Queen
1867 - Confederation (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia)
1871 - Canada added Rupert's Land and British Columbia (sea to sea)
1912 - Provincial borders become essentially what they are today
1980 - Pierre Trudeau repatriated constitution
2??? - Canada becomes a republic



1 - Beaver              (mint $62 094.25, used $1688.30)
2 - Prince Albert     (mint $66 175.60, used $2611.05)
3 - Queen Victoria   (mint $159 958.50, used $231 677.00)
4 - Beaver              (mint $2139.55, used $326.50)
5 - Prince Albert     (mint $36047.70, used $2149.70)
6 - Queen Victoria          n/c
7 - Jacques Cartier   (mint $13055.25, used $2661.75)
8 - Queen Victoria   (mint $1409.45, used $953.13)
9 - Queen Victoria   (mint $12421.50, used $4629.35)
10 - Prince Albert    (mint $26211.90, used $8365.50)
11 - Queen Victoria  (mint $5196.75, used $2626.75)
12 - Beaver             (mint $19189.09, used $1597.95)
13 - Prince Albert    (mint $31053.71, $10672.35)
14 - Queen Victoria  (mint $630.45, used $133.35)
15 - Beaver             (mint $775.20, used $53.50)
16 - Prince Albert    (mint $18970.50, used $8264.10)
17 - Prince Albert    (mint $1583.35, used $236.00)
18 - Queen Victoria  (mint $1315,65, used $220.55)
19 - Jacques Cartier  (mint $1869.60, used $332.35)
20 - Queen Victoria  (mint $1072.30, used $439.55)

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria

After the beaver, the next two most important symbols to recognize were Prince Albert and Queen Victoria (Canadian Postage Stamps #2 and #3). Looking at stamps from other countries, I would have expected Queen Victoria to be first. It would be natural to recognize the head of state before the beaver, no?

Now if I didn't already have some familiarity with the British monarchy, I would think that a "prince" is the son of a king or queen (in this case Queen Victoria's son). However, that is more of a modern interpretation of the word (or maybe just the simplistic vocabulary definition I was given as a child). The word "prince" in the past was used synonymously with "lord".  Here is the definition from Mariam-Webster:

1

a : Monarch, Kingb : the ruler of a principality or state

2

: a male member of a royal family; especially : a son of the sovereign

3

: a nobleman of varying rank and status

4

: one likened to a prince; especially : a man of high rank or of high standing in his class or profession

So Prince Albert was Queen Victoria's husband or "consort", but apparently although he was royal himself was a little beneath the Queen. Therefore, she did not grant him the title of "King consort" but rather the lesser title of "Prince Consort".

Despite the fact that he was a mere "Prince Consort", he was recognized first by Canada Post. Is this because he was male, just more interesting or popular than the Queen, or maybe it has no significance at all?

Either way, everyone seems just a little more interested in the topic of British monarchy (and our Canadian head of state) now with the publicity around Will and Kate. We can ask these prediction questions such as: Does Kate get called the "Queen Consort" or "Princess Consort"? Who is more popular: Will or Kate? If Canada were to produce separate stamps, who would be more likely to get the first one: Will or Kate?