“ Six Cents.—The Queen’s head is on a background of horizontal lines, enclosed within a fancy-shaped hexagonal band of reticulations. Two straight labels of solid colour at the top, and a similar one at the bottom of the stamp. The upper are inscribed “POSTAGE—PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND,” and the bottom bears the value in words. Square blocks of solid colour in the upper corners, and similar upright rectangular ones in the lower, contain the Arabic numeral of value. Straight bands of reticulations at the sides of the stamp and a border of a plain coloured line complete the design. ”

“ Beneath the label is “THE ADDRESS ONLY TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE,” in coloured slanting capitals, in a straight line; lower down three ruled lines for the address, each one of which is shorter than the one above it. The stamp is in the right upper corner of the card, and is of the same type as the One Cent adhesive, issue 1871. The groundwork of the card is filled in with innumerable interlaced circles, and crossing these are a number of straight lines which converge towards the left bottom corner. The design of the card is completed by an ornamental border, with rounded corners. ”

“ Looking at the list of letter rates in Clause IX., we should expect to find a Twelve and a Half Cents stamp, but, as we know, no such value was issued. Here again I can only suggest that the Twenty-five Cents may have been divided, or the Five Cents cut in two, and used in conjunction with a Ten Cents or two Five Cent stamps to make up the required rate. The stamps of British Columbia were withdrawn from use on July 20th, 1871, on the admittance of the colony into the Dominion of Canada. Mr. N. Shakespeare is the present Postmaster of Victoria. ”

“ We do not deny that time does change the colour in stamps, but with those we do not think that it had anything to do. A friend of ours informed us that in looking over a lot of old letters which he had taken out of a trunk, and which had not been opened for several years, he found among them several registered letters, one with the Two Cent registration stamp almost a black, all the others having their normal colour. ”

“ It is a well-known fact in Philately that nearly every country has some stamps, provisional or error, that are not found in catalogues, but which are nevertheless known to exist, as the St. Pierre Miquelon P.D., the Bremen Marken error, and so in Nova Scotia we have the so-called surcharges. In February of this year I received a parcel of old Nova Scotia stamps from a friend in Port Hastings, Cape Breton, and among them I found three Three Penny stamps, with 5 c. in an oval printed on them. ”

“ His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor in Council has been pleased to approve of the following modifications in the Postal Arrangement between the United States and this Island; viz.:
“On and after the first day of November next, the postage on a single Letter shall be Four Pence, if prepaid at the mailing office, and Ten Cents (equal to Six Pence) if posted unpaid; and for other than single Letters the same charge shall be made for each additional half ounce, or fraction thereof. Letters for British Columbia, California, and Oregon shall be Six Pence, if prepaid, per half ounce. ”

“ It was taken by the English, and a grant of it made to Sir W. Alexander by James I. in 1627; and it was this monarch who altered the name to Nova Scotia. In 1632 it was restored to France, with Quebec, by the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye, but again ceded to England at the Peace of Utrecht, in 1714. After the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, a settlement of disbanded troops was formed there by Lord Halifax, and the city which now bears his name is the capital of the province. Cape Breton was not finally taken from the French until 1758. From 1784 to 1819 it formed a separate Colony. ”

“ Northrup, Port Jervis, N. Y.
“ [The split stamps of New Brunswick are no doubt scarce, but they are not more so than any of the other B. N. A. Provinces. Canada seems to be the only one which did not do this, as split stamps from there are very scarce. The rate on a half-ounce Letter from Nova Scotia to Victoria was one shilling and threepence, and we presume it was the same from New Brunswick.—Editor of The Halifax Philatelist.] ”

“ Mr. Connell was ordered at the same time to obtain a fresh supply of Five Cents stamps with the head of Her Majesty. The Connell Five Cents can therefore only be looked upon as a stamp prepared for use, notwithstanding postmarked copies are known, as it is quite clear from Mr. King’s article the stamp was never issued to the public. In design, it is almost similar to the [31] Ten Cents, but the head of Her Majesty is replaced by a full face portrait of Charles Connell, and the numerals in the spandrels are Arabic, instead of Roman in type. ”

“ F. M. Passow, who was chief clerk of the Nova Scotian Post Office Department, to enquire whether the plates ever came here. He said, ‘I doubt if the plates were ever sent out to Halifax; I never saw them.’ To make this positive, we find, in the letter to the Provincial Secretary above referred, indisputable evidence that the plates were in England in 1857. ”

“ However, as the same catalogue pronounces the portrait on the Six Pence of issue I. to be that of Lord Elgin, it is probably equally incorrect in the former case, more especially as a writer in The Halifax Philatelist for July, 1888, says “it is identically the same as that of all the existing portraits of Jacques Cartier, and totally unlike those existing of Sebastian Cabot.” ”

“ There is no stipulation that the above rates must necessarily be prepaid, and I have no doubt from the following notice, which was published in the British Postal Guide for October 1st, 1859, that correspondence between the United Kingdom and all the North American Colonies was frequently forwarded either wholly or only partly prepaid from both sides.
“NOVA SCOTIA, NEW BRUNSWICK, AND NEWFOUNDLAND.
“Letters for Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland, if posted unpaid, or insufficiently prepaid, are now charged on delivery with a fine of 6d. each in addition to the postage.” ”

“ The Society is also largely indebted to Mr. Donald A. King for the permission to reproduce the valuable contents of certain papers he contributed to the Halifax Philatelist.
The lists of Canada and Newfoundland, the only two of the Colonies now using distinct stamps, have been completed to the end of June, 1889. ”

“ The escape was no doubt due to the fact that at that time surcharges on stamps were few in number, and most likely altogether unknown to the Postal authorities of British Columbia. This Two Pence Halfpenny stamp is certainly admissable into a collection as a provisional Three Pence, provided it, or the paper it is attached to, is postmarked after June 19th, 1864. ”

“ All the split stamps of Nova Scotia are very rare, and should be greatly valued by collectors. Off the original envelope they are valueless, and I have been sorely disappointed more than once on receiving them in that condition. ”

“ Donald A. King has two further papers upon the stamps of Nova Scotia; while the April number contains a letter from a correspondent upon the bisected stamp of New Brunswick. The Committee consider it advisable to reproduce here all the four articles mentioned, feeling sure their contents will be of interest to philatelists, and help to add further to the completeness of the postal history of each of the provinces.
CANADA.
“The Canada Two Cent Registration Stamp will soon be a thing of the past. ”

“ This cutting of the Three Penny was authorized by the Postmaster-General, as in his report for 1853 he says, ‘To remedy to some extent the serious inconvenience said to be experienced by merchants and others in consequence of there being no Seven and One Halfpenny currency postage stamps, by which parties who feel desirous could thus prepay their letters to England, and not wishing to put the province to any further expense in having another “die” prepared, I considered it expedient to allow half stamps to be used with those now in use to obviate the want of accommodation complained of ”

“ When making the requisition, it would be as well to caution the engravers not to pack the parcels too close; for when they are strictly confined they adhere, and become useless, as was the case with some of the packages in the last supply furnished. ”