Lot 121 Canada #104var Admiral Issue Experimental Essays, 1c green and 1c red singles, perforated 11.9, lithographed, with portrait of Postmaster General Pelletier, adapted from the Admiral issue, with design changes including the Maple Leaf being substituted for Crowns at the upper corners, and POSTAGE substituted for CANADA POSTAGE, believed to have been supplied by Stanley Deville of the Post Office Department in Ottawa to Montreal stamp dealer Allan Brophy, originating from two blocks of six that were offered in the famed Nickle sale (Firby Auctions, January 1996, lot 83), there described as unique, quite striking, and an important piece of Canadian philatelic history.
In the 1996 Firby sale, the blocks were accompanied by a letter from Mr. Deville to Brophy, noting “Here are the experimental stamps I spoke to you about. The transfer stamps bear the portrait of Hon. L.P. Pelletier, then Postmaster General, and are an adaptation of the 1910 design. The idea was that the stamp could not drop off if put on by means of a transfer. It was turned down as impractical.” Estimate C$2,500.
Firby
Lot 551, Nova Scotia 1860 six pence dark green Heraldic bisect on letter to PEI, sold for $2415
Lot 551 Nova Scotia #5a 1860 6d dark green Heraldic Diagonal Bisect on Folded Letter to PEI, mailed from Digby NS on APR.11.1860 (backstamp), through Halifax (APR.13 oval backstamp) and addressed to Muddy Creek, St Eleanors, both located in Lot 17, (APR.20 Prince Edward Island backstamp). The letter inside is dated March 30, 1860. Franked with a bisected dark green 6d, tied on all sides, paying the proper inter-Colonial 3d rate. Accompanied by a 2017 Greene Foundation certificate. From the Louis Sidney Crosby Collection of Prince Edward Island. A very fine cover. Unlisted in The Pence Covers of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 1851-1860 by Arfken and Firby (2004) and as such likely the only known use of a Nova Scotia bisect on a cover to Prince Edward Island. Unitrade CV$7,000, sold for C$2,100 plus buyer’s premium.
