Canada 12d black

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Twelve Penny Black
The Black Empress of Canada
Stamp Canada 1851 12d black empress.jpg
1851 12d stamp of Queen Victoria
Country of production Canada
Location of productionNew York
Date of production14 June 1851
Nature of rarityfew exist
No. in existenceabout 120
Face value12 pence
Estimated valueup to $425,500 (2011) [1]

Canada 12d black or The Black Empress of Canada [1] is one of Canada's rarest postage stamps. [2] Originally issued in 1851, the 12-pence stamp is a portrait of Queen Victoria that was released as the third stamp by the Province of Canada.

Contents

History

In 1851, the Province of Canada [a] issued the stamps of Queen Victoria. For the stamp image, the Queen's portrait by Alfred Edward Chalon (1780–1860) was used. This design is called the Chalon head . The stamps were printed in New York. [3]

In fine and unused condition, these stamps are extremely costly. In 2023, a 12d black sold for $292,500 CAD [2] and, in 2024, a mint pair sold for $625,000 CAD. [4]

The first series of stamps for the colony of Canada was issued in 1851 and comprised three pence, six pence, and 12 pence values. One shilling was not used as the face value because in local currency, it had more than one meaning of value. In New England, one shilling meant 16 and two-thirds cents, which was equal to 10 pence. In New York, one shilling meant 12 and a half cents, equalling seven pence halfpenny. Therefore 12 pence offered no misunderstanding as to its value. Out of 51,000 of the 12 pence black that were printed, only 1,450 stamps were sold in the three and half years they were offered. [5] About 130 copies are believed to be still in existence. There are only five unused pairs and two used pairs. [6]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Today this is approximately Ontario and Quebec.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Black Empress of Canada". Spink Shreves Galleries Sale – 130. Durham, NC: StampAuctionCentral and StampAuctionNetwork; Droege Computing Services, Inc. 27 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Rare Canadian stamp sells for just under $300K". CBC. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  3. ↑ Michel Catalog (2000). Übersee-Katalog. Nord- und Mittelamerika. Michel. 339 p.
  4. ↑ "12-penny black sets new Canadian auction record". Canadian Stamp News. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Most Valuable Canadian Stamps". Stamp News. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
  6. ↑ "Canada - 1851 12 pence black". The British Library. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2019. CC-BY icon.svg Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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