Matter Which Cannot be Forwarded Through the Post.—Liquids, Oils, etc., not properly put up. Explosive Substances and other matter likely to entail risk or injury to the ordinary contents of the mail, cannot be sent by post.
Letters containing Gold or Silver Money, Jewels, or precious articles, or anything liable to Customs duties, cannot be forwarded by Post to any of the Postal Union Countries except the United States.
We see from the above postal packet rates where the use of a 20 cent stamp would be convenient, which accounts for the announcement of the new value in the Postmaster General's Report last quoted in the preceding chapter. The 50 cent stamp of course would serve a useful purpose in making up relatively large amounts of postage. The above rates also show that there was still use for the 15 cent stamp in payment of parcels to Newfoundland.
We find notice of the issue of the new values in the Dominion Philatelist[117] as follows:—
As foreshadowed in the Postmaster General's report, there have appeared Canada postage stamps of the value of 20c. and 50c.; the 20c. is a bright deep orange and the 50c. is indigo blue, they are of similar design and resemble very much the third issue bill stamp and may be described as follows: head and shoulders of Queen to left, with widow's cap and chin resting on right hand, enclosed in a circle; above the circle the words "Canada Postage", below the circle at either side the value in figures and across the bottom the value in words.... The above were all placed on sale Feb. 22nd. The 20c. and 50c. stamps were intended for parcel post.
The somewhat ambiguous description will be more readily understood by reference to the illustrations, numbers 33 and 35 on [Plate II].
The stamps, as stated, are very evidently copied from the design of the dollar values of the Bill Stamps issued in 1868. The portrait of the Queen in her widow's weeds, in fact, is doubtless reproduced directly from the original die engraved twenty-five years previously. The stamps were of course line engraved on steel, and printed in the usual sheet arrangement of 100, ten rows of ten. The plates of course emanated from Ottawa, but bear a new imprint, similar to the second one used in Montreal. The colored strip is now 38 mm. long and 2½ mm. high with square ends, and bears the legend: "British American Bank Note Co. Ottawa." within a pearled border. It appears only twice, in the center of the top and of the bottom margins, and can be seen in illustrations Nos. 106 and 108 on [Plate IX]. The colors are not exactly as described in our quotation, the 20 cent being a vermilion or bright red, similar to the colors of the 3 cent, and the 50 cent a deep blue, but not indigo. According to the advices of the American Journal of Philately (VI: 102) the stamps were issued on the 17th February—five days earlier than the above quotation states.
Both values were printed on a medium white wove paper and perforated 12. Both were ordered to the number of half a million copies in 1893, and in 1895 25,000 more of the 20 cent and 30,000 more of the 50 cent were delivered, with a final 200 copies of each in 1896. These quantities were sufficient to last until the 20 cent was superseded by the newer type in 1901, and the 50 cent by the King's head stamp in 1908. Some 1500 of the 20 cent were returned for destruction and about 10,000 of the 50 cent!