BC & Vancouver Island Stamp - It Has Finally Come Home!

British Columbia & Vancouver Island #5 (well, it should be Vancouver Island #1, as it was a separate colony at the time).

My latest acquisition, I have been looking for a good used affordable copy for a long time .

I finally pulled this one out of England - it came back to B.C. today, in the hands (or more like the tongs) of BeeSee

Congratulations. I'd be fine with that example.

Are you going to risk a bath? (I might not chance it, if it was mine, but I bet it would spruce it up.)

Congrats!

Do you have any idea how many people lived on Vancouver island then?
I assume the town of Victoria existed. Was there ferry service?

Cjd, you bring up something I've been meaning to ask about on this forum. Is it a good idea to re-soak old stamps?

I have a number of used small queens with hinge remnants that I'd like to remove, and no doubt a re-soaking would clear away some grime from the ages. But is it a good idea? After all, these stamps were soaked at one point in the past, so what's the harm? Of course, if the stamp is of the kind that has runnable ink, it's another story.

Hi BeeSee

It seems that British Columbia and Vancouver Island did indeed share their first stamp. The British Columbia and Vancouver Island first stamp is given by Stanley Gibbons Canada catalogue as the SG2 two and a half pence deep reddish rose (below). The Vancouver Island separate listings list your stamp as the SG13 Vancouver Island 5 cent rose. The first vancouver Island stamp is the SG11 imperforate.

Hope this helps.
Terry

Note that on this one, they spell it Vancouver's island while there is no S on the Bee See one

Cjd, I have thought about giving her a bath, but the blue cancellation worries me. I have soaked black cancelled classics before with good results. Though on this stamp, it seems the slight staining is just gum residue, I am tempted, but will hold off for now.

Jkjblue, from the Victoria Directory of 1863, the population of Victoria was about 6,000 non-aboriginals. There couldn't be much more on the rest of Vancouver Island, though there were communities in Nanaimo and elsewhere. I read somewhere else the native population was about 30,000 on the island.

Terence, that is a great stamp, it is on my bucket list (a good used one)

BeeSee, I love the Stamp! Do you have any information on the cancel? Is it a Revenue? Private carrier? Post Office?

I am asking because I have a similar blue ink cancel, also appearing to be oval, and much less distinct than yours. However, it is joined with a stroke of black ink which is most likely pen (manuscript) but could, I guess, be a portion of a circular black ink typical town cancel though that is unlikely. You can sort of make out blue letters but nothing that elevates mine above guesswork whereas yours shows that definite "id" lettering (most likely Paid ?) and the lone "E" at the top which might be a part of a place name.

Hi Gilles le timbre,

The earlier stamp, SG2, is the more correct as the island was named in honour of Captain George Vancouver who circumnavigated the island in 1792. He might have mapped the coastline, but I haven't yet found any reference to this, though it was a fairly routine practice with the early seafaring explorers. So, Vancouver's Island it is.

Terry

Hi BeeSee,

There are two varieties listed in Gibbons (2008) for this British Columbia and Vancouver's Island stamp. The deep reddish rose, SG2 and the pale reddish rose, SG3. Both CVs given as £375 mint and £180 used. Might you give me a clue as to how much you gave for your SG13? Gibbons lists it at £275 mint and £160 used.

Terry

Congratulations BeeSee

I have only three from the islands and I too am still looking for
others.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Had to amend my earlier replies. Got the illustration numbers confused as the SG numbers.

Apologies,
Terry

This is the cancellation on the first stamp pictured:

Thanks for showing that mark Chipg. I THINK I have seen a similar mark from Nanaimo (also on the island). One definitely exists from New Westminster, which was the capital of B.C.

Terence, I paid less than $100 Canadian for it - a great deal I think. No tears or thins, just a few scruffy perfs. The slight discolouration on the bottom is actually the CA of the watermark. I will show the back when I get back home.

Hi BeeSee,

Truly a bargain, I am envious. I will try to post some of my early Canadians tomorrow. The Canadian Colonies and Provinces are among my favourites to collect along with the Australian States and the Pacific Islands. I feel those early Victorian stamps are unbeatable. Both heads and pictorials.

Terry