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first issues > countries > british colombia and vancouver island

British Columbia & Vancouver Island

April, 1860

Canadian Province 5

BCVISc1
  BCVI Sc1  

The catalog treatment of eleven years of British Columbia and Vancouver Island’s eighteen stamps (18 in Scott, 19 in Gibbons) seems unnecessarily complicated. The first was not issued; they are all expensive; some were for BC&VI ( SC1-2, SG2-3), some for BC (Sc7-18, SG21-33), some for VI (Sc3-6, SG11-14); they vary between pence, cents and overprints of one on the other. The earliest known use of Scott #2 is July 30, 1860.

Vancouver Island was made a colony in 1849. British Columbia was made a separate colony after the Fraser River Gold Rush in 1858. It was earlier known as New Caledonia. The two colonies united in 1866 under the name of British Columbia, converted to the dollar currency in the same year, and in 1871 became a province of the Dominion.

All the stamps were typographed on unwatermarked paper by Thomas De La Rue & Company

Province Year
Description
 Perf
Scott
Gibbons
 Issued Notes
BCVI
1860
2½ pence rose
imperf
Sc1
not numbered
 1,440 not issued
BCVI
1860
2½ pence rose
perf 14
Sc2a, 2b
SG2, Sg3
 235,440 a = deep, b = pale rose
  VI
1865
5 cents rose
imperf
3
11
    
  VI
1865
10 cents blue
imperf
4
12
    
  VI
1865
5 cents rose
perf 14
5
13
 114,000  
VI
1865
10 cents blue
perf 14
6
14
 111,360  
BC
1865
3 pence blue
perf 14
7
21, 22
 1,174,800 deep (1865) and pale blue (1867)
BC
1867
2 cents on 3 pence brown
perf 14
8
28
 2,115,600  
BC
1869
5c on 3d red
perf 14
9
29
    
BC
1867
10c on 3d lilac rose
perf 14
10
30
   not issued
BC
1869
25c on 3d orange
perf 14
11
31
   orange in Scott, yellow in Gibbons
BC
1867
50c on 3d violet
perf 14
12
32
    
BC
1867
$1 on 3d green
perf 14
13
33
   not issued
BC
1867
5 c on 3d red
perf 12½
14
23
 4,800  
BC
1867
10c on 3d lilac rose
perf 12½
15
24
 4,800  
BC
1867
25c on 3d orange
perf 12½
16
25
 4,800 orange in Scott, yellow in Gibbons
BC
1867
50c on 3d violet
perf 12½
17
26
 4,800  
BC
1867
$1 on 3d green
perf 12½
18
27
 4,800  

The issue numbers are taken from the Canadian Postal Archive. It is not clear whether the numbers for the BC issues are the totals for both perforations.

BCVI
BCVISc1
BCVISc2
   
Sc1
Sc2 SG2
    
VI
BCVISc3
BCVISc4
VISc5
VISc6
 
Sc3 SG11
Sc4 SG12
Sc5 SG13
Sc6 SG14
  
BC
BCSc7
BCSc8
 
Sc7 SG21
Sc8 SG28
BC
BCVISc9
BCVISc10
BCSc11
BCVISc12
BCVISc13
 
Sc9 SG29
Sc10 SG30
Sc11 SG31
Sc12 SG32
Sc13 SG33
BC
BCVISc14
CBVISc18
 
Sc14 SG23
Sc15 SG24
Sc16 SG25
Sc17 SG26
Sc18 SG27

Please see the overview of Canada page for more on Canada and the colonies that issued stamps.

Information sources:
James Mackay, The World of Classic Stamps, 1972
Gibbons Commonwealth and British Empire Stamps 1840-52, 106th edn., 2003
Scott Classic, 10th edn., 2003
Nick Blackburn (FICC #181)

Image sources:
The Canadian Postal Archive, David Olson, Robert A. Seigel, The Stamp Community, ebay


FI ref: 89 Page credit: NB

Page created 27 Nov 2015 Page updated 1 Feb 2016