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Post by jamesw on Oct 7, 2022 3:19:15 GMT
Hi Everybody! Been a while. I was thinking recently about the passing of Her Majesty, and started to wonder what colour the Royal Philatelic Collection will take on next. Each Monarch since George VI started his collection (with the help of his Uncle Alfred) has chosen a different colour of Morocco leather to cover the stamp albums of their reign - George VI chose Red, George V Blue and her Majesty chose a dark Green, this according to Nicholas Courtney's book, The Queen's Stamps. I don't see a mention of Edward VIII's albums, though I'm going to have re-read. His reign was short of course, and I don't know if he chose a colour, but he was a collector of sorts, and was interested in maintaining it, despite rumours that he was considering selling. So what do we think is next? What colour will HM Charles III chose to continue the Royal Collection, and differentiate his albums from the others? Burgundy? Ochre? The possibilities are endless. And I apologize if this has already been discussed. I did a search but found nothing. edit: A quick google search came up with this website from the Canadian Museum of History and shows the three album colours. There isn't one shown for Edward. www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/timbres-majeste/royal-i-i3-e.html
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Post by jamesw on Oct 6, 2022 2:48:24 GMT
I have a few, especially Confederate, which I'm particularly fond of.
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Post by jamesw on Oct 6, 2022 2:45:37 GMT
A very crude fake of a Canada #3 12d Queen Vic given to me years ago by a member of my former club. It's not fooling anyone.
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Post by jamesw on Jun 20, 2022 3:10:15 GMT
Thank you David, I really appreciate that. Admittedly sometimes when I'm typing this stuff in I wonder if I'm heading down some rabbit hole that some folks might find tedious or uninteresting. I realize we are an international group, and many of you may not know what, or where I'm talking about... or care. But then if that's the case, there's always lots of other interesting stuff here to delve into, isn't there. And just as an aside from my aside, here are two covers from my collection with Suspension Bridge N.Y. cancels, showing they both crossed the Niagara River on their ways to New York City, the top folded letter in 1853, the bottom envelope in 1855. The New York community actually was called Suspension Bridge, which sprang up during construction. It grew to quite a respectable size, to the point where it actually rivalled Niagara Falls NY in tourism and commerce. It was eventually merged into that town in 1892
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Post by jamesw on Jun 19, 2022 2:40:43 GMT
Just an additional tid bit of historical info on the 1856 letter shown above. The transit cancel, shown here with Walsh's notation of receipt from Street, was applied at Suspension Bridge U.C. The Niagara River's second suspension bridge (and the world's first railway suspension bridge) was completed in 1855 about 4km down river from the falls. The bridge is featured on the US 1948 United States-Canada Friendship issue (SC#961). It was a two tiered bridge that spanned the Niagara River and encouraged trade between the two countries. There were in fact post offices called Suspension Bridge on both sides, one on the Canadian side and one in New York. The Canadian Suspension Bridge post office actually served the village of Elgin. Because there was an Elgin post office already, in Leeds county, a different name was chosen to serve the Niagara community. Elgin was merged with the village of Clifton the following year in 1857 to become the town of Clifton, which in turn was integrated into the town of Niagara Falls in 1881. Also note, that the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada were joined together into the Province of Canada in 1841, as I mentioned in another thread. So Upper and Lower Canadas became Canada West and Canada East respectively. Despite that, this Suspension Bridge cancel is marked U.C. (Upper Canada). Bruce Graham's book 'Ontario Broken Circles' mentions that a Suspension Bridge C.W. cancel was also in use, until 1857. The November 19 1856 date on the cancel shown here is listed as the last known date. Of course, the book was published in 1999, it may be updated by now. Keep all this in your back pocket for your next trivia night at the pub. You just never know!!!
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Post by jamesw on Jun 13, 2022 3:34:31 GMT
The second folded letter purchased today. Fast forward 27 years. Mr. Walsh is still in business, though now relocated to Simcoe. This Paid 3d letter is sent from Chippawa, now with corrected postmark, on Nov 19 1856. Other postmarks include Suspension Bridge U.C. Nov 19 1856 and a Simcoe receiver cancel Nov 20 1856. The sender this time is Samuel Street's son, Thomas Street and his business partner Charles Harrell (?). Letter concerns land registry. The Streets were big in land speculation, amongst many other business concerns.
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Post by jamesw on Jun 13, 2022 3:21:20 GMT
Two new Niagara folded letters acquired to day at CAPIX. Both relate to each other, as well as the letter shown at the top of this page. The first letter was posted on Dec 30 1829 in Chippawa UC by Mr Samuel Street and sent to Francis Walsh, the county registrar. Mr Street, prominent local business man, is acting as executor for the estate of his Uncle, Samuel Street, for whom he was named. The postmark is interesting as is shows an error. The town name is mis-spelled Chippaiva. The letter posted previously, also from Mr Street to Mr Walsh, in 1833, shows the same error, which was corrected with the stroke of a pen. Not so in this case. This letter shows no other postal markings. Content shown here, which has some notations at the bottom regarding the origins of some of the elder Mr Streets land holding dating back to 1798 and 1809.
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Post by jamesw on Jun 13, 2022 2:47:10 GMT
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Post by jamesw on Jun 13, 2022 2:44:30 GMT
Just want to respond (better late than never) to graphicbadger92's query from almost two years ago. I find prices on these things vary wildly. You can get great deals on ebay if you look carefully. Having been to CAPIX 2022 today I am reminded how wildly different dealers prices can be, for essentially what may seem to be similar items. I'll show shortly two similar items I purchased from two dealers at very different sticker prices. I always think it comes down to how badly I want an item how often I see it. You pay what an item is worth to you. If it's too dear, steer clear!
... and I see that his account is inactive. But these thoughts can apply to anyone who cares to listen.
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Post by jamesw on Jun 13, 2022 1:09:22 GMT
Popped into CIPEX 2022 today on its last day. Figured I should, since it's in my town. I regret not making time for it this weekend. The exhibits were incredible and the list of seminars impressive. But I did go through the bourse, and even reconnected with some familiar faces. Nice to see these folks after 2+ years of this nonsense. I also told myself, 'Self! You don't HAVE to spend all the money you brought.' I never listen to me. Here's one folded letter I picked up that ticks a couple of my collecting boxes. It is a Bank of Montreal letter, but also lands in my hometown of St. Catharines, so it fits into my Niagara collection. (Brace yourselves for a couple of lovely Niagara covers in that other thread!) This is an 1852 letter sent from Cobourg U.C. to St. Catharines. Cobourg is located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, while St. Catharines is on south side near Niagara Falls. It is postmarked Cobourg U.C. Jan 15 (the actual date is unclear, but the letter is dated the 15th) and has a transit mark from Hamilton C.W. (Canada West) dated Jan 17 1852, which indicates the letter travelled around the lake rather than across it by ferry. A little historical context, the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada were joined together into the Province of Canada in 1841, in response to the Rebellions of 1837. The new province was made up of Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) and Canada East (formerly Lower Canada). That is why the discrepancy in the postmarks. Some post offices were slow to change and update their hammers, probably the smaller sized offices being farther down the list at the Post Office Department for new equipment. In fact my copy of W. Bruce Graham's book Ontario Broken Circles (published 1999) indicates Cobourg received its new Canada West hammer circa 1857. The letter was sent by C. (Charles?) H. Morgan, Bank of Montreal agent in Cobourg to Henry Mittleberger the banks agent in St. Catharines. The cursive script is difficult to make out so I'll let you folks try to decipher it. There is a large wax seal on the back of the letter as well as a wafer, as well as a small wax seal and a wafer at the top of the letter itself. Both seals have flattened out over the past 170 and only the larger back seal shows BANK O, and hint of ONT. The rest is obliterated. For those who may be interested here is a biography of Mr. Mittleberger from accessgenealogy.com accessgenealogy.com/canada/biography-of-henry-mittleberger.htm
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Post by jamesw on May 7, 2022 10:59:15 GMT
Late to the response as usual, but thank you for the excellent information nillionaire, regarding the censor marks. I've got a few military covers, first and second WW, but never know how to tackle them as I find specific info like this difficult to track down. Can you tell me what is your source for the censor mark allocations? I've found some in the past but never anything reliable, or consistent. Thanks in advance.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 11, 2022 22:14:52 GMT
Thank you BG, I appreciate that. Looking at this scan the colour seems faded but it's actually quite good. Enlarged like this makes it look a little anemic. And before anyone says anything about CV, I realize I probably would never get that for it. The catalogue value is just a reference point, one I especially look at when I'm buying, so I know how much I want to pay. I'm trying to buy better quality, without breaking the bank.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 11, 2022 21:54:15 GMT
Here's the highlight of a recent online auction win. A small lot, mixed bag but this and two 1870s bureaus were the only things I really needed. This SC#115 1869 pictorial appears to be unused with no gum. Nicely centred, I think. It catalogues at $1000, according to my ten year old Scott's Specialized (I should really get a new one!)
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Post by jamesw on Apr 8, 2022 4:00:19 GMT
That's funny. I forgot about this thread. A few years ago I went on a buying spree at an estate auction and bought a bunch of mail box banks. This is the smallest, just slightly bigger than the stamp dispenser I posted at the top of this thread. Could dispense stamps, theoretically.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 6, 2022 22:21:08 GMT
I'll add images of the back and insides of this letter, for those who are interested. So many of the old letters I have are business related, that it's nice to have a personal letter to look at. I know some folks here have debated whether it's proper to read other peoples mail, even if they have been dead for many many years. I get that. I have a couple of letters which were never opened, and those I will not open and read. If the original recipient never did, then it's not my place to intrude. That's my take anyway. I see these letters as historical records of times long gone. It think they are a window into our past, so I have no problem reading them - if I can...still struggling with this one. By the way, I've also learned that Bernard, the author of this letter, passed away in 1852, only five years after writing this. He had one son, John Dow Ball (1845 - 1866). Life was often too short back then. Back of letter folded shows transit and receiver cancels Note the signature at the bottom of the third scan. Definitely signed by Bernard Frey Ball. This last scan is the unfolded letter showing the front address panel, as well as an after thought from Bernard. Thanks everybody, for coming along with me on this. It's more fun when you can share!
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Post by jamesw on Apr 6, 2022 2:56:19 GMT
Didn't I write yesterday that I'd look for another source. We were taught in school to try to have at least three sources when doing research, no? Yes! So I did find another website called the New England Ball Project. Remember, the Ball's were United Empire Loyalist, John C.'s father and uncles came to Niagara from Albany NY. So the NEBP tells me that Mr and Mrs Ball actually had SEVEN children. In fact there were five daughters. Margaret Maria, Catharine Isabella and Amelia are named, but oddly Mary, who is mentioned in the other two sites, is not, The new daughters are Hannah and Jane Gertrude. Mary was listed in the baptismal records, but Margaret Maria was not. It's a possibility that they the same person ... Mary/Maria. Not unusual for names to get altered over different documents and over the years. There are also two sons, Thomas Abraham Nelles and Bernard Frey Ball. And this revelation is where I change MY story. The letter was not written by a daughter, but by Bernard. The signature at the end of the letter is the same as seen on the lower left corner of the front of the folded letter... BF(?)B. The letter I think was written by son Bernard. He was born in 1819 and would have turned 28 just a month before. Sadly it doesn't state where he was living. Note, this new website has a long bibliography page and is well researched. The information about these Balls comes specifically from a book by Robert Allen Hammond, Descendants of Johan Peter Ball 1699 - 1753 of Schoharie NY (GEDCOM) (2014) So, though still not a 'page turner' this is just a good example of how research can change at a moments notice. And that's really the point of this thread, not just the pretty piece of paper.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 5, 2022 12:46:23 GMT
thanks rex. I'm glad you appreciate it as much as I do. And true, the story here isn't that fascinating. I have other covers and letters that have revealed much more interesting tales. But it's the 'journey' really, the process which I love, especially when it works!
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Post by jamesw on Apr 5, 2022 2:52:49 GMT
I haven't posted any postal history for a while, mainly because I haven't purchased any for a while. But I picked this folded letter up yesterday and have found it fascinating. If y'all don't mind I'd like to share my little journey with you ...so far. I began posting this on a thread of Niagara Postal History I started a few years ago as its contents belonged there. That thread is dedicated to postal history from the Niagara region, an area in southern Ontario, between Lakes Ontario and Erie with the Niagara River on the east side. It's an area full of fruit growers, wine makers ... and history. I was born'd and raised in the area, so it's history of is interest to me. My family were United Empire Loyalists and settled there in the 1790s. Just a little background. This folded letter I find quite interesting and have already started some research on the writer and recipient. I'm what's called a 'Social Postal Historian' in that I like to research the people who touched these pieces of paper all those years ago. This letter was sent from Whitby, on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, to the town of Niagara (originally called Newark by Gov. John Graves Simcoe in the 1780s, now called Niagara-on-the-Lake) at the mouth of the Niagara River, in the south. It's postmarked in red on the front at Whitby UC on June 19, and also has a red PAID handstamp and script 7 in the upper right. There's a very faint black Toronto transit cancel and a red Niagara receiver cancel, dated June 21, on the back. The paper is very thin, like tissue and delicate, so I've scanned the entire thing and put it into a sleeve to protect it. The recipient is Mrs. John C. Ball in Niagara. She's in someplace called Plumb Valley, which I've never heard of, but am looking into it. I believe her name to be Margaret and her husband was John Clement Ball. They had three daughters, one of whom sent this from Springfield Cottage in Whitby. The Balls were a prominent UEL family in Niagara - and there were a lot of them! I have letters to two others. And the trick here was that there were MANY John's. But with his middle initial, C, and looking at baptismal lists from St. Marks and St. Andrews Churches in Niagara (Ontario Historical Society) I found some possibilities. I then googled the names found there, and it led me to the genealogy site Geni. Though I can't decipher the signature on the letter, the writer (a daughter, as she writes 'My Dear Mother') mentions several times the name Isabella, the middle name of one of the three daughters ... according to ONE site. And here's the problem. Much of this historical info on different sites will vary, so that's where the detective work comes in. Both websites agree on the names of two of the daughters, Amelia and Mary, as well as mom and dad. But the third daughter is different on the two sites. On the Geni site the third daughter is Margaret Maria. On the baptismal site the third daughter is Catharine Isabella. See where I'm going with this? The information on the baptismal site was written verbatim from church records dating back to 1792 (the three girls were baptized together in 1830) whereas the genealogy site was put together by some lady in Alberta, possibly a distant relation, with no reference what so ever. So it may not be so reliable. The veracity of the Ontario Historical Society site with church records, and the repetition of the name Isabella, leads me to believe that I'm on the right track. But I will probably continue to search for a third site for confirmation. That's where I am now with this. Not bad for one day. That sort of strong information doesn't always come so quickly. I'm going to try to transcribe the letter. It contains a number of other names and information which may help with further research. I know this post is long, but if this is of interest to everyone, let me know, and I can keep you up to date. I can also post images of the letter if you like. Thanks for your patience. Happy stampin'!
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Post by jamesw on Apr 4, 2022 20:14:13 GMT
a little more concise answer, thank you viking.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 4, 2022 19:53:20 GMT
Hi gstamps. The two heavy folded lines would not be the original lines. the lighter lines would indicate where the letter was folded and presented at the post office. The heavier lines probably happened sometime in the last 176 years of the life of this piece of paper, either being folded and filed after receiving it, or some collector along the way folded it that way. Either way it's been flatted out since. My quandry, since I mount these on a page with clear photo corners, is whether to refold it on its original lines or not. Note how the Canterbury cancel is in sections. It would have been applied at the point of the edge of the page overlapping on the other side.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 4, 2022 17:55:24 GMT
Thanks Viking. Interesting in the context of the bio link I found. I think this is early in the career of Mr. Edwards, the junior partner and son-in-law. He found himself in much hot water some 40 years later and the firm did not end well. Also came to light they were probably not doing right by many of the clients they acted as executors for. Shady dealings. ....Allegedly!
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Post by jamesw on Apr 4, 2022 12:39:07 GMT
Thanks vikingeck, so it's as I suspected. Yes, no stamp is a head scratcher. Could be that's why glancing at it I thought it was Canadian. 1846 would still be stampless. The question now is how to store it. It is flat and looks like it has been for sometime. Usually put these, folded, on an album page with a write up. Oh well, first world problems.
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Post by jamesw on Apr 4, 2022 3:17:52 GMT
Hello all. I picked this up today, not realizing it was British (my brain was thinking Canada, silly me). This folded letter was sent from Canterbury to Deal, a distance of about 30km. There are postmarks on the back (when folded) from both Canterbury and Deal. But on the front there is no indication of postal rate, no stamp and the only mark is a red wax pencil line. Is this an indication of rate? There doesn't seem to be any sign that a stamp had fallen off. I think I can probably assume the rate would have been 1 penny, as this is certainly the cost during this period. Any help would be appreciated. I'll include a scan of the letter, just for interests sake. The handwriting is pretty indecipherable. It looks to be addressed to a Mssr's Mercer & Edwards. Google hasn't supplied any info on them so far. Edit: Immediately after posting this, I did another quick google search and came up with this website about the Mercer and Edwards families in Deal. Yikes! What a story!!!! familiesofdealandwalmer.co.uk/james-barber-edwards/3/
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Post by jamesw on Feb 23, 2022 4:55:56 GMT
Was looking at this thread and find it really interesting. Reminds me first of all what a great collection of covers our dearly departed friend Jeff had. I took notice of the cover Steve posted on the first page, sent to G.W. Childs. I realized that I also had a cover sent to Mr Childs. I've posted this before. It sports a Carrier postmark and showed signs of a missing stamp, most likely an 1869 pictorial. So that dates it after the Civil War. George W. Childs was Owner and Editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper which he purchased in 1864. But to keep with the Civil War theme of the thread I'll include my 1861 Richmond handstamped cover, also shown elsewhere. Confederacy took over control of their Post Office on June 1 when they moved their capital to Richmond, but stamps weren't available until October, so envelopes utilized postmaster provisionals or handstamps, such as this.
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Post by jamesw on Jan 3, 2022 3:44:12 GMT
I've often said to people when discussing Nazi era German stamps that Hitler loved putting his face on things. Turns out it wasn't just ego. I was just watching a video on Youtube about Hitler's wealth. Apparently during the war he was one of the richest men in Europe. This was partially due to royalties from Mein Kampf, and donations to the party, as well as double dipping. After Hindenburg's death, the Nazi's combined his and Hitler's titles, creating the title Fuhrer. But Hitler continued to receive BOTH salaries. But there's something else I didn't realize. Hitler licensed his image, so everything his face appeared on, he took a cut. That included postage stamps! For every stamp sold in Germany with his face on it, he took a small cut. This amounted to millions! Some of you may have known this, and perhaps it's been discussed here before, but this was news to me. Crafty begger!
If anyone is interested, here's a link to the video.
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Post by jamesw on Dec 16, 2021 21:17:28 GMT
Interesting bit if mourning trivia, but don't think it applies. These are in roughly chronological order (not sure the three 1914 covers are in the proper order) so the two with the thinner borders would indicate that theory doesn't apply here.
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Post by jamesw on Dec 16, 2021 20:21:53 GMT
Hi Everyone. Last summer I picked up this collection of eight mourning covers and an antique market. Now, I don't collect France in general, though I do have a couple of French covers, but I couldn't pass these up. I was intrigued. All eight were sent between 1910 and 1923 to the same person, Henri Désiré Bernard de Leschaux (1855 - 1939). I found some info about Mssr de Leschaux (sometimes Deleschaux) online. He was a lawyer and career diplomat, having been stationed in French colonies Obock, French Somali Coast, Congo and Dahomey. He was a Captain of hte Marchand mission and Knight of the Legion of Honour. A rather distinguished gent. He was married in 1900, his wife 20 years his junior and had three daughters. The envelopes themselves were sent by five individuals, four from one writer with obviously distinct handwriting. Some of the envelopes contain letters or card. My French being so poor, I cannot translate. All the covers sport the definitive Semeuse or sower stamp. The earliest covers all have the 10c Scott# 162 (with a number of discernible varieties), 15c #139 and 25c #168. The mystery to me is, why so many mourning covers over a thirteen year period? Hi wife outlived him by many years, as did, I assume, his daughters (they are mentioned briefly in the bios). I know some government agencies send mourning covers over long periods when a monarch or head of state dies. But looking at Frances history I don't see anything shocking. President Félix Faure died in 1899 while in office, but that's the closest I can find. So! I would like to hear the thoughts of all the French historians out there. Any ideas what might have happened during that period which could have cause the sending of so many mourning covers to one man from five others? Interested to hear your thoughts.
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Post by jamesw on Nov 28, 2021 3:28:42 GMT
Thought I'd mention something here. You may have noticed in a couple of these posts, I refer to the Bank of Montreal as BMO. The short form name was adopted in 2002 during a rebrand which attempted to unify more than 30 lines of business. Since 1967 the bank had used an M-bar logo, which is now seen in a red circle in our branding. This is called the roundel. The letters BMO were adopted almost 20 years ago now and come from the bank’s stock ticker symbol on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges - bmo. We pronounce it bee-mo. Branding has come quite a ways from those early days of 'My Bank BofM' If you'd like to see more on BMO's branding head to this link and you'll find some snippets of history on Canada's First Bank. history.bmo.com/category/advertising-branding/
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Post by jamesw on Nov 28, 2021 0:44:11 GMT
I haven't added to this Bank of Montreal collection for a while. Below is a recent online auction win, a folded letter postmarked May 21 1864 in Montreal C.E (Canada East) sent to a bank agent in Sherbrooke E.T (Eastern Townships), just east of Montreal. The stamp is an SC# 15 1859 'first cents' beaver. What is interesting to me, and why I placed it in thread is that it was sent to an Agent of the City Bank. Though this is not Bank of Montreal, City Bank (or City Bank of Montreal was its full name) was a direct competitor of BMO. By the mid 19th century, the Bank of Montreal held a virtual monopoly in Canada East (later Quebec). The problem with this was that they were a very conservative bank - both small 'c' and large 'C' conservative. More liberal minded businessmen in the eastern Canadian province had problems dealing with the Big Bank. So during that period various liberal/Liberal businessmen tried several times to open new banks to accommodate like minded businesses. City Bank was one of these, as was La Banque du Peuple. None of them lasted, City Bank merged with Royal Canadian Bank in 1876 to form Consolidated Bank of Canada (which closed in 1879) and Banque du Peuple folded in 1895. The handwriting on the letter is difficult to read, but it does mention the Bank of Montreal by name twice. I'm unsure in what context.
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Post by jamesw on Nov 28, 2021 0:15:38 GMT
Thought I'd upload (read show off) some more classic US won at a recent online auction. SC#78 1862 Washingtion. This is an upgrade, my first example had a conspicuous hole in the middle SC#33 Type III 1857 Washington No gum, it appears to be unused, though there is some slight discolouration on Georges face, I don't believe it to be a cancel. Sadly some trimmed perfs. SC#152 1870-71 deep orange Daniel Webster SC# 163 1873 Stanton
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