Nova Scotia: Stamps

renden I do have these New Brunswick stamps. Like you I am more focused on my home province so am not actively looking to add to my NB issues. Like my NS stuff, I have lost track of what I had found and what were in my dad's collection. Till recent years I built my collection by buying old collections and job lots at auction as opposed to buying singles. 

Just yesterday found what I thought was an unshaded E of NS #11, so nice to see wert's picture of it, to confirm that it is what I have. Great timing!

dgdecker !!
I like it very much - covers seem to "speak" 
René

With regard to the way the envelope was folded, as you suggest, the sender made two attempts to fold the letter. Ultimately, the first folds would have been to the sides, left then right. The  circular items are wafers, made from flour, and when wet act as stickers. The bottom part would then have been tucked into the top part. When dry, a wax seal would have been applied to the middle overlap. This is the only way it would work for the postmarks to end up on the outside of the letter 

Beautiful cover David ! dgdecker
I do have a copy of this stamp but not on cover !!

René

I never thought the day would come that I would own a Nova Scotia 1 shilling but here we are. This one comes with a 2003 Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation certificate stating it is a Nova Scotia Scott Specialized 6i used showing letter "A" of SAUNDERS watermark. Their place of operation is less than a half hour walk from where I live so if I decide to have the certificate updated I should be able to arrange dropping it off. 

It is cut rather close for my likings but lovely colour. 



The scan of the back when blown up made the 'A' hard to see. 



If a renewed study determined that it is just a regular unwatermarked 6 I would still be comfortable. I will mull over going to the expense of a renewal of the certificate. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I have never submitted a stamp for verification. 

I have five small pre-confederation Nova Scotia covers with the 5 cent blue Queen Victoria Unitrade 10. This is the only one that went to the USA with the 10 cent rate. This is also the only one I have with a Queens County postmark that is readable. The village of Milton is just a few miles up the Mersey River from the town of Liverpool. The first post office started operating in Milton in 1860 and there is still one there. This cover dates to February 19, 1865. Covers with the 5 cent stamp are fairly common so often sell well below catalogue. Condition is always a bit rough on them and foxing is common. 

A nice pair!  I find that stamp quality on cover is usually in much better condition than the cover on which it is affixed. I too have found mine at quite reasonable prices. Still trying to find one postmarked from Colchester County.  

David

I was looking through my Nova Scotia accumulation and stopped to look at this piece with 3 stamps used in combination for the .05 domestic rate of the time. Kind of sad that I do no have the complete cover. What I find interesting about the piece is that it appears to be a post confederation usage which was allowed although I am not sure how long. The postmark appears to be from Halifax dated UA (January) 30 with 68 below. In my on line searching I did come across one cover from 1868 and verification that UA was used to represent January on some cancels. 

Colours can be a challenge especially with classics. Nova Scotia is no exception. The 3 pence blue had a 1851 issue Unitrade 2 and then a 1857 release Unitrade 3. A recent arrival has my collection now including 4 off paper and 2 on covers. The recent arrival was part of a small collection that I thought I would probably sell. Now that it is with the others it I think it will stay as I start to develop a better shade study. The first photo was taken in natural light with my iPhone SE and I think is better than the following scan. 

iPhone image

The far left on cover was mailed in September of 1957 which was the year that Unitrade 3 was issued. It is quite dark so I am thinking that is what it is. The one beside it is even darker so I would say that is a Unitrade 3 as well. The next in line is the newest arrival and is possibly a Unitrade 2 blue. Next in line is the palest and possibly a Unitrade 2b. The next is quite bright so possibly Unitrade 2i. Here is where the confusion comes in. I purchased the one on cover as a Unitrade 2 but it was postmarked in 1859 which I would think is a rather late usage. 

Value wise Unitrade prices them all about the same. As is often the case some of these are cut too close on at least one side which devalues them by quite a bit. 

Scanned image for comparison. 


Unitrade 2000 listings. 



If anyone has a bag full of these laying around feel free to send them on to me   so I can continue the study. 

A new arrival today is this handsome lightly hinged horizontal pair imperf vertically one cent blacks (Unitrade 8c). About a week ago dgdecker posted an example of this item and I felt the need to sit on my hands and say nothing because the auction I was bidding on was still open. Sorry about that Dave. I would say that this pair is a little nicer than the pair you were looking at. The price I paid was just a bit higher than the eBay pair you were considering. 

Today's mail brought several more nice items that I will share over the next few days. I have several covers with this stamp already but this one interested me for it's historical significance. Andrew Cowie was a prominent business man and politician from my home town of Liverpool, Nova Scotia in the 1800's. Sadly there was no postmark applied upon the arrival in Liverpool. It was mailed from or passed through Halifax on November 15, 1865. The notation on the envelope suggests he replied to the letter on the 29th of January, 1866. He was a member of the provincial parliament at that time. 





This information on Andrew Cowie is from Wikipedia: 

Andrew Cowie (July 20, 1798 – October 21, 1890) was a Scottish-born leather manufacturer, ship owner and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Liverpool township from 1851 to 1855 and Queen's County from 1859 to 1867 in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.



He was born in Auchanbalrige in Banffshire, the son of William Cowie and Elizabeth Milne, and came to Halifax in 1816, settling in Liverpool two years later. He entered business as a dry goods merchant but later acquired a tannery and began to manufacture leather. In 1820, he married Janet More. For a time, Cowie was involved in the lumber trade, an occupation that most Cowie's go into at one point or another. He also operated a saddle and harness shop in partnership with his sons. Cowie also served as a magistrate.

While I was home in Liverpool I visited the Trinity Anglican Church old cemetery and found the Cowie family plot. The next photo is his tombstone.