Canada – Newfoundland stamp year 1880 – 1 c. princ of Wales

Canada – Newfoundland stamp year 1880 – 1 c. princ of Wales MNG

The Newfoundland 1880 1¢ stamp features Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII), dressed in traditional Scottish Highland attire.

This issue is highly significant to collectors of British North America because it marks the transition to a more unified, lower-cost postal rate system in Newfoundland.

Stamp Specifications & Identification

• Subject: Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (as a young man in a glengarry bonnet and tartan)
• Color: Dull Brown / Chocolate (shades vary slightly)
• Printer: British American Bank Note Company, Montreal & Ottawa
• Perforation: 12
• Catalog Numbers:
  • Scott Catalog: #44
  • Stanley Gibbons (SG): #44
  • Unitrade (Canada): #44

Design & Printing History

The portrait used for this stamp was actually engraved much earlier, based on an 1859 painting by Winterhalter. Newfoundland first used this exact design in 1868 for a 1¢ violet stamp (Scott #32).

When postal rates changed and required a high volume of 1¢ stamps for local drop letters and newspapers, the colony reissued the design in 1880, changing the color to a distinct dull brown.

Identification Tip: If you have a 1¢ Newfoundland Prince of Wales stamp and are trying to distinguish the 1880 issue (Scott #44) from the later 1887 issue (Scott #56):

• The 1880 issue is printed in a flat dull brown / chocolate shade on stouter paper.
• The 1887 issue was printed from a newly re-engraved plate in a noticeably warmer greenish-brown or deep yellow-brown shade, often showing crisper lines on thinner paper.