. _18th July, 1857._

Under the Post Office Law of last Session taking effect from 1st
August, 1857, Newspapers printed and published in Canada, and
mailed direct from Office of Publication, will pass free of
Canadian Postage.

Periodicals so printed, published, and mailed when specially
devoted to Religious and to General Education, to Agriculture, or
Temperance, or to any branch of Science, will pass free from any
one Post-Office to another within the Province.

Transient and re-mailed Papers and Periodicals will pass by Post if
prepaid by Postage stamp--one halfpenny if not exceeding 3 oz. in
weight, and 2d if over 3 oz.

Postage Stamps of the value of one halfpenny each will be sold to
the public at all the principal Post Offices (including all Money
Order Offices), with a discount of 5 per cent. upon purchases of
not less than twenty stamps and will be available in prepayment of
Newspapers and Periodicals, and of Drop and Town Letters.

R. SPENCE, Postmaster-General.

The Royal Philatelic Society's book gives the date of the above
notice--July 18th, 1857--as the date of issue of the new stamp but, as
Mr. Howes observes "it is more likely that the stamp was issued on 1st
August, the day the new rates took effect."

Although this stamp is generally conceded to be the last of the "pence"
values to be issued, until more definite information regarding the date
of issue of the 7-1/2d can be procured, this supposition can rest on no
more substantial basis than that of mere conjecture.

[Illustration]

The design is quite unlike that of any of the other values expressed in
pence and consists of the conventional profile portrait of the Queen
shown on so many of the stamps of the British Empire, within an oval
band inscribed CANADA POSTAGE, at the top, and ONE HALF PENNY, at the
bottom. There are no numerals or inscriptions in the corners but merely
a plain pattern of diagonally crossed lines. Mr. Howes states "the stamp
was printed in sheets of 100, ten rows of ten, with the right marginal
imprints as described for the series of 1851."

From the Postmaster-General's report we gather that 1,341,600 halfpenny
stamps were received prior to October 1st, 1857, though whether these
were all in one consignment or not is not quite clear. At any rate
judging from the statement in the same report that "the Department has
been led to take