THE CANADA PRECANCELLED WIDOW WEEDS
Style “T” regular and vertical
When Prince Albert died of typhoid fever in Dec 1861 at the age of 42, Queen Victoria wore widow’s weeds, or mourning clothes for the rest of her life. “weeds” is a corruption of an old English word “waed” meaning “garment”. Hence the name for Scott numbers 46 and 47. Although part of the Small Queen issue, I tend to look at them separately, partly because of their size, the fact that they are early high values and because of their precancel varieties.
The 20 cent Widow Weed was only precancelled with bars, specifically styles A, C, J, R, S, T and U. There are a total of 17 different varieties of which one is not listed in the Standard Canada Precancel Catalogue 6th Edition [SCPC].
Style “J” regular, double and vertical
The following chart lists all the known items and the holdings of some major collectors. It is likely that in one or two instances one collector purchased an item from another [the Lussey, Walburn and Reiche collections have been sold] so there is duplication. The rarity factor is my personal estimate. [See article on rarity factors]
WIDOW
|
SCPC
|
RARITY
| |||||
WEEDS
|
VALUE
|
FACTOR
| |||||
#46
|
$
|
ESTIMATE
|
LUSSEY
|
WALBURN
|
REICHE
|
DM
|
AE
|
A-46
|
200
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
| ||
C-46
|
200
|
8
|
X
| ||||
J-46
|
150
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
| |
J-46 D
|
200
|
10
| |||||
J-46 V
|
250
|
8
|
X
|
X
|
X
| ||
R-46
|
200
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
R-46D
|
200
|
10
| |||||
R-46 V
|
200
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
S-46
|
150
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
S-46 D
|
250
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
| ||
S-46 V
|
200
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
| |
T-46
|
200
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
| |
T-46 D
|
UNLIST
|
8
|
X
|
X
| |||
T- 46 V
|
200
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
U-46
|
200
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
| |
U-46 T
|
250
|
10
| |||||
U-46 V
|
200
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
| ||
TOTAL
|
17
|
9
|
10
|
12
|
10
|
11
|
There are three items that are listed that were not in the Lussey, Walburn or Reiche collections and are not in two current major collections. If they exist they may be unique. The unlisted item in the Lussey sale was as follows:
“Lot 161 T-46 D used single, double, LL corner added, crease, VF centred. UNLISTED. Estimate $50.” Sold for $55. A bargain since condition means nothing in such a rare stamp. Still unlisted in 6th edition of the catalogue.
The 50 cent Widow Weed was precancelled by bars, Montreal and Toronto overprints.
Toronto Toronto
2-47-Y 2-47-R
Quadruple two invert Triple one invert
There are nine bar types but 3 were not in the collections of Lussey, Walburn or Reiche and are not known in two other collections. These should be considered major rarities and worth significantly more than catalogue value if they do exist. Two additional styles are also very rare since only one of each was in the Walburn collection. These were:
S-47 V
T-47 V
The Toronto 2-47 ED is a major rarity with only two known and 2-47 Q and 2-47 X are both rare though the quantities of each is not known.
The rarity in Montreal is the 1-47 I. According to Lussey, there are only two copies. Although the chart below shows 5 copies, it is likely that Lussey was not far wrong. One collector bought the Lussey copy and Reiche sold to a collector who sold to me. There is therefore probably a third copy from the Walburn collection which was bought by a UK collector.
Some of the more common 50 cent Widow Weeds are known in pairs but larger multiples are rare. There is one block of four EACH of the U-47 VD and the Toronto 2-47 which may be the largest multiples.
The widow weeds are an interesting narrow area for a collector but trying to complete a collection will prove frustrating.
There was one other item that was precancelled in the Widow Weeds with an Ottawa cancel. It is the so-called “experimental”. There was one sheet of 100 OG. To follow.
WIDOW
|
SCPC
|
RARITY
| |||||
WEEDS
|
VALUE
|
FACTOR
| |||||
#47
|
$
|
ESTIMATE
|
LUSSEY
|
WALBURN
|
REICHE
|
DM
|
AE
|
A-47
|
250
|
10
| |||||
I-47 V
|
200
|
10
| |||||
S-47 V
|
250
|
10
|
X
| ||||
T-47
|
250
|
10
| |||||
T-47V
|
250
|
10
|
X
|
X
| |||
U-47
|
100
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
U-47 D
|
150
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
U-47 V
|
100
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
U-47 VD
|
100
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
BLK4
|
TORONTO
| |||||||
2-47
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
BLK 4
|
X
|
2-47 D
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 W3I
|
400
|
10
|
X
|
X
| |||
2-47 I
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 ID
|
100
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 M
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 Q
|
200
|
10
| |||||
2-47 R
|
250
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 T
|
150
|
4
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
2-47 X
|
300
|
10
|
X
| ||||
2-47 Y
|
200
|
6
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
MONTREAL
| |||||||
1-47
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
1-47 D
|
50
|
2
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
1-47 I
|
600
|
8
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
TOTAL
|
16
|
17
|
16
|
17
|
16
|
