Selo "Charles Connell", Província de Nova Brunswick, Canadá

Selo "Charles Connell", Província de Nova Brunswick, Canadá
Selo

La provincia canadiense de Nueva Brunswick tiene una pequeña historia filatélica. Esta provincia había emitido sus primeros sellos en 1851. Dichos sellos son muy escasos y han alcanzado un buen precio en el mercado.

El Administrador General de Correos, Charles Connell era un poco vanidoso. Un día ordenó la impresión de unos sellos a una firma en Estados Unidos y un poco antes de la fecha anunciada para iniciar la venta de los sellos, le mostró a los funcionarios del Gobierno Provincial una prueba de los seis valores impresos, para que ellos lo aprobaran. Pero el sello de 5 céntimos color marrón mostraba…¡el retrato del mismísimo Charles Connell!

Los funcionarios gubernamentales se quedaron boquiabiertos y tan indignados con la petulancia de Connell, que éste tuvo que renunciar a su cargo y se dispuso que dichos sellos sean destruidos.

Como casi siempre ocurre en estos casos, aunque se suponía que los sellos color marrón con el retrato de Connell habían sido totalmente destruidos, el nuevo Administrador y algún otro funcionario conservaron algunos cientos de ellos y aunque nunca fueron emitidos oficialmente, ni llegaron a circular, siguen obteniendo buen precio en los catálogos por la pintoresca historia de su nacimiento y breve existencia.

Charles Connell (1810 – June 28, 1873) was a Canadian politician, now remembered mainly for placing his image on a 5-cent postage stamp. Born in Northampton in the then-British colony of New Brunswick to a family of Loyalists who had fled the American Revolution, he entered politics in 1846, serving in the colony's Legislative Assembly and House of Assembly.

In 1858, Connell was appointed Postmaster General of the colony, at a time when increasing trade with the United States was forcing the British colonies to reconsider their currencies and institute a decimal system that would be more familiar to their American neighbors. New Brunswick adopted a decimal currency in 1859, and in the following year, Connell issued the first series of postage stamps in the new denomination. While few people had problems with the new currency, they were outraged that Connell chose to depict himself on the 5-cent stamp, instead of Queen Victoria. In an effort to stem the criticism and charges of extreme arrogance, he offered to buy up all the stamps and burned them publicly on the front lawn of his house. He also resigned his office as postmaster general. It is unknown how many stamps survived, but they number no more than a few dozen and are now extremely rare. Some counterfeits of the stamp exist also.

Despite the episode, Connell continued to serve in the colonial legislature up until 1867. A member of the Executive Council of New Brunswick, he served as Surveyor General from July 10, 1866 to July 17, 1867.

An ardent supporter of Canadian Confederation, Connell was elected as a Member of Parliament representing the New Brunswick electoral district of Carleton in the first two Canadian parliaments.

From 1865 to 1866, he published his own newspaper, The Union.

Nota do blog: O selo verde acima (Conhecido como Chalon Head), mostrando a Rainha Vitória, substituiu o selo "Charles Connell" (ao lado do verde).