Submitted photo
The special cover (envelope) created for the Medicine Hat Coin and Stamp Club's fall show.
medhatcsc@live.com
Earlier this year Canada Post launched a series of four stamps dealing with bears in Canada. Bears are some of the most intelligent and formidable predators in the Canadian wilderness.
The four stamps include the grizzly bear, a very powerful species found only in the western and northern regions of Canada. Two-thirds of the world’s polar bears, on average the world’s largest bear, roam Canada’s polar regions. Black bears are the most widely distributed species and are also various shades of brown and blond. Kermode bears are black bears with white or cream colour, most commonly in populations along the west coast. These bears have long featured in the traditions of coastal Indigenous cultures.
The bear stamps are a safe way to come face to face with these majestic animals. The stamps were issued in booklets, four stamp panes along with a first day cover.
To complement the bear stamp issue the Medicine Hat Coin and Stamp Club issued a special cover (envelope) for our fall coin and stamp show this year. It features one of the new bear stamps along with “Nancy” – Medicine Hat’s resident grizzly bear. Captured by members of the Blackfoot Confederacy as a cub, Nancy was sold to Mr. James Hargrave of Medicine Hat who kept her as a family pet. At age three she was given or sold to the CPR superintendent who put her on display at the Medicine Hat CPR station along with a donation box for the general hospital. Yearly donations amounted to as much as $150. Nancy was a resident of Medicine Hat, Assiniboia District, NWT from 1888-1895.
Credit for the information regarding Nancy goes to the book “The Bear and the Bone King” by William Hargrave, edited by Malcolm Sissons, available at the Medicine Hat Public Library.
The special covers are still available for sale at the Medicine Hat Coin and Stamp Club meetings at Victory Lutheran Church, second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 7:30 p.m. Please feel free to attend and learn more about this interesting hobby.
Collector’s Corner is contributed by the Medicine Hat Coin & stamp Club. For questions or comments about coin or stamp collection email medhatcsc@live.com
