Charles Connell

The Connell stamp, New Brunswick 5 cents, 1860 New Brunswick's postmaster general Charles Connell needed a new set of stamps in 1860, and he put his own face on the five-cent value where Queen Victoria was expected. There was a storm of protest, the issue was withdrawn and Connell resigned. It is one of the best-known scandals in British North American stamps and a reminder that the provinces ran their own posts before Confederation. The stamp itself is a rarity, so for most collectors the realistic goal is the rest of New Brunswick's 1860 cents issue, with the Queen restored to the five-cent value, and a good story to tell beside it on the album page.