Canada, 1908 (20 cents, Cartier’s ships)
Three sailing ships on a river below hills.
Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
CANADA POSTAGE at the top; the French captions point to Quebec.
- 1CANADA POSTAGE
- 2ARRIVÉE DE CARTIER · IIIE CENTENAIRE DE QUÉBEC
- Inscription
- CANADA POSTAGE · TWENTY CENTS · 1608 1908 · ARRIVÉE DE CARTIER QUÉBEC 1535 · IIIE CENTENAIRE DE QUÉBEC
- Meaning
- French: “Cartier’s arrival, Quebec 1535” and “third centenary of Quebec”.
- Issued by
- Dominion of Canada
- Today
- Canada Flag of Canada
- Year
- 1908. Issued in July 1908 for the 300th anniversary of Quebec.
- Made by
- American Bank Note Company, Ottawa (production company; individual design/engraving division not isolated)
One fact
The Quebec Tercentenary set of 1908 was printed in English and French; the twenty cents shows Jacques Cartier’s ships arriving in 1535.
Source and public-domain rule
Canada, Crown copyright, published more than 50 years ago. A Canadian government stamp published 1908: Crown copyright ended 50 years later. A work prepared or published by or under the direction or control of the Canadian Government (the Crown), such as a Post Office stamp, has Crown copyright for the rest of the year of first publication and 50 years after (Copyright Act, s. 12). Legal sources: Copyright Act (Canada), s. 12.
Scan: Canada Cartier 1908 issue-20c.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1248039445), licence templates {{PD-Canada-stamp}}, {{PD-1996}}. Downloaded 2026-10-21, sha256 dd7fee8f2065…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-22 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a second check of these rights by a person is planned, and a stamp that turns out not to be free to use will be removed. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
