Commems Collection Philately Friday: #05 - 2010 Canada / First English Settlement

Here's a First Day Cover (FDC) from Canada that commemorates more than numismatic history. The FDC features a stamp issued by Canada Post in 2010 to mark the 400th Anniversary of the establishment of the future Canada's first English Settlement. The settlement was founded on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland at Cupers Cove on the south-west side of Conception Bay - Cupers Cove is today known as Cupids. Evidence suggests that the settlement has been continuously inhabited since it was established (though at times, the population was very small).

The stamp, features a portion of a 17th Century map of Avalon Peninsula (background) along with artifacts excavated from the original site circa 1995; the artifacts depicted include a pair of hammered 17th Century English coins.

The stamp was designed by Stephen Slipp and printed by Lowe-Martin. The cover is the official FDC issued by Canada Post; it was cancelled on August 17, 2010.





I don't collect British coins of the 17th Century, but I do have the modern US commemorative coins that marked the 400th Anniversary of the Jamestown (Virginia) settlement in 2007 - a Gold Half Eagle and a Silver Dollar. Jamestown was a contemporary English settlement of Cuper's Cove.