first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver
E481231
The Threepenny Beaver was the first postage stamp issued in what is now Canada, notable for featuring a beaver rather than a monarch and symbolizing the young country's natural resources and identity.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4945804 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver Context triple: [Sandford Fleming, designed, first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver]
-
A.
Inverted Jenny stamp block
The Inverted Jenny stamp block is a famously misprinted 1918 U.S. airmail stamp sheet segment depicting an upside-down biplane, considered one of the most iconic and valuable philatelic errors in the world.
-
B.
Ontario’s Great Seal
Ontario’s Great Seal is the official emblem used to authenticate important provincial documents and proclamations issued in the name of the Crown in Ontario.
-
C.
Great Seal of the Province of British Columbia
The Great Seal of the Province of British Columbia is the official emblem used to authenticate important state documents and acts of the provincial government in British Columbia, Canada.
-
D.
Manx postage stamps
Manx postage stamps are the official postal issues of the Isle of Man, often featuring local symbols, history, and culture in their designs.
-
E.
The Beaver
The Beaver is a 2011 drama film starring Mel Gibson as a depressed man who begins communicating through a beaver hand puppet, directed by Jodie Foster.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver Target entity description: The Threepenny Beaver was the first postage stamp issued in what is now Canada, notable for featuring a beaver rather than a monarch and symbolizing the young country's natural resources and identity.
-
A.
Inverted Jenny stamp block
The Inverted Jenny stamp block is a famously misprinted 1918 U.S. airmail stamp sheet segment depicting an upside-down biplane, considered one of the most iconic and valuable philatelic errors in the world.
-
B.
Ontario’s Great Seal
Ontario’s Great Seal is the official emblem used to authenticate important provincial documents and proclamations issued in the name of the Crown in Ontario.
-
C.
Great Seal of the Province of British Columbia
The Great Seal of the Province of British Columbia is the official emblem used to authenticate important state documents and acts of the provincial government in British Columbia, Canada.
-
D.
Manx postage stamps
Manx postage stamps are the official postal issues of the Isle of Man, often featuring local symbols, history, and culture in their designs.
-
E.
The Beaver
The Beaver is a 2011 drama film starring Mel Gibson as a depressed man who begins communicating through a beaver hand puppet, directed by Jodie Foster.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Canadian postage stamp
ⓘ
postage stamp ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Sir Sandford Fleming
ⓘ
linked to:
Sandford Fleming
early Canadian postal history ⓘ |
| collectingCategory | classic Canadian issues ⓘ |
| color |
orange red
ⓘ
red ⓘ |
| country | Province of Canada ⓘ |
| culturalSignificance | early use of national fauna on postage ⓘ |
| currency | pence ⓘ |
| denomination | three pence ⓘ |
| depicts |
beaver
ⓘ
landscape ⓘ log jam ⓘ water ⓘ |
| designer |
Sir Sandford Fleming
ⓘ
linked to:
Sandford Fleming
|
| engraver | Alfred Jones ⓘ |
| faceValue | 3d ⓘ |
| firstIssuedIn | Province of Canada ⓘ |
| firstIssuedInYear | 1851 ⓘ |
| followedBy | later pence issues of Province of Canada ⓘ |
| hasPhilatelicValue | yes ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod |
pre-Confederation Canada
ⓘ
linked to:
colonial Canada
|
| inscription |
CANADA POSTAGE
ⓘ
linked to:
Canada Post
THREE PENCE ⓘ |
| introducedBy |
Province of Canada Post Office
ⓘ
linked to:
Post Office Department (Canada)
|
| material | paper ⓘ |
| notableFor |
being the first postage stamp issued in what is now Canada
ⓘ
featuring a beaver instead of a monarch ⓘ |
| orientation | horizontal ⓘ |
| perforation | imperforate ⓘ |
| postalFunction |
basic inland letter postage
ⓘ
domestic letter rate ⓘ |
| precededBy | handstamped postal markings in Province of Canada ⓘ |
| printedIn | New York City ⓘ |
| printer | Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson ⓘ |
| printingMethod | line-engraved ⓘ |
| printingTechnique | intaglio ⓘ |
| rarity | scarce in fine condition ⓘ |
| region |
British North America
ⓘ
linked to:
British America
|
| shape | rectangular ⓘ |
| status | classic stamp ⓘ |
| subjectOf |
Canadian philatelic studies
ⓘ
stamp exhibitions ⓘ |
| symbolizes |
Canadian natural resources
ⓘ
emerging Canadian national identity ⓘ |
| usedFor | pre-Confederation mail ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: first Canadian postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver Description of subject: The Threepenny Beaver was the first postage stamp issued in what is now Canada, notable for featuring a beaver rather than a monarch and symbolizing the young country's natural resources and identity.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.