The Penny Black, partially obscured by a red cancellation.

The Penny Black

The Penny Black was the world's first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on May 1, 1840, for use from May 6. Although London offices received issues of the new stamps, not all the offices in the the United Kingdom were so fortunate, some having to continue taking payments in cash. The city of Bath is known to have been one of the places where stamp supplies were made with examples known unofficially used there from May 2 Image File history File linksMetadata Penny_Black,_world's_first_postage_stamp,_1840. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Penny_Black,_world's_first_postage_stamp,_1840. ... A machine cancellation On mail, a cancellation (or cancel for short) is a postal marking applied to a postage stamp or postal stationery indicating that the item has been used. ... The Penny Black. ... The Penny Black. ... A selection of Hong Kong postage stamps A postage stamp is evidence of pre-paying a fee for postal services. ... Motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right)1 Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Territory of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Capital London Language(s) English Gaelic Welsh (Wales) Scottish Gaelic (parts of Scotland) Government Constitutional monarchy Monarch  - 1801–1820 George III  - 1920–1922... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ... Statistics Population: 84,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: ST745645 Administration District: Bath and North East Somerset Region: South West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Somerset Historic county: Somerset Services Police force: Avon and Somerset Fire and rescue: Avon Ambulance: South Western Post office... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ...

The idea of an adhesive stamp to indicate prepayment of postage was part of Rowland Hill's 1837 proposal to reform the British postal system. A companion idea which Hill disclosed on February 13, 1837 at a government inquiry was that of a separate sheet which folded to form an enclosure or envelope for carrying letters. At that time postage was charged by the sheet and on the distance travelled. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A British pillar box The postal system is a system by which written documents typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages containing other matter, are delivered to destinations around the world. ... February 13 is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) 1837 (MDCCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Front of an envelope mailed in the U.S. in 1906 contains postage stamp and address. ...

Postal delivery systems using what may have been adhesive stamps existed before the Penny Black. Apparently the idea had at least been suggested earlier, notably in Austria, Sweden, and possibly Greece.

Hill was given a two-year contract to run the new system, and he and Henry Cole subsequently ran a competition to identify the best way to prepay letters. None of the 2600 entries were good enough, so in the end Hill launched the service in 1840 with an envelope bearing a reproduction of a design created by the artist William Mulready and a stamp bearing a reproduction of the profile of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. There are also references on the record to covers bearing the Mulready design. To this day, all British stamps bear a profile of the reigning monarch somewhere on the design, and are the only nationality of stamp that do not name their country of origin. 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... William Mulready (April 1, 1786 - June 7, 1863) was an Irish genre painter living in London. ... Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India from 1 May 1876, until her death on 22 January 1901. ... In philately, a cover is an envelope or package, typically with stamps that have been cancelled. ...

In 1839, the British Treasury had announced a competition to design the new stamps, but none of the submissions were considered suitable, and the Treasury chose instead to use a profile of Victoria. The head was engraved by Charles and Fredrick Heath based on a sketch provided by Henry Cole. Cole's sketch was in turn based on the head by William Wyon, that had been done for a medal used to commemorate the visit of Queen Victoria to the City of London in the year she ascended the throne, 1837. The word "POSTAGE" appeared at the top of the stamp, to denote its intended use (revenue stamps had long been used in the UK) and "ONE PENNY" at the bottom, indicating the amount that had been pre-paid for the transmission of the letter to which it was affixed. The background consisted of finely engraved engine turnings. In addition, the two upper corners contained star like designs and the lower corners contained letters designating the position of each stamp in the sheet, "A A", "A B", and so forth. As the name suggests, the stamp was printed all in black. The stamps were printed by Perkins Bacon. 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The term treasury was first used in classical times to describe the votive buildings erected to house gifts to the gods, such as the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi or the many buildings put up in Olympia, Greece by competing city-states, to impress each other during the Ancient Olympic Games. ... William Wyon (1795—1851) was official chief engraver at the Royal Mint from 1828 until his death. ... Engine Turning refers to a fine geometric pattern that can be inscribed onto metal as a finish. ... Messrs. ...

Although May 6 was the official first date when the labels were available for the pre-payment of postage, there are known covers postmarked May 2, due to postmasters selling the stamps from 1 May. Stamps used on letters prior to 6 May should have been treated as un-paid and charged double the rate on delivery. A single example is also known on cover dated 1 May 1840. In philately, a cover is an envelope or package, typically with stamps that have been cancelled. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Penny Black was in use for only a little over a year. It was found that a red cancellation stamp on a black background was hard to see, and the red ink was easy to remove from the Penny Black. In 1841 the Treasury switched to the Penny Red and issued cancellation stamps with black ink. The black ink which was much more effective as a cancellation was also harder to remove. The re-use of stamps with the un-cancelled portions of two stamps to form an unused whole impression continued and in 1864 the stars in the top corners were replaced by the check letters, as they appeared in the lower corners, but in reverse order. Penny Red The Penny Red, issued in 1841, succeeded the Penny Black and continued as the main type of postage stamp in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879, with only minor changes to the design during that time. ...

The Penny Black was printed from 11 plates. However, as plate 1 was completely overhauled due to excessive wear, it is generally considered as two separate plates, 1a and 1b. Plate 11 was intended originally solely for the new red stamps, but a small number were still printed in black. These are now extremely rare. (See information on Penny black printing plates) The printing plates for the Penny black, Two pence blue and the VR official were all constructed by Perkins Bacon, the printers of the first postage stamps issued in Great Britain. ...

An original printing press for the Penny Black is on display to the public at the British Library in London. British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of the United Kingdom and the largest city of England (strangely, England has no constitutional existence within the United Kingdom, and therefore cannot be said to have a capital). ...

The Penny Black is readily available on the collector's market today, but because of its significance it is in great demand by collectors and therefore not cheap; in 2000 a used stamp cost about US$200 (around £110), and an unused stamp about US$3,000 (around £1,600). (By contrast, a used penny red was $3 (£1.50).) This article is about the year 2000. ...

In addition to the general issue of the Penny Black postage stamps, a similar stamp was produced which had the letters V and R in the top corners replacing the stars. The intention of this issue was for use on official mail. Following the acceptance by the general public of the postage stamps and the ridicule of the Mulready letter sheets, which were produced at the same time, vast supplies of the latter were given to government departments, such as the tax office, for official use. As such the idea of an official stamp was abandoned. A few examples exist postally used which probably originate from the Post Office circulars which were sent out as notification of the new stamps which were being brought into use. Most of the cancelled examples are from trials which were made for cancellation types, inks and experiments with their removal which led to the change from black to red stamps and vice versa for the cancellations. From the introduction of the Penny Black by the British postal system, Post Office Circulars have been sent out from the main office, (originally in Edinburgh), to give information and examples of the new postage stamps which were coming into general use. ...

The VR official is stated as being made from the original master die, however, this can not be the case as this still exists and is housed in the National Postal Museum in London. It is believed that the master for this stamp was produced from the transfer roller used for the production of plate 1 with the stars removed from the top corners as some impressions show traces of these original stars. The VR official was one of three postage stamps introduced by the United Kingdom for the pre-payment of postage in May 1840. ... The National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is located across the street from Union Station and houses many interactive displays about the history of the United States Postal Service and of mail service around the world. ...

See also

• List of British postage stamps
• List of notable postage stamps

This is a list of postage stamps issued by the United Kingdom (normally referred to as Great Britain in phitatelic usage). ... This is a list of postage stamps that are especially notable in some way. ...

External link

• The 1840 Penny Black at the National Postal Museum
• Before the Penny Black