The Penny Black is known for being the world's first stamp. It is the most famous of all stamps, and one that every collector aspires to own. Famed for its fine engraving and timeless simplicity, this stamp has an intriguing philatelic history.
In the 1830's British postal rates were high and the charges were complex. Usually, the recipient paid for postage upon delivery, with the charge determined by weight and distance travelled. To make matters easier for the Post Office and public, in 1837, Sir Rowland Hill, a former schoolmaster, proposed using an adhesive stamp to indicate postage had been pre-paid. On 1st of May 1840 the Penny Black was first issued in Great Britain, even though it was not valid for use until 6th May 1840.
Featuring a profile of Queen Victoria, the Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp to be used in a public postal system. It was inscribed in capital letters with the word 'POSTAGE'' at the top and ÓNE PENNY'' at the bottom and its background was made up of finely-engraved engine turnings. Its upper left and right corners featured two star-like designs, with the lower left and right corners containing letters, which helped to designate the position of the stamp in relation to the sheet on which it was printed. It was printed in sheets of 240 by Perkins Bacon. The image was based on a sketch of the Queen when she was aged 15. However, it remained on stamps for the entirety of her reign, which was almost 64 years.
A total of 286,700 sheets containing 68,808,000 stamps were made available. Probably about 1.8 to 2% still exist. Blocks and strips of Penny Black are scarce. The British Postal Museum, in London is the only known owner of complete sheets. Each sheet contained 240 letter combinations, starting with AA at the top left and going down to TL at the bottom right.
Such was the demand of the Penny Black that the printing plates soon showed signs of wear and needed repairing or replacing. In total 12 different plates were used to keep up with demand, including two versions of the first plate (1a and 1b)
The most desirable Penny Black for a collector would be one posted on 6th May 1840, however all with May 1840 dates are rare too. The rarest Penny Blacks also came from plate 11 from which only 168,000 stamps were produced. The plate was originally created to print the Penny Reds which were set to replace the Penny Black. However, when the red ink was not ready, they continued to use black ink for a 700 sheet run.
Although, an unused Penny Black in ''mint'' condition or ''very fine'' condition is extremely expensive, those struck with the Maltese Cross in shades of ruby, brown, magenta, orange and blue are highly desirable by collectors. Because these stamps were not perforated, they were separated using scissors or a knife. Irregular margins were not uncommon and collectors pay higher prices for an exceptional example with four regular, wide and even margins.
During April 1840 a supply of Penny Blacks was printed with the check letters VR in the upper corners instead of the usual stars. These were to be issued to governmental offices. The scheme was however abandoned and most of these sheets destroyed. A few sheets that survived are now very rare. In 2015 a block of 4 was sold for 31,860 UK Pounds, and a VR 4 margined single realised 5,782 UK Pounds. The first Penny Black is expected to fetch up to 8 million UK Pounds at an auction now. Only three Penny Blacks are believed to have survived from the very first sheet of printed stamps. The other two are part of the collection at the British Postal Museum.
Even though these stamps were superseded in 1841 by the Red Penny, stamp collectors still retain their love for the Black Penny and these are in extremely high demand more than 180 years after it was first issued.
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