A brief history of pennies, an introduction to pennies

The "Black Penny" stamp has taken a big step forward in postal work, marking the birth of the world's modern postal service, which is of epoch-making significance. "Penny black" is a combination of color and denomination. It is printed in black engraving without perforations, no country name, only the portrait of the queen, at that time there were no stamps in the world, the United Kingdom was the first country in the world to issue stamps, and the United Kingdom is still the only country in the world without a country name on the stamp.

The design has the word "postage" above and the word "one penny" below the face value, which is black, and the stamp sheet consists of 12 stamps per line, a total of 20 lines of 240 stamps. This is because the British currency system at that time was 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence, a line of 12 coins is exactly one shilling (12 pence), and a full sheet is exactly one pound (as shown below). Of particular interest is the fact that the lower two corners of the stamps have an English letter, and the same letter in the lower left corner of each stamp design on the same row.

The first line is a, the second line is b, and so on; The letters in the lower right corner of the design indicate the position of the stamp in the middle of the sheet, in alphabetical order from left to right, such as AA, AB, AC and Al in the first horizontal row from left to right, and BA, BB, BC and ......BL in the second horizontal rowThe purpose of this arrangement is to prevent counterfeiting. Although the number of stamps from 1840 is considerable, it is very difficult to restore a complete sheet of the original. Since stamps have just come out, people don't quite understand what stamps are, so the explanatory text is printed on the edge of each whole "black penny" paper:

Each stamp is a penny, a line of twelve is sold for one shilling, and a full sheet is sold for one pound. Attach the stamp to the top right of the address and do not wipe off the adhesive when the label is wet. ”

In addition, at that time, a black penny was also issued for ****, and the difference between the black penny above is that the "star ray" pattern in the left and right corners of the upper left corner was changed to the letter "V" in the upper left corner, and the letter "R" in the upper right corner (see the picture below), and the left and right corners of the lower side are "English letters" unchanged. Nine months after the introduction of the penny black, red penny stamps began to be issued in 1841. The reason for the color change is that the black stamp stamped on the black stamp is not easy to see, and some people remove the stamp with the black stamp and reuse it, so the stamp is printed in brown and red with the same stencil.

The black penny stamp has almost all the characteristics of modern stamps, with scientific and usability, creating an era of stamp issuance, and many countries have followed the British example to issue their own stamps. Brazil was the first country to issue stamps after the United Kingdom, with its first stamp issued in 1843, followed by Switzerland. The United States also issued postage stamps in 1847.

In the decade that followed, almost all countries had their own stamps, and a hobby of philately began.

Have you ever seen the world's top empty-gloved white wolf? The story of the world's first postage stamp "Penny Black".

The origin of the black penny was coined by English scholars.

The black penny was the world's first postage stamp. Sir Rowland Hill, the father of stamps, led to an important revolution in the world postal service, and also led to the birth of the "black penny", the queen of the world's stamps. On 17 August 1839, the British Parliament passed the 1p Postage Act, which introduced a uniform postage system, and a prepaid postage system.

From 6 September to 15 October, there was an open solicitation of comments and design drawings on the payment of postage vouchers, but none of the more than 2,500 pieces of feedback received were satisfactory. Based on the feedback, Hill made further design changes and worked with designers, sculptors and other stakeholders to create the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black. It was officially issued and used in the United Kingdom on May 6, 1840.

The face value is measured by taxis and printed with black ink, so it is called a black penny stamp.

Have you seen the world's top empty-handed rush to bury the white wolf? The story of the world's first postage stamp "Penny Black".