Penny Black
The world’s first postage stamp of 1840 – a uniform charge and a small engraved image of the Queen.
Rowland Hill proposed that postage should be prepaid by the sender, at the same price regardless of distance. On 1 May 1840 the Penny Black was issued, and on 6 May it became valid.
The image was based on a medal by William Wyon, and the fine engraved pattern was meant to make forgery difficult. Because red cancellations were hard to see on black, the colour was changed to red in 1841.
Materials: Watermarked paper, line-engraved printing, gum
Manufacture: Printed in sheets by Perkins, Bacon & Petch from engraved plates; the stamps were cut apart with scissors.
Queen Victoria’s profile against a patterned black ground.
Letters in the lower corners showing the stamp’s position on the sheet.
No perforations – the stamps were cut out.