The world's first adhesive postage stamp, issued in Britain in 1840 as part of Rowland Hill's penny postage reform, bearing the profile of Queen Victoria. It created uniform prepaid mail, and within months it had created something Hill never planned: the stamp collector. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Milestone Year WhenIssued 1 May 1840, valid for postage from 6 May 1 FAQs
Why is the Penny Black called the Penny Black?
Its one-penny price and black ink.
It cost one penny to buy, the standard rate Rowland Hill's postal reform set for a half-ounce letter anywhere in Britain, and it was printed in black ink. In February 1841 the Treasury switched to the Penny Red and began cancelling stamps in black ink instead, because the earlier red cancellation marks were hard to see on the black design and too easy to remove, which had let people reuse stamps.
Connections
Associated With
The first stamp created the first stamp collectors within months
Source Penny Black (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Penny Black (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationDesign section
The first stamps did not need to show the issuing country, so no country name was included on them.
Treasury competition section
In 1837, British postal rates were high, complex, and anomalous. To simplify matters, Sir Rowland Hill proposed an adhesive stamp to indicate pre-payment of postage.
Penny Red succession, on the 1841 color switch
In February 1841, the treasury switched to the Penny Red and began using black ink for cancellations instead, which was more effective and difficult to remove.
Issue section
Although the stamps were not officially issued for sale until 6 May 1840, some offices such as those in Bath sold the stamps unofficially before that date.
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