It’s like one of those lovely ladies who you can only adore and dream about. The Penny Black is quite a sensation in the world of philately. It is considered to be the oldest postage stamp in the world which was officially circulated and used by the citizens of UK, almost 175 years ago.
The Penny Black is not a rare stamp, there were over 68 million printed and it is estimated that approximately 5% still survive. Nevertheless, they can be very valuable with the rarest pieces changing hands well in excess of £100,000. The introduction of the Uniform Penny Post increased postal traffic from 75 million to 410 million in under ten years The scarcest Penny Blacks are from printing plate 11, originally produced for the Penny Red, plate 11 was drafted in for an emergency printing in black of only 700 sheets. The Penny Black, although considered an icon of classic philately, was actually a failure. Fraud was a major concern for the Post Office, the original red postmark was removable so the stamp could be reused, and the replacement black postmark couldn’t be readily seen on a black stamp. The Penny Red was developed to overcome these problems and was issued in various guises for the next 40 years. The Penny Black was the world’s first postage stamp but it is only half the story, a 2d stamp in blue was issued at the same time and is actually ten times rarer! As Great Britain was the first country to issue a postage stamp, it is not required to include the country name in the design to this day.
Despite its historical significance, the Penny Black faced challenges and ultimately proved to be a failure in some regards. Fraud was a major concern for the Post Office, as the original red postmark could be removed, allowing the stamp to be reused. Additionally, the replacement black postmark was difficult to see on the black stamp. These issues led to the development of the Penny Red stamp, which addressed these concerns and remained in use for the next 40 years.
While the Penny Black is often celebrated as the world’s first postage stamp, it’s only one part of the story. A 2d stamp in blue was also issued simultaneously with the Penny Black. Interestingly, the 2d Blue stamp is actually considered to be ten times rarer than the Penny Black.