The Penny Black It is the first stamp emitted in the world. Conceived in England by Rowland Hillthe Penny Black enters into force the May 1, 1840 And it goes out of course in 1855, to be replaced with new specimens. It is called this why It has the value of 1 penny and reports the image of the Queen Vittoria in white color on black background.
Before then There were no prepaid stamps from the senderbut the postal costs were borne by the recipient: it was not uncommon, therefore, that those who received a letter sent it back without paying it. The English postal service He therefore had a series of problems which, with the advent of the first Penny Black, were solved. To date, the first specimens of this stamp emitted in the first days of May 1840 have a very high value, beyond 1 million dollars.
The reform of the English postal service and the birth of Penny Black
The story, set in England in 1830tells that Rowland Hillat the time teacher, he saw a girl who waited eagerly for the mail carriage but, when the postman handed over the letter, she turned her over her hands and then refused to pay. When Hill asked for explanations, the young woman explained that the letter came from her boyfriend who, to spare her the costs of retreating the mail, put signs on theexterior of the envelope to make her understand the content.
In Rowland Hill – well aware of the problems of the postal service – there was therefore an idea: something had to be created that according to out of the envelope garativa the Payment of postage. The amount of correspondence in Great Britain was in fact becoming high, and a reform was necessary that allowed both a greater one fluidity of deliveriesboth the certainty that the expenses were paid.
In 1837, Hill published the booklet “Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability” – “The reform of the post office: importance and feasibility “where he exposed the problem and proposed a solution: the stamp, a prepaid mark against the sender of the value of 1 penny, for letters up to 7 grams of weight.
The idea was subjected to signatures, In 1839 it was voted in Parliament And in 1840 the use of the stamp became the law: the official date in which the first Penny Black was sold to the public is the May 1, 1840even if the official diffusion date was set for May 6th. This date represents the final watershed before which the stamps did not exist and after which the postal system becomes what we know in the contemporary.
The Penny Black enters the market: characteristics and sizes
The first stamp created by Rowland Hill measures 21.6 x 27 mm and represents the effigy of the Regina Vittoria in white on a black background: The name Penny Black derives from here, and from its fixed value, as we have seen, to 1 penny.
Find the right combination of ink for printing And the right quality of paper and pigments to ensure that the stamp does not skid was not easy: for this reason too, the black color for printing and red for the stamp affixed. Among the main fears of the government are the falsification he is Frode attempts: thanks to the use of black and red, at least as well as well -known, they were largely avoided.
The new method of shipping of the letters immediately had a great successbecause he guaranteed the address with almost absolute certainty: it could no longer happen that the recipient could not pay and postpone the envelopes behind. From May 1840 in February 1841 It is estimated that they were sold Over 1 million Penny Black.
How much is a Penny Black today
In January 2024 Sotheby’san auction house of the United Kingdom, beat a Penny Black dated 2 May 1840 – one of the very first specimens – with estimated value Between 1.5 million and 2.5 million dollars. On Italian philatelic sites, there are less famous specimens in figures Around 600 euros.
