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Penny Black
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Estimated value: US$5 million
The UK's 1840 issued Penny Black is the
first stamp in the world. It was designed by Rowland Hill, who proposed
the reform of the British postal system. He was called the Father of the
Postage Stamp.
Before the Penny Black was issued, post
offices had to take payments for mail delivery in cash. People had to
wait in line to deliver every piece of mail. Postage was charged by the
number of letter papers and the amount of distance traveled. Following
Rowland Hill's suggestion, a letter was wrapped in an extra piece of
paper (envelope) and an adhesive stamp was attached to indicate the
prepayment of postage. The stamp was the Penny Black.
The picture in the stamp shows Queen
Victoria, based on a sketch of her by William Wyon when she visited
London in 1837. The Penny Black Stamp was only used for one year because
the red cancellation mark was hard to spot on its black background. As a
result of this, nine months later, the stamp was reprinted as a red
stamp so that the black cancellation marks were easier to see and harder
to remove.
The Penny Black was scheduled to be
issued on May 6. However, in some cities, a number of the copies were
issued on May 2. Only two pieces of the early issue can be found now and
these are regarded as real treasures. A few years ago, a rich
businessman bought a copy from a US auction house at the price of US$5
million.
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