What is Penny Black?
[[File:Penny black.jpg|thumb|125px|A Penny Black showing [[Queen Victoria]]]] [[File:Pennyblack-pd.jpg|thumb|125px|A Penny Black with a [[red]] cancellation on it]] The '''Penny Black''' was the [[world]]'s first [[adhesive]] [[postage stamp]]. It was issued by the [[United Kingdom]] on the 1 May 1840 and used from the 6 May the same year. All [[London]] [[post office]]s received official issues of the new stamps, but other offices in the [[country]] did not. Some post offices like in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], offered the stamp unofficially after 2 May. Once the stamps were used, they had a red [[cancellation]]. However, it was hard to see, and it could easily be taken off. It is not very rare. The total print run was 286,700 sheets with 68,808,000 stamps.<ref>{{cite web|title=Great Britain: Wednesday, May&nbsp;6, 1840|publisher=First Issues Collectors Club|date=2003-11-03|url=http://www.firstissues.org/ficc/details/gb_1.shtml|accessdate=2013-04-30}}</ref> A mint condition stamp might fetch £3–4,000. == Related pages == * [[Penny Lilac]] * [[Penny Red]] * [[Queen Victoria]] * [[Twelve Penny Black]] * [[Two Penny Blue]] == References == {{reflist}} {{-}} {{UK-stub}} [[Category:Postage stamps]] [[Category:Philately of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1840 establishments in the United Kingdom]]