So you think you know your GB stamps,
then answer these
| 1 | What is the only stamp to have one of these four bottom-right corner letters U, V, W, X | The 1870 ½d stamp was the only stamp in rows of 24 |
| 2 | The Five Pound Orange originated from what stamp? | Five Pound telegraph stamp |
| 3 | Who designed the embossed issues? | William Wyon |
| 4 | The monarchs head usually faces full left, which is the first stamp in which the monarchs head is three-quarters left | The 1911 Downey heads |
| 5 | What is the first stamp to be used for postage and revenue? | The 1881 Penny Lilac |
| 6 | What is the most issued stamp up until 1901? | The 1881 Penny Lilac |
| 7 | In what year are perforated stamps officially issued? | First officially issued in 1854 but Archer trials began in 1848. |
| 8 | What are the main changes resulting from Rowland Hill's Post Office Reform | A uniform rate of postage anywhere in Great Britain, the sender could prepay, a lower postage rate of 1d which made sending letters affordable, used a label to indicate prepayment. |
| 9 | How many 1870 ½d stamps are there to a sheet? | 480 20 rows of 24 stamps each row, so 1 sheet cost 1 Pound. |
| 10 | Why was the colour of the Penny Black changed to red-brown in 1841? | So that the postmark could be easily seen and to prevent the stamp being reused |
| 11 | The Penny Black has the queens head engraved on it. Why was this design chosen? | The image of the queen would be easily recognised and this would help prevent counterfeiting |
| 12 | Perf 14 means that there are 14 perforations every 2 centimeters, why do we used metric units? | Because the system was devised by a Frenchman; Dr. Jacques Amable Legrand in 1866 who used metric units. |
| 13 | When was the plate number first engraved on the stamp? | The 1858 2d plate 7. |
| 14 | On plate 1 of the 1870 1½d stamp there is an error, the corner letters are OP-PC instead of CP-PC. Why would OP-PO be impossible? | The sheets are printed in 20 rows of 12 stamps, O is the 15th letter in the alphabet and would not be possible as rows only go as far as L (12th letter of the alphabet). |
| 15 | Why was the 1870 ½d stamp issued? | For the new postcard and newspaper rate |
| 16 | Why are there wing-margins on some of the surface-printed stamps? | Because some plates had panes, and wing margins occur between panes. |
| 17 | In 1873 the corner letters of the surface printed stamps were changed from large uncoloured letters to large coloured letters. Why? | To reduce the time it took to engrave the letters. |
| 18 | Which is the first stamp to be issued in two colours? | Jubilee 1½d, 2d, 4d, 4½d, 5d, 9d, 10d. |
| 19 | Which is the first stamp to be issued on colour paper? | Jubilee 2½d, 3d and 6d. |
| 20 | After the Penny Black what is the next stamp to be issued in Black? | £1 PUC |
| 21 | What is the last British stamp to have corner letters? | Jubilee £1 |
| 22 | Why was the 1870 1½d stamp issued? | To be used on the new 2 ounce rate of 1½d |
| 23 | Why are some unused stamps overprinted SPECIMEN? | They were sent to postmasters as specimens of stamps to be issued or sent to the Universal Postal Union |
| 24 | What was the last Victorian stamp to be issued? | 11 July 1900 the 1s green and carmine was issued, the colour of the 1887 1s green was changed. The ½d colour change was issued on 17 April 1900. |
| 25 | Why are some early line-engraved stamps blued? | The blue colour was the result of a chemical reaction between the paper and the fugative ink introduced in 1841 |
| 26 | Which stamps have paper with two silk threads? | The 1s and 10d embossed |
| 27 | How many 1d stamps were printed during the reign of Queen Victoria? 56.6 bn, or 20.7 bn, or. 34bn? | There were 20.7 bn line-engraved stamps, 1.4 bn venetian reds, 34 bn Penny Lilac's and the total was 56.6bn (source Rikki C Hyde) |
| 28 | What was the original name for a stamp? | It was originally called a "label". As shown on the selvage marking: PRICE 1d. Per Label. |
| 29 | Five stamps in the Jubilee issue were issued after 1 Jan 1887, which ones? | 4½d (1892), 10d (1890), £1 (1891) and the ½d and 1s colour changes in 1900 |
| 30 | When did the parcel post start? 1865 or 1883 or 1895? | 1 Aug 1883 the rate was 3d for 1lb. |
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