SG2 - Penny black of May 1840
A nice four-margin mint Penny Black
Plate 4
| Die | I |
| Alphabet I | I |
| Watermark | Small Crown |
| Perf | Imperf |
| Registered | 19 May 1840 |
| Number issued | 6,701,760 |
| Plate | Registered | number issued (in black) |
In red |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 15 Apr 1840 | 10,052,400 | |
| 1b | yes | ||
| 2 | 22 Apr 1840 | 7,659,120 | yes |
| 3 | 9 May 1840 | 4,786,800 | |
| 4 | 19 May 1840 | 6,701,760 | |
| 5 | 1 June 1840 | 8,616,480 | yes |
| 6 | 17 June 1840 | 9,095,040 | |
| 7 | 8 July 1840 | 8,137,680 | |
| 8 | 31 July 1840 | 7,180,320 | yes |
| 9 | 9 Nov 1840 | 3,840,000 | yes |
| 10 | 9 Dec 1840 | 1,920,000 | yes |
| 11 | 27 Jan 1841 | 168,000 | yes |
The Penny Black was the worlds first prepaid adhesive postage stamp. It was issued on 6th May 1840 and the Twopenny Blue was issued on 8th May 1840 early in the reign of Queen Victoria, her portrait was used on the stamp as it would be most recognisable by the public. The postal rate of one penny meant that a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight could be sent to any part of the United Kingdom. Prior to the uniform penny postage the postage depended on the distance travelled and the number of sheets. The line engraved printing method was used in which the ink was in grooves on a plate and pressure was used to force the ink onto the paper. The printing was carried out by Perkins Bacon and Petch.
The stamps were printed in sheets of 240 (20x12) and the stamps had corner letters corresponding to its position on the plate. There were 240 pence to the pound and 20 shillings to the pound, so a sheet of stamps would cost £1, half a sheet ten shillings, one row cost a shilling. Four different alphabets were used in the course of time to form the corner letters.
| AA | AB | AC | AD | AE | AF | AG | AH | AI | AJ | AK | AL |
| BA | BB | BC | BD | BE | BF | BG | BH | BI | BJ | BK | BL |
| CA | CB | CC | CD | CE | CF | CG | CH | CI | CJ | CK | BL |
| DA | DB | DC | DD | DE | DF | DG | DH | DI | DJ | DK | DL |
| EA | EB | EC | ED | EE | EF | EG | EH | EI | EJ | EK | EL |
| FA | FB | FC | FD | FE | FF | FG | FH | FI | FJ | FK | FL |
| GA | GL | ||||||||||
| HA | HL | ||||||||||
| IA | IL | ||||||||||
| JA | JF | JL | |||||||||
| KA | KL | ||||||||||
| LA | LL | ||||||||||
| MA | ML | ||||||||||
| NA | NL | ||||||||||
| OA | OL | ||||||||||
| PA | PL | ||||||||||
| QA | QL | ||||||||||
| RA | RL | ||||||||||
| SA | SL | ||||||||||
| TA | TB | TC | TD | TE | TF | TG | TH | TI | TJ | TK | TL |
The stamps were initially not perforated, but had to be cut with scissors, perforations were introduced in 1854. Each stamp had its own 'small crown' watermark. Due to wear eleven different plates were used to print the Penny Black. Initially the cancellation was in red, then changed to black. In 1841 some of the same plates would be used to print the Penny Red, the colour was changed so that the black cancellation would be more clearly seen.