The Penny Black Stamp Store: Ormond Hill die proofs

Saturday, 25 June 2011

Ormond Hill die proofs - Die I and Die II

Take note of the variations of the portrait showing Queen Victoria. That will quickly help you discern the different die proofs. From left to right: Die I (1840) OLD ORIGINAL; Die 2 (1854) New; and Die 2

Source: http://www.imagesoftheworld.org/stamps/old_original_and_new.html

Scans courtesy Mark Bloxham Stamps

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A Brief History

Before 1st May 1840, posting a letter was a very complicated and expensive affair. It could cost the equivalent of a days wage, and it was charged by how many sheets of paper were used and how far it had to travel. Normally the recipient had to pay the cost.

Sir Roland Hill was responsible for reforming the British postal system, and as part of this a competition was held for the public to design the world’s first adhesive postage stamp. However none of the entries were thought suitable, so instead they used the profile sketch of a then 15 year old Queen Victoria. This image was used on stamps until the end of her reign. Because the Penny Black was the first postage stamp in the world, it did not show a country of origin, and to this day British stamps are the only stamps in the world that do not state what country they are from.

However, the Penny Black only remained in circulation for a year, as it was soon found that it was possible to remove the ink of the red cancellation mark and re-use the stamp, so the Treasury switched to the Penny Red and black cancellation ink.