Feature fig. 2
The Penny Black was put on sale on to the public in London on Friday, 1st May 1840, although it was not valid for use until Wednesday, May the 6th. However, a few are known used before the 6th. These pre-Official first day usages are very greatly prized by collectors. It is a fact, perhaps not widely appreciated, that the “labels” (the Penny Black and Two Pence Blue Postage Stamps) were considered by the authorities a somewhat poor alternative to the prepaid 1d. and 2d. envelopes and letter sheets designed by the noted artist of the day, William Mulready, R.A., which were placed on sale at the same time (figure 2) - but that is another story.
So what is the lure of the Penny Black? The design is simple and elegant with the beautiful William Wyon head of Queen Victoria and the legends “POSTAGE” at top and “ONE PENNY” at the foot, at the same time combined with an intricate engine turned background.The parallel with our current definitive stamps, which are based on a plaster cast of Queen Elizabeth II by Arnold Machin is obvious.
One thing about the design which confuses many collectors is the significance of the two letters that appear in the lower corners. These are quite simply explained but of enormous importance to specialists. The Penny Black was printed from eleven separate printing plates, each containing 240 impressions arranged in twenty horizontal rows of twelve (12 pence = One shilling, 20 shillings = £1) which was important for Post office accounting purposes. The stamp in the upper-left corner of the sheet had the letters AA in its lower corners, the next stamp was lettered AB then AC, AD and on to AL, the first stamp in the next row was BA, etc., down to the lower-right corner of the sheet which was lettered TL (figure 3, a strip of four showing the different letters). So we can see that each of the 240 different combinations of letters are equally rare (or as common!). This was done as a form of protection against forgery as it was thought to be impractical for a forger to be able to reproduce 240 different combinations of lettering and it would be noticed if quantities of mail bearing stamps with the same letters were found. Where the letters are of great significance is in helping us tell which of the eleven (or twelve, but more of that later) plates a particular stamp was printed from. (cont.) fig. 3
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