World First Postage Stamp

          Before 1840, the British Postal system was highly complex and very expensive. Letters were charged considering two main matters as,

• The distance
• The sheets of paper, letter contained

Penny Black stamp

          As a solution to this problem, Sir Rowland Hill published his pamphlet Post Office Reform: Its Importance & practicability. His solution was pre-payment for the letters & the charge should be low and uniform. As a result Penny Black, world's first postage stamp was manufactured.

Sir Rowland Hill and
his signature.

       Penny Black is the world's first postage stamp used in public postal system. It was manufactured in London, United Kingdom on 1st of May 1840 and it was valid for postage from May 6, 1840. This stamp showed the Queen Victoria's profile. This stamp had a face value of One Penny.

          The Penny Black was in use for only a little over a year. It was found that re cancellation was hard to see on a black background and the red ink was easy to remove, making it possible to re-use stamps after they had been cancelled. In 1841, the Treasury switched to the Penny Red and issued cancellation devices with black ink, much more effective as a cancellation and harder to remove. In 1864, the stars in the top corners were replaced by the check letters as they appeared in the lower coroners, but in reverse order.

          Today also United Kingdom, doesn't their country name on postage stamps because it is the country which introduced the first postage stamp to the world.