It was less than five centimeters square in size, yet it revolutionized communication. The price of the first “Penny Black”, ie a black single penny, could now climb to almost two hundred million crowns.
“It comes from the very first printing plate. Robert Wallace, who was the main initiator of the introduction of a uniform and cheap postage, was shown the stamp by the then Minister of Finance and put it in his notebook, “says philatelist Alan Holyoake about the stamp.
Holyoake bought the stamp from the archives of the leading British postal reformer ten years ago for one and a half million crowns. The research then confirmed that it is one of the first of its kind. In addition, in excellent condition. Subsequently, it received certification, which increased its value many times over.
“It is the first stamp of the world affixed to a document that has a postal historical character, it is from April 10, 1840, three weeks before the use of these first stamps of the world in postal traffic,” explains expert David Kopřiva.
Postal revolution
Stamps with a portrait of Queen Victoria were a breakthrough – people could send letters anywhere in the UK cheaply and quickly. In the end, almost seventy million were sold.
Czechoslovak stamps, which are almost eighty years younger, are also valued. “There are also rarities among them,” says Kopřiva, who mentions an auction record of nine million crowns.
Red Mauritius sticks to the world championship pasted on an envelope from 1847 – it depicts the British queen Victoria again, this time in red-orange. The owner paid a record amount for the unique in June – more than 250 million crowns. Whether Penny Black overcomes it will be seen in the first week of December.
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