Common, and famous
About 68 million Penny Blacks were printed between May 1840 and February 1841, and a great many survive. A used example is not rare. What makes one worth £60 and another £6,000 is a short list of features that anyone with a magnifying glass can check.
The stamp was issued on 1 May 1840 and became valid for postage on 6 May; The Postal Museum holds the registration sheets and the proofs. It was replaced by the Penny Red in February 1841, because red cancellations were hard to see on black and easy to wash off, which made the stamps reusable.
The margins
Penny Blacks were printed in sheets of 240 and cut apart with scissors, since perforation came later. The gap between stamps was small, so most surviving copies have at least one margin cut into the design. The trade counts margins, and the price steps up with each one.
| Margins | Typical used price |
|---|---|
| Cut into on two or more sides | £30 to £80 |
| Three clear margins | £80 to £150 |
| Four clear margins | £150 to £350 |
| Four large margins, even | £350 and up |
These are illustrative ranges for a sound copy of a common plate. The price records show recent hammer prices.
Margins are measured against the outer frame line of the design. A margin that shows white paper beyond the line is clear; one that touches or cuts the line is not. Four clear margins is the single biggest step in the table, and it is the first thing a buyer looks for.
The plates
Eleven plates were used, and plate 1 was so worn that it was reworked and is counted as two, 1a and 1b. The quantity printed from each is recorded, and it explains the price spread better than anything else about the stamp.
| Plate | Stamps printed | Scarcity |
|---|---|---|
| 1a and 1b | 10,052,400 | The largest printing. 1a, the early state, is scarcer than 1b |
| 2 | 7,659,120 | Common |
| 3 | 4,786,800 | Slightly scarcer |
| 4 | 6,701,760 | Common |
| 5 | 8,616,480 | Common, and the plate seen most with four margins |
| 6 | 9,095,040 | Common |
| 7 | 8,137,680 | Common |
| 8 | 7,180,320 | Common |
| 9 | 3,840,000 | Scarcer, and worth identifying |
| 10 | 1,920,000 | Scarce |
| 11 | 168,000 | Rare. Cut for the Penny Red and printed in black in small numbers |
A plate 11 Penny Black with four margins sells for thousands, and one with a red Maltese cross for more again, since the plate was in use as the ink was changing. Plates 9 and 10 carry premiums of their own.
Plating a stamp means matching the position, the check letters, the state of the plate and the distinctive flaws against a reference work. It takes a book and practice. A dealer or auction house will do it as part of taking a consignment, and it costs nothing to ask.
The check letters
Every stamp carries two letters in its lower corners that give its position on the sheet. The top row runs A-A to A-L across twelve columns, the next row B-A to B-L, and so on down twenty rows to T-A and T-L.
The letters do not change the value on their own. They do two useful things: they let a stamp be plated, and they let a stolen stamp be identified, since no two positions on a plate are the same.
The cancel
Penny Blacks were cancelled with a Maltese cross, struck in red ink from May 1840 and in black from February 1841 as the Post Office tried to stop reuse. A clear red cross that leaves the profile visible is what collectors want.
| Cancel | Effect on price |
|---|---|
| Light red Maltese cross, profile clear | The best. Adds to the price |
| Heavy red cross obscuring the head | Reduces it |
| Black Maltese cross | Scarcer than red on a Penny Black, and collected for that |
| Blue, magenta or other coloured cross | Scarce, and worth expert opinion |
| Town cancel or pen cancellation | Reduces the price sharply |
A stamp on its original envelope, or “on cover”, with a readable date, sells for more than the stamp alone, and the first day covers guide puts a range on the 1840 covers.
Condition
Thins, where paper has been lost from the back, tears, creases and repairs each take a large proportion off. Hold the stamp to the light to look for thins: they show as a bright patch. Look at the back in raking light for a repaired tear, which shows as a ridge.
A stamp described as “faults” or “spacefiller” is priced at a fraction of a sound one. Two clean margins on a sound stamp beat four margins on a repaired one.
Unused copies, forgeries and reprints
A Penny Black with its original gum and no cancel is rare, since almost every one was used for postage. Genuine unused examples with four margins have made five-figure sums.
Many “unused” stamps are cleaned used copies with the cancel removed, which is why unused copies need a certificate from an expertising committee before anyone will pay the price. The Royal Philatelic Society London and the British Philatelic Association both issue them, and a certificate costs a modest sum against what it protects.
Three things imitate a Penny Black and are not one. Forgeries made to deceive collectors are the rarest of the three. Facsimiles and album illustrations printed in the nineteenth century for reference are common and carry a printed note saying so. Modern reproductions sold as souvenirs are printed on white modern paper with no watermark, and the small crown watermark on genuine stamps is the quick test.
What to do with one
Do not remove it from an envelope. Do not soak it, and do not try to clean it or improve a margin with scissors.
Put it in a stock card or a glassine envelope, out of the light, and have a dealer or saleroom plate it and grade it. The collection guide covers what to do with the album it came in, and the auctions guide explains the charges if it goes to a specialist sale.