Penny Black (Fig. 1)

1. Before postage stamps, mail delivery in the United Kingdom was paid by those receiving it. One story describes a girl in Scotland who had to reject many letters from her suitors every day because she could not afford the postage. Others would mark secret codes on the envelopes, allowing recipients in the know to decode the message on the cover while refusing to pay for delivery. To deal with these issues, which caused substantial financial losses, Sir Rowland Hill proposed that postage be prepaid. In May of 1840, the world′s first postage stamp, the Penny Black (Fig. 1), was born.

2. The Penny Black features a profile of Queen Victoria when she ascended to the throne at age 18. Gummed on the back, the stamp lacks perforation. Since the issuance of the Penny Black, stamps in Britain have been used to indicate prepayment of postage. Other countries then followed suit. With the birth of stamps, stamp collecting gradually became a popular hobby around the world.

the father of postage stamps (Fig. 2)

In the 19th century, the Royal Mail was poorly managed, and many called for reform. Rowland Hill was one such proponent. He proposed many important changes, such as lowering postage rates, implementing prepayment and uniform rates of postage, and rescinding the privilege of government officials to send and receive mail for free. Most importantly, he launched the world′s first postage stamp. Hence, he is called “the father of postage stamps.” (Fig. 2)

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show the “1st Customs Dragon Issue,” commonly known as “Large Dragon Stamps,” released by the Customs Post in 1878 (the 4th year of Qing Emperor Guangxu′s reign). As the first set of postage stamps, they feature a large dragon in the clouds, which symbolizes the emperor. In that respect, they are similar to the Penny Black, the world′s first postage stamp, which used Queen Victoria′s profile as its vignette. In 1896 (the 22nd year of Qing Emperor Guangxu′s reign), modern postal service was formally inaugurated. For over a century, it has released many beautifully designed and exquisitely printed stamps. They remain very popular among stamp collectors from around the world.