Great Britain, May 6, 1840

First Issues Collectors Club of stamps and philatelic material

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Great Britain

Wednesday, May 6, 1840.

The worlds first postage stamp, the first of all philatelic first issues.

Great Britain Scott #1

Imperforate, line engraved.

Watermark Small Crown

Watermark Small Crown

The worlds first postage stamps.
Date	Description	Die	Plates	# issued	Scott #	Stanley Gibbons #
May 6, 1840	1d black	I	1 - 11	68,808,000	1	1-3
May 8, 1840	2d blue	I	1 - 2	6,614,880	2	4

All issue quantities are approximate.

1 penny black plates.
Registered / Retired	Plate	Sheets	Copies
Apr. 27, 1840 - Dec. 11, 1841	1a	17,000	4,080,000
Apr. 27, 1840 - Dec. 11, 1841	1b	30,000	7,200,000
Apr. 27, 1840 - Nov. 19, 1841	2	30,000	7,200,000
May 9, 1840 - Oct. 1840	3	20,000	4,800,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Jan. 9, 1841	4	35,000	8,400,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Nov. 12, 1841	5	36,000	8,640,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Jan. 9, 1841	6	38,000	9,120,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Jan. 9, 1841	7	25,000	6,000,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Sep. 8, 1841	8	30,000	7,200,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Oct. 7, 1843	9	16,000	3,840,000
Jan. 27, 1840 - Feb. 21, 1843	10	9,000	2,160,000
Jan. 27, 1841 - Jan. 15, 1842	11	700	168,000
Total		286,700	68,808,000

2 pence blue plates.
Registered / Retired	Plate	Sheets	Copies
May 2, 1840 - Dec. 11, 1841	1	16,962	4,070,880
Jul. 18, 1840 - Feb. 1841	2	10,600	2,544,000
Total		27,562	6,614,880

This page was last modified on Monday, 03-Nov-2003 13:57:41 PST