The VR official was one of three postage stamps introduced by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 for the pre-payment of postage. While the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue were for use by the general public, as were the Mulready envelopes and letter sheets, the VR official was for use on official mail. In appearance the VR Official was the same as the issued Penny Black except that the Maltese crosses in the top corners were removed and replaced by the letters V and R, hence its common name.
The plate layout for this issue was the same in almost all respects as that used for the penny black and the two pence blue produced at the same time. The only difference in the marginal inscription was the plate identification which was shown as a letter, (see picture), rather than a number as used on the general issue of postage stamps.
The idea of this stamp was that it would be used on official correspondence from government departments. However, the public dislike and mockery of the Mulready envelope and letter sheets led to vast numbers of the Mulreadies being issued to the various departments, with the tax office being the heaviest user.
Since existing stocks could be used, the idea of the official stamp was abandoned. Nearly all of the supplies which had been printed were destroyed on 25 January 1843. Twenty-one sheets survived, a few of the stamps passed (invalidly) through the posts, and Rowland Hill used some to experiment with cancellation techniques.
penny, black, official, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, apr. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Penny Black VR official news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message The VR official was one of three postage stamps introduced by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 for the pre payment of postage While the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue were for use by the general public as were the Mulready envelopes and letter sheets the VR official was for use on official mail In appearance the VR Official was the same as the issued Penny Black except that the Maltese crosses in the top corners were removed and replaced by the letters V and R hence its common name Penny Black VR OfficialCountry of productionUnited KingdomLocation of productionLondonDate of productionMay 1840 1840 05 DepictsQueen VictoriaNature of rarityFew existNo in existenceUnknownFace value1 penny sdEstimated valueUS 20 000The plate layout for this issue was the same in almost all respects as that used for the penny black and the two pence blue produced at the same time The only difference in the marginal inscription was the plate identification which was shown as a letter see picture rather than a number as used on the general issue of postage stamps The idea of this stamp was that it would be used on official correspondence from government departments However the public dislike and mockery of the Mulready envelope and letter sheets led to vast numbers of the Mulreadies being issued to the various departments with the tax office being the heaviest user Since existing stocks could be used the idea of the official stamp was abandoned Nearly all of the supplies which had been printed were destroyed on 25 January 1843 Twenty one sheets survived a few of the stamps passed invalidly through the posts and Rowland Hill used some to experiment with cancellation techniques Forgeries EditThe stamp was forged by Bernhardt Assmus in August 1890 1 who was unmasked by the dealer Morris Giwelb to whom he had sold a forged copy of the stamp 2 3 See also EditList of British postage stamps List of notable postage stampsReferences and sources EditReferences Police in The Times London England Thursday 7 January 1892 pg 14 Issue 33528 Morris Giwelb by Cyril Permutt in Philatelic Paraphernalia No 23 24 April July 1990 pp 333 334 Birch Brian 2012 Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers Archived 6 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine 12th edition Standish Wigan Brian Birch p 880 SourcesStanley Gibbons Great Britain Volume 1 14th revised edition Stanley Gibbons 2006 ISBN 0852596286 The One Penny VR The British Postal Museum amp Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Penny Black VR official amp oldid 1134376131, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
