The world's oldest stamp

The world's oldest stamp

The world's oldest stamp is from United Kingdom dating back to 1840. This stamp is a depiction of queen Victoria. This stamp is called The Black Penny Stamp. There are about 1.3 million issues still in collector's hands while the originals are worth around $100,000.000. per stamp.

The Black Penny is the world's first adhesive stamp of public postal system. It was issued by the United Kingdom in the UK and Ireland on 1 May 1840, for use from 6 May that year.

The Black Penny Stamp information.

Production countries: the United Kingdom and Ireland

Production locations: London

Date of production: 1840

The nature of curiosity: the world's first postage stamp

Estimated availability: Unknown

Nominal value: 1-Penny

Estimated value: £ 3-4000 (mint)

The second oldest stamp Ben Franklin

The second oldest is known as Ben Franklin #1 issue of The United States issued in 1847. This stamp ranges from $16,000.000 unused to $600.000 used.

The first United States postage stamps were issued in imperforate sheets containing two panes of 100 stamps each on July 1, 1847. The first two issues were the 5 cent Ben Franklin and the 10 cent George Washington. This issue was discontinued in 1851 and new stamps including the 1 Cent Imperforate Ben Franklin above were issued from 1851 to 1857.  Imperforate issues required the user to separate the individual stamps with a pair of scissors before they could be used on cover. Most of these early imperforate issues were poorly trimmed for use and it is difficult to find them on cover with four good borders.