The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
, produced in the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
and issued after the
Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public Mail, postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of Queen Victoria.
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.
Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460,000 were printed from two plates until 29 August.
Officially the stamps were valid for postage from 6 May.
It was first sold to the public at the London Inland revenue office on 6 May 1840.
Except for its denomination, the design is exactly the same as the penny black and was struck from the same die.
It was originally intended that the 2d blue be issued at the same time as the 1d black; the earliest postmark seen on one of these is 6 May 1840. The first issues of this value (intended for double rate letters), were printed from plates 1 and 2. The printing plates were destroyed in 1843.
Copies of the stamp are now significantly rarer and more expensive than the Penny Black.
Later when the colours of the stamps were being revised, the inks chosen were red-brown for the penny value and a new blue ink for the two pence value. As the printed stamps in the new ink looked the same as the original issue, it was decided to add a horizontal line at the top and bottom of the label so as the newer printings could be easily identified. Printing of the revised stamps began on 27 February 1841 and were placed on sale in March.
These are referred to as the ''white lines added issue'', as pictured above. They are more common than the original 1840 printing.
Several differences exist in the post-1841 stamps due to watermark, perforation, paper and type variations.
[ In all the 1840–80 series of this design used 15 plates.
The Penny Black allowed a letter weighing up to half an ]ounce
The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight, or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement.
The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States ...
to be sent anywhere within Britain or Ireland; the Two Penny Blue's weight limit was a full ounce.
See also
* Penny Black
The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public Mail, postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1840 but was not valid for use until 6 May. The stamp features a profile of Queen Victoria.
...
* Penny Blue
* Penny Red
* VR official
* List of British postage stamps
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
References
External links
Images of the Two penny blue from the Phillips Collection at the British Postal History Museum
1840 works
1840 establishments in the United Kingdom
Postage stamps of the United Kingdom
Postal history of the United Kingdom
Queen Victoria on stamps
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