The VR official was one of three

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 ...

s introduced by 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 ...

in May 1840 for the pre-payment of postage. While 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. ...

and the

Two Pence Blue The Two Penny Blue or The Two Pence Blue was the world's second official postage stamp, produced in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and issued after the Penny Black. Initial printing took place from 1 May 1840, and in all 6,460 ...

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 Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...

used some to experiment with cancellation techniques.

Forgeries

The stamp was

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compression (physics), compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die (manufacturing), die. Forging is often classif ...

by Bernhardt Assmus in August 1890"Police" in ''The Times'' (London, England), Thursday, 7 January 1892; pg. 14; Issue 33528. who was unmasked by the dealer Morris Giwelb, to whom he had sold a forged copy of the stamp."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
''. 12th edition. Standish, Wigan: Brian Birch, p. 880.

References and sources

;References ;Sources *{{Cite book, title=Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Volume 1, 14th revised edition, publisher=

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and phila ...

, year=2006, isbn=0852596286
The One Penny VR
The British Postal Museum & Archive Postage stamps of the United Kingdom Postage stamps featuring Queen Victoria

Forgeries

See also

References and sources