First issues relates to collecting the first postage stamp issued by any nation, province, city, army or other entity. The first postage stamp ever issued is considered the Penny Black.
Prior to 1840, postage costs were very high and they were usually paid by the person who received the mail. The cost was measured by how many sheets were in the letter and how far the letter had to go. Sometimes this amounted to a very considerable sum. Sir Rowland Hill calculated that the cost to the Post Office was far less than what some people were paying to send/receive their mail; this figure was just a fraction of 1d Hill believed that sending mail should be affordable to all so proposed that postage should be pre-paid, based on the weight rather than the number of sheets and the cost should be drastically reduced.
On 10 January 1840 a Uniform 1d postmark was released which allowed a universal penny postage rate, this was a postmark that was paid and was applied when the letter was sent. It was later decided that an adhesive label should be used to prevent forgeries and mis-use of the postal service and the Penny Black stamp was born. It was officially released for sale on 6 May 1840 however, several post offices that received the stamps prior to that date released the stamps early.
Websites
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YouTube
- Exploring Stamps: First Postage Stamp – The Penny Black
- Exploring Stamps: #Philately – Latvia’s World War 1 Map Stamps
- Exploring Stamps: Season 1/Ep.9 – Australia’s First Stamp
- Exploring Stamps: Season 2/Ep.15 – Canada’s first stamp
- Mark Bloxham Stamps Ltd: The Penny Black
- Mi Oficina Philatelic Society: Diseño del Penny Black, la Primera Estampilla del Mundo
- Paul Fraser Collectibles: The World’s First Postage Stamps
- Stamp Chats: Collecting First Issues of the World
- Stamp Chats: North Korea and South Korea – First Issues after World War II
