How postage stamps came to be, and why some are worth a fortune

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It just so happened that on each postage stamp the name of the country that issued this stamp is printed. But one of the countries received the privilege from the world community not to fulfill this requirement - as a sign of special merit in the development of mail. And even her mistakes turned into success, sometimes raising the cost of the postal "marriage" to heaven.

How and why were postage stamps invented?

Philatelists all over the world with great pleasure plunge into the analysis of these multi-colored paper rectangles, looking for special signs and marks on them, hunting for those stamps that have become famous due to some amazing story or acquired the status of a rarity. But at the time the stamps were invented, their purpose was quite practical: to provide prepayment for the mail forwarding.

Since the time people learned to write, they began to transmit messages to others, even if at first they were not paper letters in envelopes, but clay tablets with wedge-shaped signs scrawled on them. The function of delivering the message to the addressee was most often performed by slaves or hired servants. True, the prototypes of the postal service appeared a long time ago - in any case, a real postal system was organized in the Roman Empire, however, only for state purposes: if the procedure for delivering public, official correspondence was fine-tuned to the smallest detail, then personal correspondence was provided by the inhabitants of the empire on their own.

The main purpose of the postal service of any ancient state was the transmission of messages to different levels of military units. Later, in the Middle Ages, the most intensive correspondence was carried out by representatives of the clergy: both within the church system and communicating with the rulers of states and the aristocracy. Therefore, monks were often brought in to deliver letters. It was in the interests of the kings to create a network of courier services, where messengers were always ready, ready to rush with an important document or news to the addressee. But these royal messengers were of no use to subjects who wanted to conduct their own, personal correspondence. If you already had to send a letter, you had to find a friend who will deliver the message, and then find the means to pay him.

First stamp - "black penny"

Only in the 16th century did state services begin to emerge in Europe, whose purpose was to send letters from the population. And in 1680, a private postal service appeared in London under the name "Penny Mail": it got this name because the price for mailing a letter weighing less than one pound was then one penny. By the way, envelopes were not used in those days, they appeared much later. And the letter was simply folded in such a way that the recipient's address could be written on the outer, clean side. And sometimes, in addition to the address, other important notes were left, for example, "the gallows". The schematic representation of this sinister device reminded the messenger of the need to hurry, delivering the letter to the addressee.

But, despite the fact that the first postal services were published centuries ago, the first stamp appeared only in 1840. It happened in England.

There is no exact answer to the question of who invented the stamp, but traditionally Sir Rowland Hill is considered its "father", who developed and proposed to the British authorities a reform of the postal system with the approval of uniform tariffs and the introduction of prepayment for mail forwarding.

In 1840, the first postage stamp saw the light of day - it was called "black penny." The stamp did not become a philatelic rarity, but, nevertheless, it is highly valued by collectors.

Following the English, stamps of other countries began to appear, the Russian Empire issued its own in 1857, after a thorough study of foreign experience. The first domestic stamp was without perforation, the reason was the malfunction of special equipment ordered from abroad. By the beginning of the twentieth century, stamps were already issued in 310 countries.

What brands do collectors dream of getting

A stamp is considered to have fulfilled its function of paying for the forwarding of a letter when the postal service puts a special mark on it. This is how the cancellation takes place, making it impossible to reuse the stamp. True, there is still a philatelic value. For collectors, a canceled stamp is usually less interesting than an uncanceled one, but there are exceptions: for example, if the stamp is dated to a certain date.

The most expensive, and therefore the most valuable, stamps are those that were issued in small quantities or have any deviations, errors, inaccuracies, defects, and the like. And if the shift in colors or the absence of perforation once gave the stamp manufacturers only chagrin, now all the same can bring great joy to the collector. unique - existing in a single copy.

In 1847, a blue stamp was issued on the island of Mauritius, on which, instead of the words "post paid", it was printed "post office". The mistake, and even the fact that these were the first stamps issued by the English colony on their own, led to an impressive increase in the value of "Blue Mauritius" among philatelists. Currently, there are 26 such brands in the world, they are rarities. An envelope with two "Mauritius" - blue and pink - sold in 1993 for $ 4 million.

And in 1856, the postmaster of British Guiana (now Guyana), without waiting for a late batch of stamps from the metropolis, instructed his employees to print a batch - in denominations of 1 and 4 cents. To protect the stamps from counterfeiting, he instructed the post office employees to leave their signatures on them. The octagonal one-cent "Guiana", despite its rather shabby appearance, is now the only one and the most expensive brand in history: in 2014 it was sold at Sotheby's for $ 9.5 million.

It was England, as the first country to apply the new principle of prepayment for postage, received from the world community the right not to indicate its name on stamps.

Reproductions of paintings, including English ones, are often found on stamps. And here who were the 10 main ladies of England from the portraits of the 17th century.