​To celebrate this prestigious anniversary, The PTS will be showing two of the largest Mint Blocks of Penny Blacks.   These blocks are both held in a private collection and are worth an estimated £1 million each.   The Karl Louis Index states that there are only three blocks recorded.  Two from plate 1b and one from plate 4.    We will be displaying one block from Plate 1b and one block from Plate 4.   These are amongst the most valuable Great Britain items in the world. 

The Penny Black, invented in Britain, was the first ever adhesive stamp. It revolutionised modern communication and went into circulation for the first time on 6th May 1840.  ‘The World’s First Postage Stamp’ was created due to the need for messages to be transmitted rapidly and for an affordable price.  The Penny Black inspired a revolution in the postal service led by Sir Rowland Hill & changed the way we communicate.
Hill and his colleagues led a campaign in the late 1830s to abolish the old system, where postal charges were normally paid for by the recipient.  Hill helped slash the cost of posting a letter. As a result, the pre-paid Uniform One Penny Post was introduced in the UK on 10 January 1840. It was an immediate success as the volume of mail being sent rose rapidly. To show the postage had been paid, Hill introduced adhesive postage stamps, using the skills of Perkins Bacon & Co who were leading printers of cheques and banknotes at the time, that could be stuck on the front of a letter. This proved to be such a simple and useful innovation that it spread around the world. Despite all the changes that have taken place in communications technology since, it remains in general use today – 180 years later.
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The Philatelic Traders’ Society will be at London 2020.   London 2020 is held at the Business Design Centre in Islington from 2nd May - 9th May 2020. Entry is free apart from the first day when there is a £10 charge.   For more information on THE PTS head to www.thepts.net