19th century GB landmark issues
Although the Penny Black of 1840 stands out in British postal history there were three other Victorian-era stamps which can be viewed as landmarks...
The bantam of 1870
The basic postage rate of a penny had remained unaltered since January 1840, but as operating costs came down the Post Office passed on the benefit to customers, not by cutting the basic rate but by increasing the maximum weight. Thus the penny packet weighing two ounces in the 1860s would have cost four times as much back in 1840. This was the official answer to the business community which clamoured for a reduction in the basic rate for circulars and other forms of printed matter, much of which consisted of local advertising.
The halfpenny rate on circulars and newspapers sent by post coincided with the advent of the postcard (invented in Austria the previous year). Oddly enough, the halfpenny adhesive wasn’t permitted on postcards (which had to bear a pre-printed stamp) but the stamp was an instant hit with the commercial sector.
In its infinite wisdom, the Post Office decided that the new stamp should be recess-printed in rose/red just like the penny stamp, but the way to make it distinctive was to reduce its size by half. It was the only 'bantam' ever produced in Britain, and it was replaced by the green halfpenny of October 14, 1880.
The Penny Lilac of 1881
The Penny Red lasted from 1841 to 1879, and the Penny Venetian red that followed it was De La Rue's idea of a very similar stamp printed by the typographic process. It, in turn, was superseded by the Penny Lilac in July 1881, not because the Venetian red was in any sense inferior but because of a radical change in government policy.
Hitherto an array of fiscal stamps was employed to cover a wide range of taxes and duties, but in 1881 the system was streamlined. Previously postage stamps couldn’t be used to denote such minor taxes as that on receipts and contracts. Just as existing adhesive fiscal stamps could, for a period, be used for postage, so too postage stamps up to 2/-6d could now be used for revenue purposes.
This system was perfected in 1883 by the release of unified stamps inscribed ‘POSTAGE & REVENUE’, but as an interim measure, a new penny stamp was produced in lilac fugitive ink which would run if anyone tried to wash off an ink cancellation from a receipt and thereby hoped to re-use it postally. The dual nature of the stamp was indicated by its relatively verbose inscription ‘POSTAGE AND INLAND REVENUE’. Although the word ‘INLAND’ was omitted from the rest of the unified series, introduced in August 1883, the Penny Lilac continued to bear the longer inscription until it was replaced in 1902.
The Penny Lilac had an active career of 21 years but between 1881 and the turn of the century the volume of mail rose astronomically. By 1897 you could send a packet weighing up to four ounces for a penny, so virtually all letters and packets bore this humble stamp. As a result, it has been estimated that it was probably the most extensively used stamp of all time. It has also been dubbed ‘the Poor Man's Penny Black’, because of the infinite scope for study on the subject.
The £5 of 1882
The £5 stamp introduced on March 21, 1883 was modelled on a previous £5 stamp produced specifically for use on lengthy telegrams destined for the other side of the globe. When a separate telegraph series was discontinued and ordinary postage stamps were resumed for that purpose, the die of the telegraph £5 was altered by erasing the word ‘TELEGRAPHS’ and substituting the word ‘POSTAGE’. Otherwise, it was identical to its telegraphic predecessor in size and colour.
It is usually encountered on white paper but the earliest printing was made on paper which had a pronounced bluish tinge, intended as a security feature to prevent fraudulent removal of the cancellation. Bear in mind that in 1883 £5 represented a month's wages for the average workingman, and you can comprehend what a valuable commodity this was. Although it continued to be used telegraphically its main purpose was to facilitate internal accounting within the Post Office, which explains why a high proportion of used examples have the non-postal cancellations of regional accounts branches.
There was no move to replace it by a £5 stamp portraying Edward VII, sufficient stocks remaining on hand by 1902 to preclude a new issue. It lingered on until 1915, when, with some other Victorian stamps as well as the Edwardian series, it was finally withdrawn from sale and demonetised. Not until 1971 would Britain again require a stamp of this denomination.
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