Postage stamp

FIRSTS

The United Kingdom introduced the world's first adhesive postage stamp - the Penny Black - bearing the head of Queen Victoria. It was placed on sale on May 1, 1840 for use on May 6.

More than 68 million penny black stamps were eventually printed. About 1.3 million survived, so they are particularly valuable to collectors. Most survivors sell for £3,000, but some rare specimens can reach more than £10,000.

In the first decade of postage stamps' existence, stamps were issued without perforations. The first machine specifically designed to perforate sheets of postage stamps was invented in London by Henry Archer, an Irish landowner and railroad man.  The 1850 Penny Red was the first stamp to be perforated during trial course of Archer's perforating machine.

The first American stamp issue to be officially perforated, the 3-cent George Washington, was issued by the U.S. Post Office on February 24, 1857. Prior to this, stamps were either imperforate or had to be separated from each other with scissors or other cutting tools, which could lead to inconsistencies in size and shape. The use of perforations made it easier and more efficient to separate stamps from each other, and it became the standard method for stamp production around the world. 

The first officially perforated United States stamp (1857).

The first roll of U.S. postage stamps was issued on February 18, 1908 in response to business requests.

The first postage stamp to depict an airplane was issued on December 16, 1912, six years before the U.S. Post Office issued an airmail stamp. It was a 20-cent parcel-post stamp.

The first non-royal to appear on UK postage stamps was William Shakespeare in 1964.

Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist and humanitarian, was the first African American woman to be honored on a US postage stamp. The stamp featuring Harriet Tubman was issued on February 1, 1978, as part of the Black Heritage series. This series was initiated to recognize and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to the history and culture of the United States. 

WORDS

The word ‘stamp-collector’ predates postage stamps by more than a century. In 1710, it was used for a collector or receiver of stamp duties.

The word ‘philately,’ referring to the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps was first recorded in 1865.

UNUSUAL STAMPS

In 1973 Bhutan issued a stamp that looked like a record, and it would actually play the Bhutanese national anthem if placed on a turntable.

In February 2002, Thailand issued the world's first rose-scented stamps for Valentine's Day.

In 2013, Belgium issued over 500,000 postage stamps with the smell of cocoa and covered in a varnish to look like chocolate.

FUN STAMP FACTS

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie. In 2001, the Royal Mail launched the self-adhesive, zero-calorie stamp.

A British Guiana one-cent magenta stamp was sold at auction in New York in 2014 for a record £5.6 million.

The previous owner of the stamp had died in jail in 2010 after being convicted of murdering an Olympic wrestling champion.

Since the UK was the first country to issue prepaid postage stamps, it is the only country that does not display its name on its postage stamps.

U.S. stamps may not visibly depict any person who has been dead for less than 10 years, except for ex-Presidents who may appear one year after their demise.

When on January 8 1993, the US postal service issued a commemorative postage stamp honoring Elvis Presley's 58th birthday, fans mailed envelopes with first-day issues of the stamp to fictitious addresses so that they would receive their letters back, marked with the words "return to sender".

The number of ways to fold a strip of stamps is always divisible by the number of stamps in the strip

Source Daily Mail