A potential goldmine for you...
The world’s most famous stamp, the Penny Black is 170 years old today.
You’ll find them on the market for a variety of prices, but true, premium examples are still like gold dust, highly prized and with excellent investment potential.
If you asked 100 people in the street to name a valuable, old stamp, about 99 of them would plump for the Penny Black.
Valid for postage from May 6th 1840, the Penny Black was the world's first postage stamp and heralded a new age for the Royal Mail and the world postal system. The clue is in its name - it cost a penny (1d) and was black – and featured a portrait of the young Queen Victoria.
The stamps were printed in sheets each containing 240 stamps. These were separated by scissors...usually by a Postmaster in a candle-lit room. You can imagine how few Penny Blacks survived without the Postmaster cutting into the design (one of the key indicators of a truly premium quality stamp). The stamp was designed to be used...to be posted. So, mint, unused single examples are rare.
Blocks of 4, unused with their original gum are like gold dust, Post Office instructions at the time were to remove the sheet margin and cut the sheet into strips before sale, so blocks should not exist at all. They are so rare that we have not been able to offer a block of 4 unused Penny Blacks for many years.
But that’s all about to change. The Stanley Gibbons specialist buying team has managed to locate two quite astonishing blocks of 4 unused Penny Blacks.
You can skip to the images of these wonderful items by scrolling down if you wish, but, before you do, you may like to know about the investment potential of these items...
1100% growth in just twenty years
These two items represent the sort of goldmine that collectors and investors can normally only dream about...
SG2 1840 1d Black plate 5
A magnificent unused o.g. four margin right hand marginal block of four lettered EK-FL showing part sheet inscription.
This first item has increased in value from £15,000 to £185,000 in just 21 years and has graced some of the finest Great Britain stamp collections ever formed.
Just think if you had been the person to pick up on rare stamp investment in the late 80s. Turning £15,000 into £185,000 is the sort of investing genius that gets you a book deal!
SG2 1840 1d Black plate 1b
Very fine and fresh unused o.g. huge four margin block of four lettered FI-GJ.
This item is now worth ten times what it was in 1989 – jumping from £14,000 to £140,000 in just 21 years. Imagine what a great college fund or retirement nest egg that could have made.
The “Showstopper”
These items are not on our website yet. They’ve not been offered in our shop. And they’ve not been featured in any brochures. Our Philatelic Director is hoping to keep them back for the decennial London 2010 Festival of Stamps that starts this Saturday...
But we wanted you to have first look as we believe in the investment potential of these items. The figures speak for themselves. And it’s only right to celebrate the Penny Black today on its 170th birthday.
Our GB specialists are particularly excited about this next item. - Bought especially to wow the crowds at the forthcoming stamp show, this is the “Showstopper” in more ways than one...
SG2 1840 1d Black plate 2
Firstly, this is just a sensational example of a used Penny Black multiple. It is widely regarded as the finest used multiple in the world from this or any other plate.
The used, four margin block of Penny Blacks has each stamp cancelled by a crisp perfectly struck scarlet-vermilion Maltese cross. A collector’s dream.
However, it is the investment performance of this item that may get you really excited...
1500% growth in 20 years
Currently valued at £225,000, this is the investment opportunity that could give you a significant profit in a relatively short period of time, based on previous price histories for Penny Blacks of this quality
These items have not been seen by anybody yet. If you are interested, please call one of our Investment Advisers on 0845 026 7170 (UK) or +44 1481 708 277 (overseas). Alternatively, email them on investment@stanleygibbons.co.uk.
On this day 170 years ago, the Penny Black was issued and proved an immediately popular with the general public and, in that year alone, over 68 million were printed. Despite this, mint examples remain rare. Why? A penny in 1840 was a considerable amount of money (using the average earnings index, this is equivalent to £3.20 today). If you paid a Penny you made sure you posted your letter.
You can see from the images that the Penny Black did not incorporate the United Kingdom's name on the stamp. It had no need to. It was the first. To this day the UK remains the only country that does not use its name on its stamps.
The Penny Black is an important part of world history, a major part of British history. And now you have the chance to invest in that history with some truly remarkable items; that’s the benefit of being a Stanley Gibbons customer.
Please do not miss out on these. Contact our specialist team today. Call on on 0845 026 7170 (UK) or +44 1481 708 277 (overseas), or email them on investment@stanleygibbons.co.uk.