Great British Stamp Collecting

• Penny Black, plates 1 to 11.
• 2d Blue, plates 1 to 15.
• Penny Reds plates 1b through to 225.
• ½d Reds – Plates 1 to 20
• 1½d Reds – Plates 1 and 3.

A few other little snippets of information:

• 1843 the first Christmas card is posted.
• 1852 and the first ever post box is trailed in Jersey.
• 1870 the first Postcard is issued.
• 1873 Women are allowed to work for the Post Office.
• 1874 Married women were banned from working for the Post Office and if a single woman got married, she had to resign. This practice remained in force for over 70 years!
• 1912 The Post Office acquires full control of the Telephone system.
• 1918 The standard cost of sending a letter is raised from 1d to 1½d due to rising costs, thus ending the Penny Post which had been in existence since 1840.
• 2006 Royal Mail introduces 'pricing in proportion'. This is the most significant change in postage procedures since the introduction of the penny post. Mail is charged according to both weight and the size.