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When talking about the history of British stamps most individuals may have heard about the Penny Black and even this can be regarded as the first of its kind here in the UNITED KINGDOM. The penny black was the first issued postage stamp that was used for the UK's penny post back in 1840, though postage stamps were around before that.

Before adhesive paper stamps, letters would be stamped with ink or hand stamped. The first postmarks were referred to as Bishop Marks after the person who invented them - - Henry Bishop. They were first found in 1661 and acted as a resource by indicating the date and month that the item was sent.

Adhesive postage stamps were first found in 1837 when they were invented by a guy by the name of Rowland Hill. The English schoolmaster was knighted for his efforts and he even created the first uniform postage rates that have been predicated on the weight of the item being posted as opposed to the size of it. It was shortly after this in 1840 that the penny black became the very first postage stamp in use within the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Since that time there have been many changes to GB stamps, particularly in the Victorian age when perforated and embossed postage stamps became standard. Stamps had always featured the image of the King or Queen until the first commemorative set of stamps was issued in 1924 to commemorate the British Empire Exhibition. Since then commemorative stamps have become more and more popular with stamps being issued to remember special events, royal birthdays and important British dates.

In addition to being used as payment for postal services across the UNITED KINGDOM and foreign, stamps also serve another purpose as a collector's item. Rare stamps are often sold at auction for tens of thousands of pounds and there are many individuals who consider themselves to be stamp collectors or philatelists while they are also known.

Specialist organisations that offer stamp auctions and can buy collections from those people wishing to market can help anybody who has to value their stamps or wants to increase their own set. warwick and warwick stamp auctions