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Uniform Penny Post

Steve Walker

This book attempts to list all of the known types of the Handstruck Paid Postage Stamps of the Uniform Penny Post, which commenced on 10 January 1840 and was a major component of the comprehensive reform of the postal service. From this date, handstruck penny stamps (as well as a small number of twopenny and fourpenny higher values) came into use in many, but by no means all, towns throughout Great Britain and Ireland.

The majority of the towns that used these handstamps had their own distinctive design, and, in most cases, these handstruck penny postage stamps were in due course used concurrently with the adhesives (the Penny Black and Twopenny Blue first issued on 6 May 1840). The handstamps were applied in red ink, indicating either pre-payment of the postage in cash or a fee for re-direction.

This situation lasted up to 1853, when the use of adhesive postage stamps was made compulsory.

Price £15 (GBPS members £13.50). Soft covers, 32 pages plus advertisements, size 170 x 240 mm.