1840 Two Penny Blue (Plate 1): The World's Second Stamp and a Philatelic Cornerstone

Philately begins in 1840. The invention of the adhesive postage stamp that year by Great Britain transformed global communication, democratized letter-writing, and created one of the world's most enduring collecting hobbies. The Penny Black is the famous first stamp, but its companion issue, the Two Penny Blue, is equally part of that founding moment and occupies a special place in any serious philatelic collection.

The Two Penny Blue was the world's second postage stamp, issued on May 6, 1840, the same day as the Penny Black. It paid the double rate for heavier letters or letters traveling longer distances. Plate 1 examples are the earliest printings from this historic issue.

The Reform That Made Stamps Possible

Before 1840, postage in Britain was paid by the recipient, not the sender, and was calculated based on distance and the number of sheets. The system was complex, expensive, and widely circumvented through franking privileges and the practice of writing message-coded addresses on the outside of letters to communicate information without actually sending them.

Rowland Hill's 1837 pamphlet "Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability" proposed a radical simplification: prepaid postage at a uniform penny rate regardless of distance within the United Kingdom. The adhesive stamp, which proved the postage had been paid, was Hill's mechanism for implementing this reform.

Parliament adopted the reform, and on May 6, 1840, the world's first postage stamps went on sale. The Penny Black (1d) and Two Penny Blue (2d) were the two denominations needed to pay for a single sheet letter (Penny Black) or a double sheet or longer-distance letter (Two Penny Blue).

The Design

Both the Penny Black and the Two Penny Blue use the same basic design: a profile portrait of Queen Victoria based on a medal portrait by William Wyon, printed by engraving. The Two Penny Blue uses a deep blue ink on white (later slightly bluish) paper, with the value displayed in the lower corners.

One of the distinctive features of both 1840 stamps is the corner letter system. Each individual stamp in the sheet carries two letters in its lower corners: the left letter indicates the row position (A through L for each plate) and the right letter indicates the column (A through T or J). This means every stamp position in the 240-stamp sheet has a unique letter combination, allowing the Post Office to identify which position any canceled stamp came from.

For collectors, the corner letter combination is an important element of identification and occasionally of additional interest when unusual combinations or positions are sought.

Plate 1 and Plate 2

The Two Penny Blue was printed from two plates in 1840-1841. Plate 1 was used first and is considered the first printing of the stamp. Plate 2 followed with more consistent printing quality.

Plate 1 examples can be identified by philatelic specialists through the specific characteristics of the printing plate and, in some cases, through plate flaws and wear patterns that are documented in standard philatelic references. For the most valuable examples, plate identification adds an additional layer of provenance.

Cancellations and Their Effect on Value

The Two Penny Blue was issued in an era before perforations (stamps were cut from sheets with scissors), and the primary cancellation type used on 1840 stamps was the Maltese Cross, a cross-shaped red ink cancel applied by postal workers.

Red Maltese Cross cancels on Two Penny Blue stamps represent the original cancellation type from the stamp's first months of use. Clear, lightly applied red Maltese Cross cancels are preferred by collectors and command premiums over heavy, smeared, or unclear cancels.

Black Maltese Cross cancels also appear on Two Penny Blue examples. In late 1840, postal authorities began experimenting with black cancellation ink because red was difficult to see on the red-inked Penny Black. On the Two Penny Blue, black cancels are somewhat less common than red and carry their own collector interest.

Mid-19th century manuscript (pen) cancels are also known and have their own specialized collector following.

Unused (uncanceled) examples are extraordinarily rare and valuable, as virtually all stamps from this era were used.

Condition and Values

Condition grading for 19th-century British stamps involves several factors specific to the era: margins (how well the stamp was cut from its sheet), cancel quality, paper quality, and gum condition (for unused examples).

Cut-to-shape (the stamp trimmed closely to the design with minimal margins) examples are the most common survival condition and the least valuable. Four-margin examples (with clear margins on all four sides) are significantly more valuable. Large-margin examples with particularly generous margins are exceptional pieces.

Plate 1 examples with good provenance, clear cancel, and good margins at the fine end of the scale can exceed these ranges at major philatelic auction.

The Two Penny Blue Versus the Penny Black

The Penny Black is more famous, more collected, and more discussed than the Two Penny Blue. This is partly because of its status as the world's first stamp and partly because the black printing on Penny Blacks made the red Maltese Cross cancel harder to see, leading to the Two Penny Blue's replacement by the slightly bluer Penny Red, while the Two Penny Blue continued in use.

The Two Penny Blue was in use from May 1840 to February 1841, a relatively short period. However, because it was issued in good quantities and used actively, it is more available to collectors than the scarcest stamps of any era.

For collectors who want to own a piece of the founding moment of philately, the Two Penny Blue occupies equal historical standing with the Penny Black at a somewhat lower price point for equivalent condition examples.

Building a British Classic Collection

The 1840 Two Penny Blue fits naturally into a collection of Victorian British stamps, beginning with the 1840 issues and proceeding through the long Queen Victoria reign to 1901. The Two Penny Blue, alongside the Penny Black and Penny Red, forms the essential foundation of any such collection.

Major philatelic auctions (Spink, Stanley Gibbons, Siegel, and others) regularly offer quality examples of the Two Penny Blue with full certificates from recognized expertizing services. The Philatelic Foundation and BPA Expertising provide authentication and grading documentation that is essential for significant purchases.

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