Sunday 24 May 2015

Queen of Post

I'm combining the stamp royalty of Roland Hill with Queen Victoria in this, a recent acquisition, celebrating the issuing in 1840 of the penny black which brought the joy of post to everyone. A number of postal authorities are commemorating the occasion this year but I fell for Guernsey's action packed FDC. How could I resist a combination of pen, ink and postie with a commemorative sheet. The designer is Keith Robinson.

In contrast to the modern reproduction of a penny black lets travel to India and see those images of Victoria that were around when she was alive and the postal system was in full swing. 
The stamps from the 1880s feature the same portrait but the one on the left with its On HMS (On Her Majesty's Service) overprint could only be used on official mail by civil servants whereas we will never know who used the one anna stamp.

Lastly another stamp featuring royalty but in this case an imaginary one -
the The Queen of Hearts. It's from this year's  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland set whose 150th anniversary of publication falls in 2015. The artist is the award winning Grahame Baker-Smith

An entry to Violet Sky's Sunday Stamps II theme of - Royalty - see more crowns here

4 comments:

FinnBadger said...

The Indian stamps are fascinating, and thanks for including the fun Queen of Hearts stamp.

Mail Adventures said...

I have read a lot about the "penny black" in the recent days. I need to post one day about the first Spanish stamps, which was a copy of the penny black (as in many countries).

I have also received the Queen of Hearts. This set of stamps is stunning.

Bob Scotney said...

Will you be investing in the offer of an original penny black if you buy the limited edition of the reissue due soon? It's only £200!
I like the Indian stamps and the Queen of Hearts.

violet s said...

Love the whimsical Queen of Hearts!
I haven't seen many - none actually - of the Penny Black anniversary stamps and really enjoyed seeing this FDC (and he's left-handed, just like me - how odd to see)

How exciting that you have these Indian Victoria stamps!
For your bonus prize, you are also invited to select a favourite theme for a Sunday in July, if you wish.