The VR official was one of three postage stamps introduced by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in May 1840 for the pre-payment of postage. While the

Penny Black The Penny Black was the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system. It was first issued in the United Kingdom (referred to in philatelic circles as Great Britain), on 1 May 1840, but was not valid for use until 6 May. ...

and the Two Pence Blue were for use by the general public, as were the Mulready envelopes and letter sheets, the VR official was for use on official mail. In appearance the VR Official was the same as the issued Penny Black except that the Maltese crosses in the top corners were removed and replaced by the letters V and R, hence its common name. The plate layout for this issue was the same in almost all respects as that used for the penny black and the two pence blue produced at the same time. The only difference in the marginal inscription was the plate identification which was shown as a letter, (see picture), rather than a number as used on the general issue of postage stamps. The idea of this stamp was that it would be used on official correspondence from government departments. However, the public dislike and mockery of the Mulready envelope and letter sheets led to vast numbers of the Mulreadies being issued to the various departments, with the tax office being the heaviest user. Since existing stocks could be used, the idea of the official stamp was abandoned. Nearly all of the supplies which had been printed were destroyed on 25 January 1843. Twenty-one sheets survived, a few of the stamps passed (invalidly) through the posts, and

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...

used some to experiment with cancellation techniques.

Forgeries

The stamp was forged by

Bernhardt Assmus Bernhardt Burghardt Assmus (–unknown) was a German stamp forger operating in London. He was originally from Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 ...

in August 1890"Police" in ''The Times'' (London, England), Thursday, 7 January 1892; pg. 14; Issue 33528. who was unmasked by the dealer

Morris Giwelb Morris Giwelb (1853 – March 1937)"Morris Giwelb" by Cyril Permutt in ''Philatelic Paraphernalia'', No. 23/24, April/July 1990, pp. 333-334. was a British stamp dealer, originally from the Province of Warsaw in Russian Poland, who, in his ...

, to whom he had sold a forged copy of the stamp."Morris Giwelb" by Cyril Permutt in ''Philatelic Paraphernalia'', No. 23/24, April/July 1990, pp. 333–334.Birch, Brian. (2012)
Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers
''. 12th edition. Standish, Wigan: Brian Birch, p. 880.

References and sources

;References ;Sources *{{Cite book, title=Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Volume 1, 14th revised edition, publisher=

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

, year=2006, isbn=0852596286
The One Penny VR
The British Postal Museum & Archive Postage stamps of the United Kingdom Cultural depictions of Queen Victoria

Forgeries

See also

References and sources