The Stamp Centenary Exhibition was an international stamp exhibition. It was held at Lancaster House in London from 6–11 May 1940, under the auspices of the

Royal Philatelic Society The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

. It was in aid of the Lord Mayor's Red Cross and St. John Fund.Philatelic Bulletin Vol. 17 No. 9 (May 1980).

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. ...

reprints (with full gum) were printed by

Waterlow and Sons Waterlow and Sons Limited was a major worldwide engraver of currency, postage stamps, stocks and bond certificates based in London, Watford and Dunstable in England. The company was founded as a family business in 1810. It was acquired in 1961 b ...

for the exhibition.

Miniature sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many ea ...

s were produced in five colors, as well as Cinderella stamp sheets. A set of six commemorative stamps were also released the first day of the exhibition. (

Scott catalogue The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

numbers 252-257, all available for modest prices.) Commencement of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

coincided with its closing days.

U.S. Celebration

In the United States consideration was given to issuing a commemorative postage stamp at the same time as the anniversary of the Penny Black. While designs were developed the plan was dropped for artistic and political reasons. Many unofficial souvenirs were however produced.Lists of souvenirs for 1840 Penny Black anniversaries
/ref>

References

{{Reflist

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

1940 in London May 1940 events in the United Kingdom Royal Philatelic Society London

U.S. Celebration

See also

References