Stamp collecting stamp collecting began at the same time that stamps were first issued, and by 1860 thousands of collectors and stamp dealers were appearing around the world as this new study and hobby spread across Europe, European colonies, the United States and other parts of the world. The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in May 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. It was produced without perforations (imperforate) and consequently had to be cut from the sheet with scissors in order to be used. While unused examples of the Penny Black are quite scarce, used examples
Denomination (postage stamp) Denomination (postage stamp) In philately, the denomination is the "inscribed value of a stamp". For instance, if you visit the post office to buy a stamp to pay $1's worth of postage you will receive a stamp that has the value "$1" printed on it in words or numbers. The denomination is not the same as the value of a stamp on the philatelic market, which is usually different, and the denominations of a country's stamps and money do not necessarily match. For instance, there might be a 47c stamp to pay a particular postal rate but there is unlikely