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
First stamp of the Russian Empire On 20 October 1857, Alexander II approved three two-colour samples printed in denominations of 10, 20, and 30 kopecks. On 9 November, the Emperor ordered to call them "postage stamps" instead of "stempel" stamps. Manufacturing of the 10-kopeck stamps began in November. The first Russian postage stamp was printed on a white hand-made paper with a watermark in the form of a figure "1", 15 mm heigh. Since a punching machine ordered from the in Vienna was received only on 19 November and in a state of disrepair, it was decided to hand over a part of the printed imperforate