Postage stamp prepaying. From when the first postage stamps were used, postmarks were applied to prevent the stamps being used again. The first stamp, the "Penny black", became available for purchase 1 May 1840, to be valid as of 6 May 1840. Two days later, 8 May 1840, the Two penny blue was introduced. The Penny black was sufficient for a letter less than half an ounce to be sent anywhere within the UK. Both stamps included an engraving of the young Queen Victoria, without perforations, as the first stamps were separated from their sheets by cutting them with scissors. The first
First stamp of the Russian Empire green, blue, black, and carmine. However, these stamps were eventually not approved. A new design of the first Russian postage stamp, of rectangular shape, was created by an ESSP's senior engraver Franz (Feodor) Kepler who submitted it for consideration on 21 October 1856. Preparing his stamp sketch, Kepler carefully examined all materials brought by Charukovsky from abroad including the original designs and samples of stamps of different countries. As a prototype for creating the Russian postage stamp, Kepler took a printer's sample stamp made by a Prague firm & Sons that was proposed for the Austrian stamps of rectangular shape.