Penny Black printing plates Penny Black printing plates The printing plates for the Penny Black, two pence blue and the VR official were all constructed by Perkins Bacon, the printers of the first postage stamps issued in Great Britain. The construction of these plates was long and complicated, which was intentional so as to make the forgery of the finished article almost impossible. The first stage involved the engraving of a background for the design. This was produced with a rose engine which laid down a circular pattern of symmetrical design onto a piece of soft steel. This was then partly cleared to leave
Penny in the hole Penny in the hole Pitch penny (also called Penny seat, Penny slot, Tossing the penny, and Penny in the hole) is a pub game. It involves throwing coins across the room and into a hole carved in the seat of a wooden bench. A similar game is Toad in the Hole in which a dedicated table or box is used instead of a hole carved in a convenient piece of pub furniture. Toad in the Hole has a World Championship held in Lewes. A version of the game called Chuck-Farthing was played in the United Kingdom. Mentions of the game