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
Rob Penny considered Penny to be Wilson's mentor in those early days. Penny's hire, along with other non-traditionalists academics, such as the choreographer Bob Johnson were part of the push to infuse the Black Studies curriculum with a wholistic Black Aesthetic to correspond to an advanced exploration of Black academics that Porter, in particular, thought should comprise Black Studies. After Penny began teaching at the University of Pittsburgh , he was promoted to associate professor in 1971 under the leadership of Porter. His tenure established a foothold for the increased production of his art. Penny, moved on to serve as chair of