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 Post except for Australia and New Zealand, who would not benefit from it until 1905. In 1908 it was extended to America. The Penny Post rate ended in Great Britain in 1918. In the United States, Spaulding's Penny Post operated in Buffalo, New York from 1847 to 1850. Davis' Penny Post operated in Baltimore, Maryland for several weeks of February 1856, leaving behind a handful of rare stamps. The Penny Post is the journal of the Carriers and Locals Society, and was also the original name of "The Cincinnati Post". Penny Post The Penny Post is any one of several postal