Penny Venetian Red Penny Venetian Red The Penny Venetian Red was a British postage stamp equal to the value of one penny. Issued in 1880, it was designed and surface-printed by security printing company De La Rue. It superseded the Penny Red that had been used in Great Britain since 1841, and was the third one-penny stamp to enter regular usage in the country. The Venetian Red was aesthetically similar to the Penny Red and Penny Black that had come before it, but was instead coloured a venetian red and had a square framing. Close to 1.5 million Venetian Reds were printed during
Gold penny Gold penny The gold penny was a medieval English coin with a value of twenty pence. Until the reign of King Henry III of England (1216–1272), any need in England for coins worth more than one penny, at the time a silver coin, was met by the use of Byzantine or Arabic gold and silver coins which circulated among merchants and traders. However, as commerce increased, so did the need for higher value coins. In 1257 Henry instructed his goldsmith, William of Gloucester, to produce a coinage of pure gold. The gold penny was introduced, with a value of twenty