Penny Venetian Red
The Penny Venetian Red was a British postage stamp equal to the value of one penny. Issued in 1880,[1][2] it was designed by security printing company De La Rue.[3] It superseded the Penny Red that had been used in Great Britain since 1841, and was third penny stamp to enter regular usage in the country.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.[1] Close to 1.5 million Venetian Reds were printed during its run; the printing plates used allowed for 240 stamps each.[4]
The Venetian Red had a short run, and was replaced by the Penny Lilac in July, 1881.[3] Its displacement is attributed to a change in government postal policy – the Customs and Inland Revenue Act passed in 1881, necessitating the creation of stamps that could also be used as revenue stamps. New inscribing was therefore needed, and the new Penny Lilacs featured the words "POSTAGE AND INLAND REVENUE" and "ONE PENNY", rather than the "POSTAGE" and "ONE PENNY" that its predecessors bore. It was decided that a new colouring would also be desirable to defend against improper re-use; if one attempted to wash off an ink cancellation from a Penny Lilac, the lilac ink would run and spoil the stamp.[3] The Lilacs broke the tradition of using corner letters to identify a penny stamp's position on the printing plate – something common to the Penny Black, Red, and Venetian Red – and instead had sixteen dots to each corner.
Notes
- ^ a b Stamps: Webster’s Quotations, Facts and Phrases. Icon Group International, Inc. 2008. p. 331. ISBN 0546656226.
- ^ Cummings, Hayman Alfred James (2008). The College Stamps of Oxford and Cambridge, a Study of Their History and Use from 1870 to 1886. READ BOOKS. p. 92. ISBN 1443787272.
- ^ a b c "19th century GB landmark issues". Stamp Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
- ^ Ross Taylor. "One Penny of 1880-81". Retrieved 2009-05-04.