5. The Mystery of the Penny Black 5. The famous 'Penny Black', the world's first postage stamp, was introduced in England in 1840. The idea of postage stamps was a great success and was taken up worldwide. Yet the 'Penny Black' was in use for only one year before it was replaced by the 'Penny Red'. Why? Added 1 January 2007 Show Hint Show Solution Hint: The reason still makes sense today, which is why you rarely see black stamps. Solution: The postmark used at that time was always black. It was therefore difficult to tell whether a stamp had been franked or not. This led to people re-using used stamps. On a 'Penny Red' the black postmark was clearly visible.
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