Full set of 12 Penny Black Stamps (From Plates 1 and 1a to 11).  Certificate of Authenticity from Harrington & Byrne. 

The Penny Black stamp was the world's first adhesive postage stamp and it went on sale in Great Britain on May 6th 1840. The pre-paid adhesive postage stamp was borne out of a need for a standardised rate of postage in the United Kingdom that was available to all and not just the wealthy. Until 1837, sending a letter was an expensive and complicated task. Like any other transaction, payment was received at the end but this meant it was the recipient who was left to settle the bill. 

Rowland Hill, a schoolmaster, was so moved by the inefficiency of the process that he took it upon himself to revolutionise communication forever. Hill published a pamphlet, Post office reform; Its importance and practicability, in which he made a case for a big change. He argued that the new system should require a cheap, flat-rate which would be prepaid when posted. 

After months of lobbying, Hill’s idea took shape in the world’s first postage stamp.

The scarcest Penny Blacks are from printing plate 11, originally produced for the Penny Red, Plate 11 was drafted in for an emergency printing in black of only 700 sheets

This is a beautiful full set of Penny Blacks stamps to begin your collection or add to an existing one