Great Britain Line-Engraved Stamps

A concise collector's guide to the history, production, terminology and postmarks of Britain's first postage stamps.

Explore the Penny Black, Penny Red and Two Penny Blue through guides to printing, perforations, corner letters and cancellations. To compare examples, browse our Queen Victoria stamp stock or open the illustrated identification guides.

Contents

1. The Road to the Penny Black Postal reform, Rowland Hill, uniform penny postage and the first adhesive stamps. p. 1
2. The Evolution of the Penny Red From the Penny Black to imperforate reds, perforated stars, alphabets and plate-numbered issues. p. 2
3. How Line-Engraved Stamps Were Printed Master dies, transfer rollers, printing plates, repairs, re-entries and transfer roller lines. p. 3
4. Understanding Stamp Perforation Archer’s trials, perforating machinery, gauges and the perforation errors collectors study. p. 4
5. Understanding Corner Letters Sheet positions, hand-punched letters, alphabets, double letters and their importance in plating. p. 5
6. What Is Plating? How collectors identify the plate from which a line-engraved stamp was printed. p. 6
7. Postmarks and Cancellations Maltese Crosses, coloured crosses, 1844 numerals, duplexes, railway and local marks. p. 7
8. Collecting Line-Engraved Stamps Condition, margins, postmarks, shades, multiples, varieties and different ways to build a collection. p. 8
9. Essential Terms Explained Dies, alphabets, watermarks, perforations, retouches, guide lines and ivory heads. p. 9

Collector's note: These guides are intended as a readable introduction rather than a catalogue substitute, using original QVStamps wording and a practical collector-focused approach.