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1
435
Her Majesty's Mails
·
William Lewins
322
Before
the
postage-envelope
was
finally
withdrawn
from
use,
the
Treasury
issued
another
prospectus,
offering
a
reward
of
500l.
for
the
best
design
and
plan
for
a
simple
postage-label.
It
was
made
a
condition
that
it
should
be
simple,
handy,
and
easily
placed
on
paper,
and
of
a
design
which
would
make
forgery
difficult,
if
not
impossible.
About
1,000
designs
were
sent
in,
but
not
one
was
chosen.
Eventually,
the
ugly
black
stamp,
said
to
be
the
joint
production
of
some
of
the
officers
of
the
Stamp-
and
Post-Offices,
was
decided
upon
and
brought
into
use.
Two
years
afterwards,
this
black
stamp
was
changed
to
brown,
principally
with
a
view
to
make
the
obliterating
process
more
perfect,
and
the
better
to
detect
the
dishonesty
of
using
old
stamps.
For
the
same
reasons,
the
colour
was
again
changed
in
a
short
time
to
red,
and
so
it
has
remained
to
the
present
time.
The
twopenny
stamp
has
been
from
the
first
blue.
Up
to
this
date,
at
different
intervals,
six
other
stamps
have
been
issued,
as
the
necessities
of
the
inland
or
foreign
postage
required
them.
The
tenpenny
stamp,
of
an
octagonal
shape
and
brown
colour,
is
now
scarcely
ever
used,
if
it
be
not
even
withdrawn
from
circulation.
The
list
comprises,
besides
the
stamps
we
have
mentioned,
the
sixpenny
(lilac),
the
shilling
(green),
the
fourpenny
(vermilion),
the
threepenny
(rose),
and
the
ninepenny
(yellow).
The
last
two
were
issued
only
two
or
three
years
ago.
The
whole
of
the
English
labels
bear
the
impression
of
the
head
of
Queen
Victoria,
and
are
all
of
the
same
size
and
shape
(if
we
except
the
tenpenny
stamp),
the
sole
difference
being
in
the
colour,
and
in
the
various
borderings
round
the
Queen's
portraits.
Besides
these
distinguishing
marks,
however,
they
all
tell
the
tale
of
their
own
value.[176]
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