Through Hill's efforts, on May 6, 1840, Britain released the world's first officially issued adhesive postage stamp, a one-penny denomination universally referred to as the Penny Black. The stamp features a portrait of Queen Victoria on a black background, establishing a postal precedent in Britain. Since that time, all regular-issue British stamps have portrayed the reigning monarch. Moreover, like the Penny Black, no subsequent British stamp has been inscribed with the name of the country, a privilege reserved for the nation that invented the postage stamp.
A companion two-pence blue Victoria portrait stamp was placed on sale a few days later, and both denominations became so popular that many people bought them not only for postal use but for their design and value as souvenirs. Within days after these first stamps were issued, the hobby of stamp collecting was born. The Penny Black is not a rare stamp—many millions were issued—but, as the world's first adhesive issue, it remains highly regarded by philatelists (stamp collectors).
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