Penny Blacks...... One On Cover

Hi, as a complete novice, I have been advised this is the best place to find out if the few stamps I have inherited are of any interest/value. I have a couple of penny blacks & would be interested to find out a bit about them. The others I have are Carribean plus a few from Tuvalu & Argentina, but I will show them under a new topic.Any info gratefully received....
Thanks.
Richard.





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I have a second picture but not sure how to add it to this topic? I uploaded two of the same pic rather than one of each.......
Anyone know how to add additional pic here?
Thanks,
Richard.

,!! just found link & second pic now added.
I'm not too clever at using this forum yet, learning as I go..

Your photo of the Penny Black with the letters BC in the corners is a bit blurred but I believe it is from Plate 4 (plate 5 is similar but I'd go for plate 4 unless someone else says differently).
Penny Black stamps were printed in sheets of 240 and 11 different printing plates were used so collectors place different values on the various plates. A good example of a Penny Black would be worth a minimum of £125 if it has 4 margins (the stamps were cut from a sheet with scissors). The photo is not clear if it has 4 clear margins as it looks like it MIGHT be touching on the bottom margin. This would reduce the value, if that is the case, to perhaps 60-80 pounds.

The might be worth BILLIONS -- they all seem to be upside down....

The Penny Black on cover with the letters KK is very interesting. It was printed by Plate 7 and has a variety called a "re-entry" which is a sort of repair to that KK stamp position. It would command a premium of perhaps up to 100 pound more than the value of a normal stamp from that sheet. The stamp is however not a 4 margin one but as it is on a cover and in reasonable condition it would be worth a decent amount.
The letter (cover) was written by someone in Walmer Castle in Kent. The postmarks show a WALMER postmark then the letter went to DOVER and then on to London

scotzm

Do you think it's actually tied to the cover? There's a faint redness to the left that could be from the Maltese Cross, but I wasn't sure.

Geoff

Yes, it is tied to the cover. The MX is upright and almost central on the sideways stamp and the bottom edge of the cross is just off the edge of the stamp.
Here is a scan of the plate 7 KK re-entry on another stamp for comparison...they coincide I would say.

This is a very good Sight to Identify the penny black and the penny red.
I use it to get the numbers then I look it up. It saves a lot of time.
Hope it helps you out.http://harmers.com/catalog/pdf/44.pdf

Hey I could use the BC penny black!

Hi BeeSee, I'm new to this & don't know how much things are worth, so was hoping to find a few things out on this forum. It's already been fascinating & I'm grateful for the replies I've had. I've no idea how to sell on this site, but once I know a bit more I may well look to move anything of any value on. Do you have an idea of what you think it's worth?

RG1, I am not sure the value. But my interest would be the "BC" initials, since those are also my name initials. Some collectors like to get their initials on a Penny Black.

Some nice looking Penny Blacks. Be sure you keep that one on the cover! The BC one looks nice too. You may want to scan the back to look for flaws... Handle them carefully and not with your fingers. Hopefully you inherited some stamp tongs!

Penny Blacks with 3 margins and red Maltese cancels can be purchased for approx. £70 - £80 (approx $100 US).

Pretty stamps! Especially the one on cover! I was going to suggest to post these on "The Penny Page" on Stamporama, but both of these are already on there!

Peter

I "fixed" the BC Penny Black for a better look