1840 penny stamp on a Burnley letter set to fetch a small fortune (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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1840 penny stamp on a Burnley letter set to fetch a small fortune
4:50pm Friday 3rd February 2012 in Burnley
VALUE STAMP The Penny Black on the envelope of the letter from 1840
A PENNY Black stamp on a Burnley letter — dating back to the infancy of the postal service — is set to fetch substantially more when it comes under auction.
Back in 1840, when the letter addressed to Burnley solicitors Alcock and Dixon was originally sent, the ‘penny post’ system was only a few weeks old.
But today the rare stamp is expected to recoup a 96,000 per cent mark-up when it goes under the hammer at Spink auctioneers in London later this month.
John Alcock Dixon was clerk to the Burnley, Colne and Clitheroe Court of Requests and had an office in St James’ Row.
The letter itself, from May 30, 1840, is simply marked: ‘Messrs Alcock & Dixon, solicitors, Burnley, Lancashire’.
No street name was given — but then Burnley’s official population at the time was only just over 14,000.
The letter would probably have made the 227-mile journey from London by horse-drawn mail coach as Burnley railway station did not open for another eight years.
An auction spokesman said: “This is one of the first Penny Blacks sent to Burnley and it could even be the first.”
“Now 172 years later the Burnley Penny Black is up for sale and it is expected to sell for between £300 and £400.”
Within the year the stamp itself became a collectors item because of its rarity as its design, and red cancellation mark, as seen on the Burnley envelope, was replaced.”
