World Stamps

The Penny Red stamp now has its own coin: Linn’s Buzz

Mar 21, 2016, 9 AM
The Pobjoy Mint is celebrating the Penny Red postage stamp with a new Proof .925 fine silver crown coin.

By Colin Sallee

1. Stamped in silver

The Pobjoy Mint of the Ascension Islands has honored the 175th anniversary of the United Kingdom’s Penny Red stamp by featuring it on a new silver coin.

Coin World is reporting that the colorful Proof .925 fine silver crown coin is a part of a series of coins that will be honoring other popular stamp designs with elaborate colors and depictions.

“More than 21 billion examples of the Penny Red were printed over the course of more than 38 years, making it the world’s most-used stamp in the early classic period,” Coin World senior editor Jeff Starck writes. “It was also Britain’s longest-running stamp issue in everyday use, and remains possibly also its most collected and best studied.”

Starck wrote a whole series about stamps on coins in 2015.

This isn’t the only time the Penny Red has been in the news lately. Here are a couple more recent stories about the stamp:

Extremely rare Penny Red stamp sells for £495,000
Penny Red's 175th anniversary celebrated at Stampex

2. The Royal Family’s revamped stamps

Several different European countries have released, or plan to release, new stamps featuring their royal families.

Royalty has been featured on European stamps since 1840, and the recent releases detailed by Denise McCarty continue the trend.

3. Award-winning collections of Arthur K.M. Woo

Managing editor Charles Snee recently reviewed Extracts from the Dr. Arthur K.M. Woo Collections, a book that gives compelling insights into these world-famous collections.

The book is extremely limited, with just 50 copies being printed. 

4. Connect with Linn’s Stamp News

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5. Hot topics

Check out three more interesting articles recently posted on Linns.com:

            1. Born March 21: Francis Lewis
            2. Postmark marks anniversary of postcard collectors club in Portland, Oregon
            3. Two computer programs that can measure stamp perforations