蓝色2便士邮票

 

The Great Britain 1840 Twopenny Blue

 

The Twopenny Blue stamp was introduced in Great Britain at the same time as the Penny Black, to the same design, merely changing the rate in the bottom panel of the stamp and changing the colour to blue.

Intended to be used for letters weighing more than half an ounce, this was not compulsory, and higher weighing letters tended to use multiple Penny Blacks, as for the Kirkcudbright cover shown in the previous frame.  There was not much demand for the stamp, and only one plate for its printing was manufactured initially, though a second plate did come into use later in 1840.

Example of unused Twopenny Blue stamps are quite scarce, and very expensive these days.

This irregular block of 38 unused Twopenny Blue stamps is the largest known block to have survived of printings from the first plate (although a block of 48 from the second plate is also known, in private hands).

Although the colour stayed much the same, (a black cancel being quite visible on the blue colour,) new plates were manufactured with a slight design change and stamps from the new plates were issued just after the penny stamp colour was changed to red in early 1841.

 

 

英国：1840年蓝色2便士邮票

 

英国的蓝色2便士邮票是与黑便士邮票同期发行的，两者图样相同，只不过邮票下部的面值有了改变，并且邮票的颜色也改成了蓝色。

 

这种邮票是为重量超过半盎司的信件使用，但非强制使用，超重的信件常见贴用多枚黑便士邮票，此前的那枚“柯尔库布里”信封就是这样。2便士邮票的需要量不很多，虽然第二块印版是在1840年的晚些时候启用，但最初却只有一块印版用来印制此票。

 

如今，未使用过的蓝色2便士邮票十分珍罕，而且非常昂贵。

 

此件未使用过的蓝色2便士邮票的不规则38枚大方连，是已知用第一块印版印刷的存世最大方连票（另据知有人藏有第二块印版印的48枚大方连）。

 

虽然两次印版印刷的邮票颜色一样（黑色邮戳销盖在蓝色邮票上十分显眼），但第二版印刷的邮票图样有细微的改动，第二版是在1841年初1便士邮票的刷色改为红色之后才开始发行的。