ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is an important figure in philately because her effigy appears on the first postage stamp that was issued in 1840. As head of state of many countries and colonies of the British Empire, she was also the first or first subject on stamps from these regions throughout her reign.

The commemorations of the first stamp, the Penny Black, or the UPU, regularly give rise to stamps with Victoria's effigy.

United Kingdom

The Penny Black in Victoria's profile was the first postage stamp issued. It was the visible part of the postal reform initiated by Rowland Hill.

Other countries

Here is a list of countries whose first postage stamp(s) were in Queen Victoria's effigy and, if applicable, the name usually given to the issue.

South Australia from 1855.
Western Australia, in 1902, among the Black Swan programs.
The Bahamas with the Chalon effigy in 1859.
Province of Canada (then Ontario and Quebec), 1851.
Canadian Confederation in 1868.
Cyprus, the first Cyprus stamp of the British administration, in 1880.
British Columbia and Vancouver Island, for their separate and common programming from 1860 to 1871.
Granada with the Chalon effigy in 1860.
Heligoland (North Sea Island), from 1867 to 1875.
British Honduras in 1866.
Malta in 1860.
Mauritius: Post Office in 1847.
Natal, first effigy in 1859 after a series of stamps printed in relief and dry.
New Brunswick, second issue of 1860.
Nova Scotia, 1851.
New South Wales: second show in 1851.
New Zealand from the Chalon effigy in 1855 to the Landscapes series of 1898.
Prince Edward Island in 1861.
Queensland with the Chalon effigy in 1860.
Land of Van Diemen, later Tasmania, in 1853.
Newfoundland, second show in 1866.
Victoria: profile effigy, then on the throne in 1850.

Types
Several types of Queen Victoria have been used in several colonies.

For example, Chalon effigy served in ten colonies from 1851 to 1912. It was created from a portrait of the Queen by Alfred Edward Chalon.

Collect Victoria stamps

The collection of stamps with the effigy of Queen Victoria reveals a mine of specialized collections, one of the most popular is the 1 red penny issued in 1864.

The red "One Penny" of 1864

The red "One Penny" was printed from 1864. It was used to clear the current letters.

For the philatelist, this stamp has a worldwide popularity by the multiple varieties likely to be spotted. Indeed, two devices allow the collector to identify the main variants:
The position of each stamp in a board is identified by letters identifying lines and columns;
For each draw, a board number (included between 71 and 2