| The introduction of postal services created a problem that lasted several centuries: who should pay the postage – the sender or the receiver? |
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Although methods varied from country to country, it long remained the custom for recipients to pay for receiving mail. But what if the receiver refused?
Many attempts were made to find a solution that would guarantee that postal service providers would receive the tax that was their due. In France, a certain DE VELAYER, owner of a small post office began in 1653 to offer customers small pieces of paper mentioning "receipt for the payment of transport". |
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| In 1814 the Sardinian postal service took up DE VELAYER's idea, but again it was used only for a short time. It was not until 6 May 1840 that the pre-payment of postage in the form of an adhesive receipt took off. The postage stamp was born when English post offices initiated the sale of the first stamps, the Penny Black stamp and two Penny Blue stamps with the portrait of Queen VICTORIA, as well as two prepaid envelopes. It took some months to reconcile the public to this new procedure. But it worked, and 72 million Penny Blacks were issued between May 1840 and January 1841. |
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| Other countries rapidly adopted the method and the postage stamp became a receipt for services to be rendered. The appearance of stamps also gave rise to a new passion – philately. |
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