THE SUCCESSOR

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On the 3rd of April 1879, the Board of the Inland Revenue invited seven printers to submit tenders to print the 1d value only, the closing date being the 7th May.

Many firms, including Perkins Bacon and Co who printed the then current Penny Red, submitted dummy stamps as part of their tender, of which the following are but a few:-

Essays by Pekins Bacon [16K]
Dummy Stamps by Perkins Bacon & Co

Dummy stamp [3K] Dummy Stamp [5K]
Dummy Stamps by McCorquodale

Skipper & East [5K]
Dummy stamp by
Charles Skipper & East

However it was a foregone conclusion that the contract should be awarded to De La Rue since the report of the Government Chemist showed that only De La Rue's work met the rquirements which had been specified, in particular for the use of fugitive inks.

Specimen

Imprimatur

Used in 1st Month

Accordingly, De La Rue's tender was accepted of the 27th June 1879, the contract being for a period of seven years. This finally led to the demise of the Penny Red, which was replaced by the 1d Venetian Red on the 1st of January 1880.

Late Usage [11K]
Cancelled 15th July 1902

The Penny Red would of course still remain valid for postage for many years to come. Indeed examples can be found used will into the 20th century though these are often on or from covers of philatelic manufacture.

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Last updated
10th March 2002