The Penny Black, the world's first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May 1840, for use from 6 May.

The Penny Black was in use for only a little over a year. It was found that a red cancellation ink that was used to postmark the stamps was hard to see. In 1841 the Penny Red was released and all stamps were cancelled with black ink.