Great Britain 1840 'VR Official' Penny Black
- Maker
- United Kingdom (Inland Revenue / GPO)
- Year
- 1840
- Rank
- 83 of 100
- Identifier
- SG V1, 1d black with 'V' 'R' in upper corners — the unissued official; ~33 possible examples; imprimatur/single
Great Britain 1840 'VR Official' Penny Black
Market asking price, not a sale: $26,934, dated 2026-08-06. This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it.
What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?
The Penny Black variant prepared for government mail but never issued and almost entirely destroyed — a famous 'what-if' of philately.
SG V1, 1d black with 'V' 'R' in upper corners — the unissued official; ~33 possible examples; imprimatur/single
What is the best-sourced number for it?
- Figure
- $26,934
- Kind
- Market asking price, not a sale
- Date
- 2026-08-06
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown, and asking prices sit above what buyers pay more often than not. Read it as a ceiling on the market's opinion at that moment, not as a value.
By reference price, Great Britain 1840 'VR Official' Penny Black is number 66 of 99 in the stamps entries of the FLOAT 100. 75 of those 99 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (83 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
How this is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- Why no grade ladder
- Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
- Archive
- 2026-08-08
Track your own
FLOAT is a free tracker. Add the stamps you own, keep photos and certificates with each item, and see a value built from real sales at your item's grade. This page is a public reference; it does not offer, price or sell insurance.