Surface-printed stamps of 1867-80; surface-printed revenues
Britain nationalised the various inland telegraph companies in 1869, and placed them under Post Office operation beginning in 1870. Henceforth, postage stamps could be used to send telegrams. One shilling was the basic flat rate for the first 20 words (each additional 5 words @ 3d). Initially it was thought that forms with embossed stamps would be the main form of pre-payment, but the public preferred to use adhesives.
In 1872-73, the infamous Stock Exchange forgeries were put to use, although this vast fraud was not uncovered until 25 years later, when philatelists noticed something amiss.
In 1873, the need to speed up production of printing plates led to a design change from white to coloured corner letters.
QVshilling.net 