Before the 1840s, mail delivery in England and the United States was always C.O.D. The problem came when someone refused a letter and the mail service was left holding the bag.
British teacher and reformer Rowland Hill (1795-1879) licked that problem – and created a new hobby for generations of collectors.
In 1837, he proposed that a sender shell out one penny for each half-ounce of mail sent in England regardless of the distance involved.
The postage was to be prepaid by the sender by means of “a bit of paper … covered at the back with a glutinous wash.”
The British Parliament accepted Hill’s idea and in 1840, the world’s first stamp, the “Penny Black” – bearing the profile of Queen Victoria – became available.
America officially followed suit in 1847 when its Post Office Department issued two stamps: a 5-cent Ben Franklin and a 10-cent George Washington.