GB stamp Five Pounds orange mug
by William
(San Francisco)
GB stamp Five Pounds orange mug
(StampGiftShop.com)
The British Five Pounds Sterling stamp was issued in 1882. This was in the day when a British Pound was real money!
To mail a letter cost but one penny at the time. Bear in mind, there were 12 pennies in a shilling and 20 shillings to the pound, thus each pound had 240 pence and five Pounds would equal 1200 pence.
Consider that today, in the USA a first class stamp cost 42c, to buy 1200 of them would require $504. If the USPS were to sell a postage stamp with face value over $500, I doubt many would be sold.
I might buy some if I were mailing gold bricks some place, but to just set one aside for a collection? I don't think so.
In 1882 that might equal a year's wages. Still, it IS a pretty stamp. See it catalogues today at $10,000 for an unused copy. But you can have a "mint condition" example on T-shirts, a tote bag, fridge magnet or this handsome coffee mug, all available from StampGiftShop.com.