1 Answers
The printing plates for the Penny Black, two pence blue and the VR official were all constructed by Perkins Bacon, the printers of the first postage stamps issued in Great Britain.
The construction of these plates was long and complicated, which was intentional so as to make the forgery of the finished article almost impossible.
The first stage involved the engraving of a background for the design. This was produced with a rose engine which laid down a circular pattern of symmetrical design onto a piece of soft steel. This was then partly cleared to leave a square shape and an area in the centre was further cleared in the shape of Queen Victoria's head ready for engraving.
At this stage the die was passed to the engravers who, working from a sketch provided by Henry Cole, engraved the head in the centre.