GB QUEEN VICTORIA 1855/64, 1d RED BROWN SG 43/44, Pl.78, FA-AF, Used

The Great Britain 1864 Queen Victoria 1d (One Penny) Red line-engraved issue with four corner letters is designated as SG 43 (Rose-Queen Victoria 1d (One Penny) Rose-Red "Penny Red" definitive, issued in Great Britain starting in 1864. In the Stanley Gibbons catalogue, it is classified under SG 43 (or SG 44 depending on the exact paper shade variety).

Country: Great Britain (United Kingdom)

Monarch: Queen Victoria

Denomination: 1d (One Pre-decimal Penny)

Colour: Rose-Red to Lake-Red shades

Printing Method: Line-Engraved

Watermark: Large Crown

Perforation: 14

This specific stamp was printed from Plate 78. You can see the number "78" engraved faintly into the intricate lace/scrollwork design on both the left and right vertical borders of the stamp frame.

The corner letters are part of a tracking grid used on early British sheets to prevent counterfeiting and identify a stamp’s exact coordinates on a sheet of 240 stamps (20 rows of 12 columns).

• Top Corners (F - A): The upper-left corner contains F and the upper-right corner contains A.
• Bottom Corners (A - F): The lower-left corner contains A and the lower-right corner contains F.

The coordinate system is read sequentially where the bottom-left corner letter denotes the row and the bottom-right corner letter denotes the column.

• Row A: This means your stamp comes from the 1st row (Row A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc.).
• Column F: This means your stamp comes from the 6th column (A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, D = 4, E = 5, F = 6).

Therefore, this stamp with check-letters FA / AF was positioned at Sheet Position 6 (Row 1, Stamp 6) on the full sheet of 240.