Penny Black Stamp Rarity
Originally, a total of 68,808,000 stamps were printed on a total of 286,700 sheets. That's 240 stamps per sheet. Of this, at least a few percent of these stamps have surived to this day, making the total number in circulation at least a few million. This is partially because at that time, the use of envelopes were not common. Whenever a letter was mailed, it was generally folded much like it is now. The letter is then sealed with sealing wax and the penny black stamp adhered to the letter. Therefore, whenever someone saved a letter, the stamp was saved as well.
Of these 286 thousands sheets printed, a total of 11 plates were used, since the plates were often worn out. Here's a list each of the plates and how many stamps were printed on each one
| Plate | Date Registered | Number Printed |
| 1 | April 15, 1840 | 10,052,400 |
| 2 | April 22, 1840 | 7,659,120 |
| 3 | May 9, 1840 | 4,786,800 |
| 4 | May 19, 1840 | 6.701,760 |
| 5 | June 1, 1840 | 8,616,480 |
| 6 | June 17, 1840 | 9,095,040 |
| 7 | July 8, 1840 | 8,137,680 |
| 8 | July 31, 1840 | 7,180,320 |
| 9 | November 9, 1840 | 3,840,000 |
| 10 | December 9, 1840 | 1,920,000 |
| 11 | January 27, 1840 | 168,000 |
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