"Penny Black: Historic Stamp Mail Could Fetch Record $2.5 Million at Auction"

The first known piece of mail sent using a prepaid stamp, a Penny Black, is set to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York and could fetch up to $2.5 million. Dated May 2, 1840, the letter's original recipient was the manager of a Victorian iron works in England, and the sender remains unknown. The letter was enclosed in an ornate Mulready envelope, which revolutionized correspondence at the time. The Penny Black stamp was conceived to standardize postal rates and was a significant leap forward in human communication, while the Mulready envelope was withdrawn after public ridicule.