This is a classic Great Britain Queen Victoria 1d Red, part of the later issues of the famous Penny Reds, printed between 1858 and 1879. The stamp shows the left-facing profile of Queen Victoria within a rectangular frame with a lattice background. The check letters in the lower corners – here F–F – were used to identify the position on the printing plate.

The cancellation is a bold “255” barred numeral postmark, which corresponds to Leeds, Yorkshire. Such cancellations were used throughout the UK to prevent re-use and also provide valuable postal history information.

As a successor to the world’s first postage stamp (the 1840 Penny Black), the Penny Red played a key role in British postal history. Collectors value it for its numerous plate variations, postmarks, and plate numbers. This example, with its strong barred numeral cancel, is a fine representation of 19th-century British postal use.