Estimated ranges from catalog, dealer and auction data — each row says which kind of figure it is (dealer retail ≠ catalog value ≠ auction result ≠ what a dealer will pay you). Not a professional appraisal; confirm with a qualified expert before buying or selling.

The honest headline

  • A Penny Lilac (1881) — Britain's workhorse stamp for 20 years, printed in the tens of billions per Wikipedia — retails at 20p to £1.60.
  • Even the low values of the 1887 Jubilee issue — Victorian stamps over 135 years old — are "worth only a few pennies" used (Wikipedia); the value is in unmounted-mint sets and high values.
  • Machin definitives (1967–2022) were printed in the billions across 5,000+ varieties; ordinary used ones have effectively no resale value.

What British stamps are worth: 13 representative examples

These 13 stamps span the whole value spectrum — from the ones almost every inherited album contains to the rarities everyone hopes for. Ranges are condition-dependent; the note under each stamp explains what drives its price.

Representative Great Britain stamp values — sources below, last checked July 4, 2026.
Stamp Typical range
Penny Black — the world's first stamp (1840) Common (68.8 million issued). Full condition-tiered breakdown on our dedicated page. £15 – £400 used, four figures mint
Two Penny Blue (original, no white lines) (1840 · SG 5 (plate 1) / SG 5–6 (plate 2)) Issued alongside the Penny Black; 6,460,000 printed — roughly ten times scarcer. SG catalogue value for a fine used example is £1,000 (Paul Fraser). £95 – £2,950 used (dealer retail)
Two Penny Blue, white lines added (1841 · SG 13–15) The revised 2d with white lines above 'TWO PENCE' and below 'POSTAGE' — far more common than the 1840 original; later-issue 2d blues traded online from as little as £10–£15 (Warwick & Warwick, 2021 figure). Maltese Cross cancels command premiums. £27.50 – £225 used (dealer retail)
Penny Red (1841–79) About 21 billion printed. The exception is Plate 77 — a handful known, six figures. Full breakdown on our dedicated page. 10p – £10 for the vast majority
1s green, embossed issue (1847–54 · SG 54–55) Britain's first stamps above 2d, embossed one impression at a time on silk-thread paper. Mint figures only — used cut-square examples sell for a small fraction (get a specialist quote); cut-into examples lose most value. Mint: ~£21,000 – £24,000 (SG catalogue / dealer)
Penny Lilac (1881–1901 · SG 170–174) Britain's everyday stamp for two decades, printed in the tens of billions (per Wikipedia). Only errors are valuable — e.g. the printed-on-gummed-side error retails at £485. 20p – £1.60 (dealer retail)
£5 Orange (1882 · SG 137) Victorian trophy stamp, originally a telegraphs design. Dr John Horsey's census analysed 3,534 examples, which he calculated to be nearly half of those surviving — roughly 7,000+ (per Mike Hall, JustCollecting). Dealer asking prices vs SG catalogue differ sharply — both shown. £3,750 – £5,000 fine used/mint asking · catalogue £12,500 mint
£1 brown-lilac (1884 · SG 185) One of the great Victorian rarities in unused condition (mint-only figures verified; used examples sell for a small fraction — specialist territory). Unused: catalogue ~£32,000
1887 Jubilee issue (14 values) (1887–1900 · SG 197–214) The first bi-coloured British stamps, issued in Victoria's Golden Jubilee year. Used low values are abundant; the value is in unmounted mint (best single: the 1s at ~£150). Pennies used · £525 unmounted-mint set (dealer retail)
King Edward VII £1 dull blue-green (1902 · SG 266) Top value of the 1902–10 De La Rue definitives. Low-value Edward VII stamps, by contrast, are common and cheap. Unused: ~£2,500 asking · catalogue £3,500
King George V Seahorses (1913–34 · SG 399–417, 450–452) Bertram Mackennal's celebrated high-value design, printed by four different firms — printer and shade drive value. The key stamp is the 1913 Waterlow £1 green, only printed that year. £37.50 used (2s6d) – £1,750 unmounted mint (£1 green)
£1 Postal Union Congress (1929 · SG 438) Only 61,000 issued — but survival was high, so it is scarce rather than rare. Only Britain's second commemorative issue; St George and the dragon, recess-printed. £950 – £1,100 unmounted mint (dealer / SG catalogue)
Machin definitives (1967–2022) Arnold Machin's Queen Elizabeth II profile ran 55 years across 5,000+ catalogued varieties, printed in the billions. Ordinary used Machins fall in the "$0.05 to $1" bucket that covers ~95% of all stamps (identifystamp.com); only specialist errors carry value. Effectively nil for ordinary used examples

Values last checked: July 4, 2026.

Deep dives on the famous ones

How British stamp values really work

  • Mint with full original gum beats everything: a never-hinged stamp keeps its full gum and "is obviously worth more." (Warwick & Warwick, How to appraise stamps)
  • Catalogue values are optimistic ceilings for perfect examples; "even most dealers discount their prices heavily from the values they display." (Warwick & Warwick, How to appraise stamps)
  • On imperforate classics (Penny Black, Two Penny Blue, embossed issues), four wide even margins multiply value; cut-into examples sit at the bottom of every range. (Warwick & Warwick, Penny Black guide)
  • "The chances are high that your stamp collection is not worth as much as you initially thought. Most stamps are common and are of little to no value." (Stephen Jones, Liverpool Stamps (via Saga))
  • Fading and damage matter: water- or sunlight-faded colour significantly reduces value. (Warwick & Warwick, How to appraise stamps)

Related famous stamps

  • Penny Black value — Common — tens of millions issued, over a million survive.
  • Penny Red value — Very common — roughly 21 billion printed; most used examples are worth pennies.
  • Blue Mauritius value — Among the rarest stamps in the world — only ~26-27 known.

Sources

Every figure on this page traces to a published reference, dealer listing or recorded sale, checked July 4, 2026: