FLOAT
An unused imperforate block of four 1840 Two Penny Blues (plate letters M-E, M-F, N-E, N-F), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection - examples of the first-state issue without white lines.

Two Penny Blue

Maker
Great Britain (Royal Mail)
Year
1840
Rank
7 of 100

Two Penny Blue

Two Penny Blue by Great Britain (Royal Mail) (1840) is ranked 7 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It carried a price-guide value of $48,700 on 1 January 2026, which is not a sale. The companion to the Penny Black and the world's second adhesive stamp — markedly rarer, especially in sound four-margin condition.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The companion to the Penny Black and the world's second adhesive stamp — markedly rarer, especially in sound four-margin condition.

2d blue, Queen Victoria, imperforate, no white lines (first state), SG 5; very fine unused with large part o.g.

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$48,700
Kind
Price-guide value, not a sale
Date
1 January 2026

Stanley Gibbons catalogue ~GBP 38,000 (~$48,700) for a very fine unused SG 5; used examples catalogue ~GBP 1,000-2,750. Guide-value per honesty rule (no single isolated 2024-2026 realized figure).

This is not a sale. It is what the market was asking, and no transaction is recorded behind it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08