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An Official stamp was actually produced in 1840 called the VR Black but it was never actually issued. Despite this, as is so often the case, a small number of the prepared stamps "escaped" in to the marketplace. The stamp looked very similar to the penny black except the top corners displayed the letters V & R.

The first legitimately issued Official stamps were launched in 1882 overprinted for use by the Inland Revenue. Additional Government Departments followed suite. It should be noted that it is only the Government departmental stamps that were actually overprinted that are now listed in the major catalogues (e.g. Stanley Gibbons catalogues). Many Government departments opted to use perfined stamps (letters perforated through the stamp design) instead of overprints and, as a result, the study and collection of these perfins not catalogued by the mainstream publications has become confined to specialist collectors.

One series of official stamps to note were those overprinted "Government Parcels". These were actually intended for use across multiple Government departments rather than one specific organisation.

The use of overprinted Official Stamps was phased out by 1904. and they now form a specialist area of British philately popular with many collectors.

Because the overprints on the stamps catlogued by the major publications were very simple black ink text overprints collectors need to be aware that they have been forged on a large scale for many years now. While some of the forgeries are fairly easy to spot, others are very much better and the advent of personal computers, scanners and laser printers has perhaps added further to the problem in modern times.

Some of the genuine official stamps command high catalogue values and, unsurprisingly, these are often the most frequent subjects of forgery. So, whether you are at a stamp fair or browsing the online auctions, this is one type of stamp not to take a chance with if you see something too cheap to be true.

My advice is to only purchase these stamps if the vendor will allow you to seek an expert opinion and return the stamp for a refund if, after expert examination, it is considered a forgery. When buying Official Stamps on eBay I suggest buyers focus attention on the larger, well established dealers with good reputations to protect. Most of these professional dealers will be happy to grant an extension period for you to seek an expert opinion provided you contact them before bidding. Make use of the "ask seller a question" feature on auction listing pages to do this.

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