Isle of Man Post Office has released a new stamp issue (17 Feb) celebrating the 175th anniversary of the world's first postage stamp.
The Penny Black was released for the first time in 1840, along with its sister the Twopenny Blue, after a campaign against high postage rates in the Island and the rest of the British Isles.
Reformers' aim was to lower the rate to one penny per half ounce.
The rate was first reduced to four pence in 1839, a move which proved a success and delivered the penny rate in 1840.
The set also commemorates Edward Stanley Gibbons, who was born in the same year and founded the world's oldest rare stamp merchant, Stanley Gibbons.
According to Dean Shepherd, Editor of Gibbons Stamp Monthly, Edward has been synonymous with philately for almost 160 years.