Stamp enthusiasts were given the chance to see a rare Penny Black used on a letter posted to Fakenham solicitors Kent and Watson in 1841.

It was part of a display by postal historian Patrick Pearson, a past president of the Royal Philatelic society, who once lived in Burnham Overy town, and focused on the postal history of Norfolk up to the issue of the first postage stamps 170 years ago.

The display was last seen publicly at an international stamp exhibition in Monaco. The event marked the official opening of James and sons, auctioneers, at their new premises in Norwich street, Fakenham, on Friday.

Single penny blacks are rare but not prohibitively expensive, and collectors spend a lifetime trying to reconstruct complete sheets of the stamps. Mr Pearson, who now lives in suffolk, founded the Norfolk Postal History society in the 1960s and is a world renowned expert in stamps and an avid collector of postal memorabilia from Fakenham and surrounding villages.

He traced the history of letters in the local area back to the pre-adhesive days before stamps, when the recipient rather than the sender was charged with the cost which depended on the number of miles the letter had travelled.

The mileage was clearly shown on the letter for each stage of its journey from sender to recipient. The earliest letter on show was sent to Fakenham in 1776 and the first stamped letter was a 2d blue sent from Castle Rising to Fakenham in 1840.

One letter Mr Pearson treasures is from the pre-adhesive days. It was penned by Admiral Lord Nelson whilst living on half pay at nearby Burnham thorpe and was written with his right hand. It was posted shortly before he was recalled to naval duty where he lost part of his right arm at the Battle of santa Cruz de tenerife in the Canary Islands in July, 1797.

At the opening were members of the Fakenham Historical society, stamp dealers and serious collectors. James and sons recently relocated from syderstone Business Park and supplies stamps and other collectables. Mr James said that at any time they have up to 500 items on eBay, hold monthly auctions and fairs and sell up to a tonne of stamp albums in the eastern region of the country in a month.

Taken from the Lynn News - www.lynnnews.co.uk - 6th December 2011 - Picture Peter Bird