Complete Guide to the Perforated Penny Red Plated Stamps: Plates 71-225

Following the experiments started by Henry Archer to find ways to separate stamps, perforations were introduced in 1854, making them much easier to rip out from a sheet of stamps and eliminating the need to use scissors. The design remained the same, initially with a perf gauge 16 and later perf 14. The watermarks used were either a large or a small crown. In 1858, some changes were made, and this included replacing the top corner stars with the same check letters used in the lower corners but in reverse order. Small plate numbers were also added between the interlocking lines at each side. These are mostly visible on mint copies and can be found halfway down the stamp on both left and right-hand side. These stamps were produced from printing plates numbered 71 to 225 and had the large crown watermark. Plate numbers are important as it is what mostly determines the value of a Penny Red stamp.