HanoverFirst Postage Stamp

A heraldic first

On 1 December 1850, Hannover stepped into the stamp world with a single issue: the 1 Gutegroschen black on grey-blue paper. It carried the full royal arms, with a crowned shield, two lions and the white Saxon horse at centre, alongside the motto Suscipere et Finire “To undertake and to accomplish”. Mint copies show red gum, applied so printers could easily tell which side of the paper to use. The margins are also a roomy 1 mm, more generous than on many early imperforate stamps. In 1851 another 1 Ggr followed, this time printed on grey-green paper and with an oak-leaf watermark (Eichenlaub). Hannover would go on to release 42 stamps before its annexation by Prussia in 1866, but it all began with this little grey-blue Gutegroschen.