In May 1840, the 'VR official' which was one of three postage stamps introduced by the Great Britain for the pre-payment of postage. While the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue were for use by the general public, as were the Mulready envelopes and letter sheets, the VR official was for use on official mail. In appearance the VR Official was the same as the issued Penny Black except that the stars in the top corners were removed and replaced by the letters V and R.

The design for this issue was the same in almost all respects as that used for the penny black and the two pence blue produced at the same time. The only difference in the marginal inscription was the plate identification which was shown as a letter, rather than a number as used on the general issue of postage stamps.

The idea of this stamp was that it would be used on official correspondence from government departments. But the proposal was dropped, and the V.R. Penny black was never issued. Nearly all of the supplies which had been printed were destroyed on January 25, 1843. Twenty-one sheets survived, a few of the stamps passed through the posts.

The VR official is stated to have been made from the original master die. However, this cannot be the case as this die still exists with the original stars intact; this is housed in the National Postal Museum in London. It is believed that the master for this stamp was produced from the transfer roller used for the production of plate 1 with the stars removed from the top corners as some impressions show traces of these original stars.

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