The Enigmatic 'Penny Black': A Stamp Collector's Tale

For those of us who remember life before WhatsApp and social media, communication often happened through 'email.' But it wasn't always that way. In the early days of the world, there was no electronic mail. In fact, there wasn't even regular mail.

Official postal services only developed in recent centuries. While not cheap, these services were considered reliable. Before then, packages were entrusted to random travelers, but who could truly rely on a traveler to deliver valuable items or important letters?

Merchandise was sent to merchants via postal services, and the rule was that the receiver had to pay the postage fees, which could be quite inconvenient when it came to unwanted packages (today, this is what we call junk mail...).

That's where a brilliant idea emerged. A Brit named Rowland Hill had an innovative thought: why shouldn't the sender pay? The challenge was that once a package was received, proving that postage was paid was tricky, so it was easiest for receivers to pay. But what if we could provide certified proof of payment? A sort of tiny receipt indicating the cost, since the charge depended on the distance the parcel had to travel. As it was an official receipt from His Majesty's Government, it was fitting to imprint it with the image of Princess Victoria (the future Queen Victoria), and charmingly call it a 'stamp.'

Thus, the world's first stamp was printed, a striking black design featuring Princess Victoria, with the inscription 'One Penny.' Postal services improved drastically. This event took place in 1840.

Naturally, some stamps were more attractive than others, sparking the hobby of stamp collecting. In 1922, American stamp collector Arthur Hind purchased a very famous postage stamp, one of the first ever printed, of which only two existed in the world, for $7,500.

Subsequently, Hind managed to acquire the second stamp, buying it for a similar price. However, as soon as he received the second one, he tore it to pieces and, just to be sure, burned the fragments. Why?

To understand this, one must grasp the nuances of collecting: by doing so, the stamp he owned became the only one in existence, and its value soared to over a million dollars.

The story even reached the town of Brisk, where students of the esteemed Rabbi Chaim of Brisk debated a legal question of damages. What would happen if someone repeated such an act—snatched a stamp from a collector and destroyed it? The stamp's value was $7,500; would they need to pay damages as any destroyer would? Or could they be exempt since their actions increased the value of the remaining stamp?

According to their teacher, Rabbi Chaim, the students concluded that one would have to pay, since the obligation for damages lies in the destruction of the object, not merely the loss of its market value to the owner (Hiddushei HaGra''D Bava Kamma page 17).