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Penny Black LbNA #39856 (ARCHIVED)

Owner:MrOspital
Plant date:May 17, 2008
Location:
City:Idyllwild
County:Riverside
State:California
Boxes:1
Found by: Tivoli West
Last found:Jun 29, 2012
Status:FFFFFFFFFFar
Last edited:May 17, 2008
The Penny Black, the world's first adhesive postage stamp of a public postal system, was issued by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 May 1840, for use from 6 May. The Penny Black is not a rare stamp. The total print run from all plates was 286,700 sheets with 68,808,000 stamps and a substantial proportion of these have survived. This is due mainly to the fact that, in those days, it was not the custom to use envelopes; generally, the letter would be written on one side of a sheet of paper, which would be folded over and sealed and then the address and stamp would be on the reverse of the same sheet. Therefore, if the letter was not thrown away, then the stamp would be saved from destruction too.

The Penny Black is readily available on the collectors' market today, a used stamp in poor condition can cost as little as £10 ($20). However, because of its significance, this stamp in fine condition is in demand by collectors and therefore not cheap; in 2000, a used stamp cost about £110 (around US$200), an unused example about £1,600 (around US$3,000) with prices steadily rising. By contrast, a used Penny Red was £1.50.

The name made sense to me, Start at Indian Vista (Indian Head Pennies are usually black).
It can be found along the CA 243 or the Palms to Pines Highway connecting Palm Springs to Idyllwild.

Find a parking space and take the concrete path.
Follow the path to the panoramic vista (south of the parking area and road).
Find the pine tree that gives a lot of shade with a nice rock wall near it.

Standing against the tree take a bearing of 232 degrees (south west).
There should be a pile of large boulders at that heading.

Stand on the largest of the boulders where it has split.
Follow the crack towards Lake Perris.
Down to where it meets the Earth behind a small rock.

The letterbox is hidden in a fake rock stashed where that crack meets the ground, in a pocket created by the small rock and large boulder.
(It is visible from on top of the boulder looking down along the crack line.
Look for a triangle hole at the bottom of the crack.)

If it helps the GPS coordinates are:
N33 47' 47.2"
W116 46' 36.7"

Feel free to sit on the nice flat rock and enjoy the view/stamp in. Please rehide it carefully, the forest service keeps that area very tidy. Happy Hunting!