Sovereign's Head on postage stamps

[doubting don]

My local paper today say that Tony Benn, while Postmaster General in 1960, introduced the idea of putting the Sovereign's head on postage stamps. I am sure the King's or Queen's head was used on stamps many years prior to this. Before I write to the paper; AM I RIGHT??????

[4GS]

yep
you are correct, it all started with the penny black in 1840:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Black

[DSJ]

Yes, you are. The very first stamps had Queen Victoria's head on them.

[Octavius]

Might it say that he came up with the idea of NOT putting the reigning monarchs head on them?

In the mid 1960s there was a revolution in British stamp design. Tony Benn was appointed Postmaster General in 1964 and one of his first actions was to change, and expand, the criteria for issuing commemorative stamps and invite ideas from the public and stamp designers. David Gentleman responded with many ideas for new stamp subjects and designs and in particular with the suggestion that the Queen�s head might be omitted.

[heathfield]

To expand on Octavius's answer... Britain is the only country that doesn't include the country's name on its postage stamps. Instead, UK stamps are identified by showing the head of the ruling monarch. When the commemorative stamps were proposed, this became a problem. To get around this, and to continue the tradition, they were, (and are), issued with a silhouette of the queen's head superimposed on the commemorative design.