The Great British Coin Hunt Quintessentially British A to Z

Standing there proudly in a bold colour red, The postboxes mark out our pathway ahead.

Introduced in 1852 the post box, or pillar box, was created just 12 years after the introduction of the Penny Black postage stamp. It wasn’t until 1874 that the bright red colour was chosen to replace the 1859 green that had been introduced to standardise the boxes.

After the 2012 Olympics, held in London, many postboxes throughout Britain were painted gold in the home towns of gold medal winning athletes.

You don’t need to look far to find your local postbox. According to the Royal Mail, a post box stands within half a mile of over 98% of the UK population and there are around 115,500 pillar, wall, and lamp boxes to choose from. Each post box has a story to tell and many have particular meaning for local communities.