World’s oldest stamps traveling to N.Y. in bomb-proof case

World’s oldest stamps are traveling outside of the United Kingdom for the first time, under lock and key.

The sheet of stamps are coming to New York for the World Stamp Show May 28 through June 4.

These stamps, usually found in The Postal Museum in London, aren’t your typical collector’s items. They are the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, and will journey across the pond by an armed escort in a bomb-proof briefcase. The case has also been fitted with sensors and shock alarms to allow the The Postal Museum to keep a close eye on them throughout their journey.

The Penny Blacks, featuring the profile of Queen Victoria, were issued in 1840 and are considered priceless. The stamps are normally stored in a secure, humidity-controlled, alarmed vault. The sheet traveling to N.Y. is one of only a handful of Penny Blacks in the world.

See them in the states at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York, 655 W. 34th St., New York, N.Y. during the show. Viewers going to the World Stamp Show will also be able to see the earliest surviving sheet of Two Penny Blue stamps, also coming from The Postal Museum. Introduced two days after the Penny Black, the Two Penny Blue was used for heavier letters.