On April 1st 1877, British Guiana entered the Postal Union. The first British Guiana postage stamp familiarly known as the ¡°Cotton Reel¡± was issued on July 1st 1850, printed locally at the office of the Royal Gazette. In 1852 the first London Issue was printed by Messrs Watterlow and Sons. In 1853 another beautiful lithographic issue was printed by the same firm. In 1856 a local issue was printed by Messrs Baum and Dallas. From this issue emanated the one cent Black on Magenta, known to be one of the world¡¯s rarest stamps. In January 1860, the first uniform inland letter postage rate was introduced. In April 1877 a uniform rate for letter postage was introduced to all Postal Union Countries. Inland Postcards was introduced in August 1885. Small packet service was introduced in 1931 between British Guiana and the UK and in 1932 to Trinidad and Barbados; later in 1939 it was extended to all Postal Union Countries. The first exchange of parcels between British Guiana and U.K. commenced in 1886. Money and Postal Order Services were inaugurated in July 1863. The treasury Savings Bank Service was first established on December 2, 1889. It was taken over by the Post Office between December 1910 and June 1911. In 1938 the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was established under the management of the PMG. The Post Office, formerly part of the traditional Public Service became a Public Corporation on the 1st January 1977. It has a spread of over sixty (60) main Post Offices and several Postal Agencies throughout the length and breadth of the country.