One penny in 1840 would be around 20p today (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/ http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/). First class post in th

One penny in 1840 would be around 20p today (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/ http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/). First class post in the UK is 62p, so in real terms around 3 times as expensive as in 1840. (and the service in the 1840's had multiple collections and deliveries per day).