Friday, June 29, 2018

The Rarest Of The Rare Postage Stamps Collectors Are Willing To Pay Millions To Own

By Peter Allen


People who collect love all sorts of things. People who don't collect, are frequently puzzled by why things like little pieces of paper fascinate others who are willing to spend incredible sums to purchase them. The fact is that there is a market for rare postage stamps, and collectors will come from everywhere around the earth for the chance to add a one of a kind stamp to their private collections.

A stamp known as the olive colored Queen Victoria's head is a great example of a mistake made by the printer. This stamp was first printed in 1864 in Hong Kong, and was intended to be brownish gray. The error came with fifty-two sheets that were printed in olive. There was an mistake in the placement of the cc and the watermark style as well. The original stamp cost ninety-six cents in Hong Kong. A block of four sold for $6.5 million Hong Kong dollars in 2012.

The British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta is one of the most highly prized in the world. It is printed with black ink on magenta paper. This stamp came about because the postmaster in British Guiana had run out of his regular supply and asked a local newspaper to print an emergency batch. To prevent forgery, a postal employee had to initial each one. In 1980 this stamp brought $850,000 at auction.

The Post Office Mauritius is another printing error that happened when someone got in a hurry. The governor's wife held a ball in 1847, and the post office issued a special stamp for the invitations. Unfortunately, instead of imprinting post paid on the stamp, the sheets went out with post office printed. One of the only twelve two pennies known to exist sold in 2011 for $1.6 million U. S. Dollars.

Even non-collectors will recognize the Inverted Jenny. This was the very first air mail stamp issued. The ones that are rare show the plane upside down. This mistake was not hard to make because the stamped sheets had to be fed manually through the press twice. A set of sheets were fed through the wrong way, resulting in an inverted plan. In 2005 someone bought a block of four for $3 million.

The first stamp ever made was the 1840 Penny Black. It shows the profile of Queen Victoria sketched by William Wyon. The stamp was retired after just a year because the background made the cancellation mark hard to see. There are only two in existence. One of the two was purchased recently by an American for $5 million.

The most expensive stamp on the planet is the Treskilling Yellow. Green was the intended color for this Swedish stamp, but it turned out yellow. It has changed hands several times, recently for an undisclosed amount. According to the auctioneer the Treskilling Yellow is now the most expensive single stamp in the world.

These stamps may not look like much to most. Apparently philatelists are willing to pay millions for these prized pieces of paper. The history behind them, and the rarity, create the value.




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