Some Of The Rare Postage Stamps That Get Serious Collectors Excited

By Peter Allen


The more sought after something is the more serious collectors will pay for it. This includes tiny pieces of paper that are unique in some way. It can baffle the non-collectors, but millions of dollars have been paid for a single stamp. The most exciting pieces, and the ones collectors will bid on from all corners of the globe, are the rarest of the rare postage stamps.

The olive colored Queen Victoria's head is an example of a printing error. The Hong Kong stamp was printed in 1864, and was supposed to be gray brown in color. Instead fifty-two sheets were mistakenly printed in olive. In addition to the color error, there is also a mistake in the watermark style and an incorrect placement of the cc. Once selling for ninety-six Hong Kong cents per stamp, a block of four brought nearly six and a half 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 Swedish stamp known as the Treskilling Yellow is the most highly prized and expensive stamp in existence. It was intended to be green, but is yellow instead. 2010 was the last time it traded hands. The actual purchase price has remained private, but the auctioneer has admitted that this sale made the Treskilling Yellow the most expensive stamp in the world.

People who love stamps get excited about this kind of thing. The appeal baffles others. Philatelists may not have the money to buy a rare stamp, but they can enjoy the history behind these fragile little pieces of paper.




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