30.6.18

6 Rare Postage Stamps Serious Collectors Get Excited About

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 the result of a depletion of supply. The British Guiana postmaster ran out of stamps and could not wait on England to deliver more. He asked the newspaper to print some to cover him until the regular shipment arrived. A magenta stamp with black ink was the result. Postal employees were forced to initial them to prevent forgeries. The stamp sold at auction in 1980 for $850,000.

A printing error caused by the rush of a special event resulted in the Post Office Mauritius. This stamp was issued to commemorate a ball hosted by the wife of the governor. Unfortunately, when they were printed no one noticed that the stamp read post office instead of post paid. One of the twelve left was purchased for $1.6 million dollars U. S. In 2011.

The Inverted Jenny is the upside down version of the first air mail stamp. These were issued in 1918. The inversion was caused when the sheets went through the press the second time. Someone put the sheets into the press the wrong way, and the plane came out upside down. Nobody noticed when the sheets initially went on sale. In 2005 a collector bought a block of four for $3 million.

The 1840 Penny Black was the first stamp ever made. It shows Queen Victoria as she appeared in 1837. This stamp was only used for a year because the cancellation mark was too hard to see. Only two of them are known to be left. An American businessman bought one of them recently 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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