Saturday, 30 June 2018

Some Of The Rare Postage Stamps That Get Serious Collectors Excited

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.

One example of a printing error creating a rare stamp is Britain's olive colored Queen Victoria's head. This stamp was printed in 1864 in Hong Kong. It was meant to be grayish brown. By mistake fifty-two sheets were printed olive. The original stamps sold for ninety-six cents Hong Kong. In 2012 a block of four sold for almost six point five million dollars Hong Kong.

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.

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.

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 very first stamp was the 1840 Penny Black. It has the face of Queen Victoria in profile as seen during a 1827 London visit. The stamp was only circulated for one year because the background made the cancellation mark too hard to make out. It is believed that only two of these Penny Blacks still exist. One of them was recently purchased 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.

It might be hard for some to see the wisdom of paying millions for a tiny piece of paper. For philatelists, who have the money and means, a rare stamp is a prize. There is no telling what another enthusiast will be willing to pay in the future.




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