World's Rarest And Most Expensive Stamp To Be Shown At Stampex 2023

'Stanley Gibbon's One Cent Magenta'

Gold PTS Member, Stanley Gibbons will be displaying their British Guiana One Cent Magenta at Stampex from 27th - 30th September. The British Guiana One Cent Magenta was last showcased in 2021 after it was sold at auction in New York for a massive $8,307,000.

#8203;

Known as the world's rarest and most expensive stamp, the piece was previously owned by the renowned shoe designer, Stuart Weitzman. It also stands out because previous owners, including John du Pont and Stuart Weitzman, have signed the back of the stamp. The One Cent Magenta is considered the most expensive item by weight in the world.

The stamp can be dated back to 1856 and is officially called the British Guiana ONE CENT black on magenta. The One Cent Magenta was discovered by a 12-year-old schoolboy, Vernon Vaughan, amongst some family papers in 1873. He sold the stamp for 6 shillings, always believing he would find another. The stamp then exchanged hands until it was auctioned in 1922. At the time, it was bought for a little over £7k and it then became known as the world's most expensive stamp. It was held privately until 1933, and sold to an anonymous collector in 1940. In New York on 24 March 1970 a syndicate bought the stamp for $280,000 and later sold it at Gold PTS Member, Robert A Siegel of New York for $935,000 to John du Pont. In 2014 it was sold to Stuart Weitzman. Today, the One Cent Magenta belongs to Stanley Gibbons, who returned the stamp to the London – the home of philately. In an exciting twist, they also opened up ownership of the British Guiana One Cent Magenta to everyone through fractional share ownership.



It's not only the sales history which is interesting, but also how the stamp was created and developed. The first stamps of British Guiana were in use from 1 July 1850. They were printed at the offices of the Royal Gazette in Georgetown, the capital of the colony. The 'design' was created by bending a length of copper printer's rule into a rough circle, setting 'BRITISH GUIANA' around the inside and placing the value in a straight line across the centre. To aid identification, each value was printed on a different coloured paper and, due to fears that the stamps would be relatively easy to copy, each had to be initialled by a postal official. The design needed to be more secure, so Waterlow and Sons of London were tasked with this, and on 1 January 1852 the first of the Waterlow stamps were issued. However, supply didn't always match demand and in 1856, officials had to print some stamps at the Royal Gazette. This stamp, which will be on display at Stampex, is one of those exceptional stamps.

Of course it actually shares the "rarest" designation with a number of other items. But those items were not reprinted on uncounted thousands of stamp albums with that "rarest and most valuable" moniker, and were not seen by the uncounted thousands of young collectors like the British Guiana was.

As a part of this thread it might be nice to have a listing of other unique stamps. Revcollector maybe you could get the list going.

ps. I saw the 1c magenta when it was on display at the National Postal Museum in DC. To be truthful it wasn't much to look at.

Is this the stamp that you are referring to? The person who replied earlier was correct "it isn't much to look at", but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It used to be a bit more to look at until it degraded in the hands (literally) of DuPont.

Any idea how many shares of the stamp Stanley Gibbons has sold? I poked around the web site but couldn't find that info. Seems it would be relevant to prospective buyers. They also have the program disabled for USA customers currently.

Maybe, if you sign up to 'Showpiece' you can find the details about the number of fractions sold.

The Treskilling Yellow. A revenue stamp which almost no one here will have heard of, Special Tax Stamps, Manufacturer of Filled Cheese for the year 1948. There was only one taxpayer, so only one stamp was issued. It sold along with another stamp for the year 1951 for $1300 back in 2007 (Siegel sale 934).

@revcollector,

Could you be more specific about what stamp you are writing about.

The only Treskilling Yellow I know that is unique is a Swedish postage stamp. It dates to 1855 and, probably, was due to replacement of a damaged plate where the 3 skilling instead of the 8 skilling was printed in the colour of the latter. One example is known to exist, more have not surfaced.



Skilling was a Scandinavian currency unit. The Skilling was not in use in Scandinavia, in 1948.

The request was made about other unique stamps, and so I posted two.

Remains the question: what stamp are you talking about?

An American tax stamp?

Yes. I posted the sale number so anyone can view it. Lot 2738.

Is this the cheese stamp in question:

Thanks, Now it is clear where the one ends and the other starts.

The Treskilling is quite famous. It is unique in the colour, not as 3-skilling in this design.
But, certainly, it is a good candidate.
SG tends to ignore everything outside the Commonwealth and certainly would not consider that tax stamp as they only consider revenue stamps that were valid for postage.

If I remember correctly, there exists a bisected stamp of which only a half has survived.

Yes, that is the stamp. Scott does not list them either, although there is a book which does. But it is a listing of types and quantities issued, not of prices.

I love this kind of stamp story!