British Guiana 1-cent Magenta fetches record price
The famous British Guiana 1-cent Magenta is back on top in the world of philately after selling at auction for nearly $9.5 million.
According to Linn’s Stamp News, the unique stamp was sold to an anonymous buyer during a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday. Its final sale price, which includes buyer’s fees, is roughly four times that of the previous record holder, Sweden’s Treskilling Yellow.
As you may know, the 1-cent Magenta was produced in 1856 as a temporary measure while authorities in British Guiana awaited the arrival of a fresh shipment of stamps from England. It was first recognized as a rarity in the 1870s.
My personal opinion is that the Inverted Jenny, although roughly 100 times more common, is a far more attractive stamp, but the 1-cent Magenta’s sale is getting a lot of press from mainstream media, which can only be good for our hobby.
What do you think of the record-breaking price? What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a stamp?
Some weeks when I check my post office box, I have mail from someone else. Some weeks, the only mail is from myself.
Such was the case this week when the only things in my box were a credit card offer (junk) and my Yosemite Grant first day cover.
Call me biased, but I think this is the best local post stamp design I’ve ever done, and I just had to add one to my collection.
For what it’s worth, I don’t actually write letters to myself; I’m simply a stamp collector. How about you? Do you ever send mail to yourself, or do you depend solely on others to fill your mailbox?
In just about a week and a half, you’ll be able to download updated pages for The Philosateleian U.S. Stamp Album! I’ve been busy correcting little mistakes here and there, and I think everything is just about ready to go.
If all goes according to plan, I’ll be issuing Philosateleian Post’s new Yosemite Grant stamp on the first Monday in June. First day covers are ready to go in the mail, and I have to say, the stamp looks more like a real stamp than any others I’ve ever designed. Or maybe Yosemite is just so beautiful it would make any stamp look good.
“Real life” has prevented me from adding a lot of new content to Philosateleia, but I have posted a brief writeup about Cambridge, New Zealand. A collector friend, Demetrios, recently sent a stamp picturing a sunset near that town for my landscape stamps collection.
Antique stamp perforator sales and prices realized
About a month and a half ago I wrote how I’m looking for an antique stamp perforator with which I can perforate my local post stamps—preferably a tabletop model simply because those are small enough to ship. I’m still looking.
Stamp perforators—and I’m referring to machines that make perforations between stamps, not machines that punch initials—are not especially common, but I’ve seen a couple listed for sale online since beginning my search. To try to help other local post operators or artistamp creators who may also be looking for a perforator, I plan to update this blog post whenever I spot one that is either too far away or too expensive for me to buy. I’ll also add prices realized so we have an idea of how much a perforator should cost us!
The following table contains a list of perforators, when they sold, and either how much they sold for or (for those that are still on sale) links where you can get details.