What do you think of this fact?
It isn’t pretty. It’s a murky dark red, cut into an octagon and scribbled on in ink. Collectors still call it the “Mona Lisa of stamps”.
One cent with a history
The “British Guiana 1c Magenta” dates from 1856 and comes from what was then the British colony of British Guiana in South America. According to Euronews, it is the only one of its kind. There is exactly one copy in the whole world.
Its path through history is almost as strange as its price. According to NPR, it was unearthed by a 12-year-old boy. In 1920, France seized it as reparations from Germany. Later it belonged to US heir John du Pont, who still owned it while he was in prison.
More expensive, then cheaper
In 2014, the stamp sold at Sotheby’s for 9.5 million dollars. The buyer was shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. In 2021, he put it up for auction at Sotheby’s again, with an expected price of around 15 million dollars.
In the end, according to Euronews, stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons paid a total of about 8.3 million dollars, roughly 6.3 million British pounds. Less than last time, but still enough to make it the most valuable stamp in the world.
Bonus fact: After buying it, Stanley Gibbons put the stamp on display in London so anyone could see it with their own eyes.
For perspective: one cent printed on the stamp, 8.3 million dollars at the till. Hardly any other piece of paper has gone through such an absurd jump in value.
So if you have a box of old letters at home, it’s worth a closer look. The odds are tiny, but a 12-year-old boy wasn’t expecting much luck either.