List of most expensive philatelic items
This is a list of the highest known prices paid for philatelic items, including stamps and covers. The current record price for a single stamp is US$9,480,000 paid for the British Guiana 1c magenta.[1][2]
This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars in 2020.[note 1] Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the item was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. Individual items are listed only once, i.e. for the highest price sold.
Adjusted price | Original price | Item(s) | Example image(s) |
Country | Year | No. in existence | Date of sale | Seller | Buyer | Auction house | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$20,500,000 | $17,400,000 | Red Revenue block of four and sheet of 25 5-candarin Large Dragon stamps | ![]() ![]() |
Qing China | 1878 (Large Dragons) 1897 (Red Revenues) |
Unknown (Large Dragons) 1 known (Red Revenues block of four) 32 known (Individual Red Revenues) |
2009 | Lam Manyin | Ding Jingsong | Unknown | [3] |
$10,364,000 | $9,480,000* | British Guiana 1c magenta | ![]() |
British Guiana | 1856 | 1 known | June 17, 2014 | Estate of John du Pont | Stuart Weitzman | Sotheby's, New York | [1][2][4] |
$7,166,000 | $4,000,000 | "Bordeaux Cover" with Mauritius 2d blue (XXII) and Mauritius 1d red (XXI) | ![]() |
British Mauritius | 1847 | Unique | 1993 | Anonymous | Anonymous | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [5] |
$5,200,000 | $4,800,000 | Inverted Jenny block of four | ![]() |
United States | 1918 | 1 (as block of four) 100 (as individual stamps) |
October 4, 2014 | Donald Sundman | Anonymous | Private sale | [6] |
$3,940,000 | $2,970,000[note 2] | Z Grill | ![]() |
United States | 1868 | 2 | 2005 | Donald Sundman | Bill H. Gross | Private exchange | [7] |
$3,795,000 | $2,300,000[note 3] | Treskilling Yellow | ![]() |
Sweden | 1855 | 1 known | 1996 | Anonymous | The Box AB | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [8][9][10] |
$3,227,000 | $1,900,000 | "Missionary cover" with Hawaiian 2c Blue, 5c Blue and two United States 3c Brownish Carmine | ![]() |
Hawaii and United States | 1852 | Unique | November 7, 1995 | The Honolulu Advertiser Collection | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [11] |
$2,520,000 | $2,190,000 | Sicily 1/2 grano blue "error of colour" | Two Sicilies | 1859 | 2 | June 10, 2011 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Galerie Dreyfus, Basel | [12] | |
$2,522,410 | $1,564,630 | "Adam Envelope" with Mauritius 1d red (XX) | British Mauritius | 1847 | Unique | 1997 | Anonymous | Anonymous | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [13] | |
$2,440,000 | $1,900,000 | "Rush 1847 Cover" with strip of six 10c black stamps | ![]() |
United States | 1847 | Unique | May 13, 2006 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [14] |
$2,280,000 | $1,900,000 | "Xiphopagus Triplet" with two 30r and one 60r stamps | ![]() |
Brazil | 1843 | Unknown | June 5, 2008 | The Islander Collection of South America | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [15] |
$2,060,000 | $1,150,000 | Mauritius 2d blue (III) | ![]() |
British Mauritius | 1847 | 12 known | 1993 | Anonymous | Mauritian private consortium | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [16] |
$1,960,000 | $1,680,000 | "Champion" letter with two 5-centime Strubels in blue misprint and brown 5-centime Strubel | Switzerland | 1855 | Unique | June 10, 2011 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Galerie Dreyfus, Basel | [17] | |
$1,929,000 | $1,605,000 | "Trondheim" block of 39 4-skilling stamps | ![]() |
Norway | 1855 | Unique | April 2008 | Anonymous | Anonymous | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [18] |
$2,100,000 | $2,000,000 | The Whole Country is Red | People's Republic of China | 1968 | Unknown | November 23, 2018 | Anonymous | Anonymous | China Guardian, Beijing | [19] | |
$1,768,800 | $1,471,500 | Baden 9 Kreuzer error | ![]() |
Baden | 1851 | 4 | April 3, 2008 | Anonymous | Anonymous | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [20] |
$1,546,400 | $1,344,180 | Mauritius 2d blue (XIII) | ![]() |
British Mauritius | 1847 | 12 known | June 28, 2011 | The Chartwell Collection of Humphrey Cripps | Anonymous | Spink, London | [21][22] |
$1,391,000 | $1,350,000 | Inverted Jenny | ![]() |
United States | 1918 | 100 | November 15, 2018 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [23] |
$1,234,820 | $1,073,340 | Mauritius 1d red (X) | ![]() |
British Mauritius | 1847 | 15 known | 1993 | Anonymous | Mauritian private consortium | David Feldman SA, Geneva | [24] |
$1,190,000 | $1,180,000 | Alexandria "Blue Boy" cover | ![]() |
United States | 1847 | Unique | June 22, 2019 | Anonymous | Anonymous | H.R. Harmer, New York | [4] |
$1,082,000 | $900,000 | B Grill | ![]() |
United States | 1867-8 | 4 known | October 28, 2008 | The Perry Hansen Collection of U.S. Stamps and Covers | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [25] |
$1,078,000 | $970,000 | Red Revenue | ![]() |
Qing China | 1897 | 32 known | 2013 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Interasia Auctions, Hong Kong | [26] |
$1,020,000 | $600,000 | 2-cent unused Hawaii "Missionaries" stamp | ![]() |
Hawaii | 1851 | 1 (unused) 15 (total) |
November 7, 1995 | The Honolulu Advertiser Collection | Anonymous | Robert A. Siegel, New York | [27] |
Buyer's premium included
See also[]
Philately portal
Notes[]
- ^ The Wikipedia template uses a yearly average inflation. Using monthly averages gives slightly different numbers, most significantly for items sold early or late in a year with significant inflation.
- ^ Value derived from exchange with Inverted Jenny block of four, bought in the same year (2005) for $2,970,000.[7]
- ^ The stamp was sold on May 22, 2010 for an undisclosed price higher than the 1996 price of $2.3 million USD, to Armand Rousso.[8][9]
References[]
- ^ a b "The British Guiana 1-Cent Magenta Stamp". Sotheby's. 2013-09-14. Archived from the original on 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- ^ a b Brown, Robin (2014-06-18). "Du Pont stamp sells for $9.5 million". delawareonline. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- ^ "BIG SPENDER:百年郵蹤" [Big Spender: Hundred-Year Trail of Philately]. Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese). 2013-08-22. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ a b Baadke, Michael (2019-06-25). "Alexandria 'Blue Boy' cover auctioned for $1.18 million". Linns Stamp News. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (21/22), one penny, used (XXI) + two pence, used (XXII) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "Mystic sells Inverted Jenny plate block; purchase price 'north of $4.8 million'". Linns Stamp News. 2014-10-10. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ a b Schmid, Randolph E. (2006-05-25). "Rare and Costly Stamps to Go on Display". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ a b "Rare stamp fetches record price". BBC News. 2010-05-22. Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- ^ a b Lee, Julia (2019-02-16). "Treskilling Yellow is back in the hands of a philatelist - World". Stamp Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- ^ "World's 'rarest' stamp 'to break record'". The Telegraph. 2010-05-21. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
- ^ "The Honolulu Advertiser Collection". Siegel Auction Galleries. 1954-05-03. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ swissinfo.ch (2015-04-23). "Rare stamps fetch big money". SWI swissinfo.ch. Archived from the original on 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (20), one penny, used (XX) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "Auction: 10c Black (2)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2006-05-13. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ "Auction: 1843, 30r/30r/60r Black, Se-Tenant Strip of Three (1d)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2008-06-05. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (03), two pence, unused (III) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "1.8 million euros for a postage stamp at Galerie Dreyfus Investor Basle". Business Wire. 2011-06-09. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "Stamp News". sammler.com. 2011-06-25. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ ""The Whole Country is Red" fetched $2 million at China Guardian auction – World Stamp News". Find your stamps value online. 2018-11-28. Archived from the original on 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "David Feldman Spring Auctions, April 1–5, 2008, Feature Great Results for Rarities". David Feldman. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
- ^ "Stamp Sells for £1 Million at Auction". Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
- ^ "Mauritius 2d Post Office sells for £900,000 - World". Stamp Magazine. 2019-02-16. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ Healey, Matthew (2018-11-15). "Nov. 15 Jenny Invert sale sets record". Linns Stamp News. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (10), one penny, unused (X) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "Auction: 3c Rose, B. Grill (82)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ^ ""1897 Red Revenue Small One Dollar" stamp sells for $970,000 at auction". NewsComAu. 2013-07-03. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
- ^ "The Honolulu Advertiser Collection". Siegel Auction Galleries. 1921-06-23. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
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