World's most expensive stamp expected to sell for up to £5 million

World's most expensive stamp expected to sell for up to £5 million



I've touched before on the high prices paid at auction for unusual coins and beautiful, rare motor cars - both of which are of interest to me - and now it is the turn of stamps, another of my hobbies.

Here we have what is believed to be the world's most expensive stamp, about to go up for auction. Like coins, cigarette cards and other such ephemera much of the value is derived from a mistake made during the item's production, which is then quickly rectified - adding to the rarity of the original piece. In this case a stamp that should have been a greenish-blue is instead yellow. The error was a one-off and only affected a few stamps, so the number of wrong-colour stamps produced, whilst currently unknown, is likely to be a small one. Thus, when one comes up for sale it commands a high price as it is something that should never have existed and so appeals to the collector.

It also has, again like so many such pieces, a fascinating history that will only serve to endear it even more to collectors. Personally I expect this example to easily make its estimate and perhaps even exceed it, such is the continued interest and investment potential of stamps today.