Top most expensive brands. The most expensive brand. Collectible, rare stamps: prices. "250 years of the Battle of Poltava"

763 thousand 600 $

The price of this stamp is $763,600, which is the last known price it was purchased for. The face value of the stamp is 6 kopecks. The design is very clear, the stamp shows the coat of arms of Tiflis, and above it a double-headed eagle. It was produced in 1857 in Russia. There are only 5 such brands in the world. They are all square shaped and have no teeth. The stamps are made on yellow paper with relief embossing.

$935 thousand

The price of this stamp for which it was last purchased is 935 thousand US dollars. Its denomination is 1 cent. The shape of the stamp is an octagon. To date, only one copy of this brand exists. It was released in 1856. Since the stamp went through the mail, it bears the postmaster’s signature and a stamp impression. "British Guiana" has a rather dirty look.

977 thousand 500 $

The last known price for which this stamp was purchased was $977,500. Stamps with errors are considered the most expensive; there are only 100 such stamps with the incorrect placement of the design. They originally cost only 24 cents. They were openly hunted, because every collector wanted to have a rare “shifter” in his collection. The stamp depicts an aircraft, but due to a printer error, the plane was printed upside down.

1 million 70 thousand $

This stamp was last purchased for US$1,070,000. This is the first stamp made in Mauritius. Although the brand is called pink, its color is orange. The stamp features the profile of Queen Victoria. Its denomination is 1 penny. The value of the stamp lies in the fact that instead of the phrase “PostPaid” (postal fee), “PostOffice” (post office) was printed on it. There are only 14 of these brands in the world. Most are in private collections.

1 million 150 thousand $

The last price paid for this stamp was US$1,150,000. This stamp was made in China and was never released. In 2012, it was sold at the China Guardian auction. There are 8 copies of this brand in total. There is also a horizontal version, which also costs a lot of money. The brand that was sold at auction is considered the best of the 8 pieces.

1 million 150 thousand $

This stamp was purchased for US$1,150,000 in 1993 and has increased in value significantly today. This stamp was made at the same time as the "Pink Mauritius" stamp in 1847. There are only 6 of these brands in the world. The denomination of this stamp is 2 pence. This same stamp has the same typo in the phrase "PostPaid" as in the "Pink Mauritius" stamp.

$2 million

The last price for which this stamp was purchased is 2 million US dollars. The face value of this stamp is 9 kreuzers. This was the first stamp issued in the Grand Duchy of Baden. The printing error is that it was printed on the wrong color of paper, instead of mauve paper, the stamp was printed on blue-green paper. There is only 1 blank stamp in the world and 3 stamps that were used in the post office.

$2 million 300 thousand

The price for which this stamp was last purchased was 2,300,000 US dollars. The face value of this stamp is 3 skills. The coat of arms of Sweden is printed on it. The stamp has a stamp imprint. This stamp also had a color error: instead of blue-green paper, the stamp was printed on yellow-orange paper. The brand is presented in one copy. To date, the brand is insured for $15 million.

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On October 1, 1869, the world's first postcard with a stamp was issued in Vienna.

Stamp collecting is one of the most exciting hobbies. Passionate people meet regularly, discuss the latest finds, make exchanges and in every possible way find a way to replenish their collection. Although such an activity seems simple and useless, it can become a significant investment in the future, because prices for rare specimens are rising every year.

In most cases, the high price of an old relic, so desired by philatelists, is caused by a defect in its printing.

website brings you an overview of rare postage stamps, whose value is thousands of times more than the postcard itself.

Holy Grail

Cost $2.97 million.

The Holy Grail (Z-Grill) is a 1-cent postage stamp featuring the first United States Postmaster, Benjamin Franklin, produced in 1868. Today it has been established that there are only two copies of this brand in the world. The first is in the New York Public Library, and the second belongs to the famous American collector Bill Gross, who exchanged for it a quart block of “Inverted Jenny” worth $2.97 million.

Sicilian color bug

Cost - $2.72 million.

From the name it becomes clear that the brand has a disturbed color scheme, because... Initially it was yellow, but for some reason a blue one appeared, which was released in 1859. To date, only 2 such specimens are known.

Yellow three-skilling

Cost - $2.3 million.

Another brand where the colors are off. Instead of the original Swedish green stamp, of which there were only 7, a yellow one was printed.

Baden color error

Cost - $2 million.

Another rarity that is rarely found in such ratings, but certainly has a great value. It belongs to the first stamp issue in the Grand Duchy of Baden and dates from 1851.

Blue Mauritius

Cost - $1.15 million.

One of the few postage stamps issued on the island of Mauritius. The date of its creation is 1847, and only 6 such copies with a denomination of 2 cents are known. In 1993, it was acquired by a consortium of Mauritian banks and businesses for $1.15 million. Today, 20 years later, its price has increased significantly, but it is quite difficult to judge exactly.

The whole country is red

Cost - $1.15 million.

A relatively “young” 1968 postage stamp from China was never issued and was sold in May 2012 at the China Guardian auction for 7.3 million yuan (about $1,150,000)

How else can we explain the statement that wanders from one site to another that it is among the most expensive brands in the world with a price of 2 million dollars! With all due respect to the first postage stamp, its price has never reached such heights and even the best copies cost almost a hundred times less.

Or what is the statement that the cost of the “Holy Grail” reaches 30 million dollars!

Finally, hardly anyone knew that the unissued USSR postage stamp “Blue Gymnast”, it turns out, was sold for as much as 13.8 million rubles.

All these fantasies prompted us to compile a short review of the most expensive postage stamps in the world, in which we will try to adhere as closely as possible to real auction prices.

It should be noted right away that the prices indicated in the rating do not reflect the actual cost of rarities, since sometimes quite a significant amount of time has passed since the sales at which these prices were determined, during which the value of the stamps has undoubtedly increased.

For example, British Guiana was sold for $935,000 back in 1980. About how much this rarity may be worth today, after 32 years, one can only guess. For comparison, the Yellow Treskilling, sold in 1984 for 500 thousand, is now valued at 2.3 million dollars, that is, almost five times more expensive. The simplest extrapolation allows us to raise the price of British Guiana to $5,000,000 (upd: as shown by the June auction at Sotheby's, even this estimate turned out to be underestimated).

It goes without saying that this is nothing more than our speculation. Therefore, we will not guess and focus on those prices (albeit antediluvian ones) that were formed as a result of real transactions with rare stamps.

So, the 10 most expensive postage stamps in the world...
________

1. British Guiana - $9.48 million

A philatelic rarity, sometimes called the "Princess of Philately", is an octagonal postage stamp of British Guiana (now Guyana) from 1856 with a face value of 1 cent.

This Postage Stamp without perforation, printed in black ink on red paper, with an image of a three-masted schooner in the center. The rarity has a postmark and the handwritten signature of Postmaster E. White.

The stamp was issued as part of a series of 3 stamps due to a delay in the UK order. The only known “”, carved in an octagonal shape, was discovered in 1873. As a result of several transactions, it came to the famous collector Philip von Ferrari for £150, after which it gained fame.

In 1980 (that is, more than 30 years ago), the rarity was sold to J.E. Dupont for $935,000, and in June of this year, at Sotheby’s auction, almost ten and a half million dollars were paid for it, taking it from ninth place in the ranking to the undisputed leader.
________

2. Holy Grail - $2.97 million

(Z-Grill) is an 1868 U.S. 1-cent postage stamp featuring one of the Founding Fathers and the first U.S. Postmaster, Benjamin Franklin. The stamp has a waffle pattern (that is, a depressed hash mark on the back), which is typical for issues of the 1860s. Grill just means “waffling”, and Z is a type of grate.

There are two known copies of this stamp, one of which is in the New York Public Library. The second "Holy Grail" was purchased in 1998 at an auction by Robert Siegel for $935,000.

And in 2005, it was exchanged for the Inverted Jenny apartment block worth $2.97 million, which at that time made it a leader among philatelic rarities. By the way, this also gave many reasons not to consider the Grail the most expensive postage stamp, since we are not talking about selling for money, but about exchange. But in any case, there was a transaction with a certain price, so we will not go into these nuances.
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3. Sicilian Color Mistake - $2.72 million

This rarity, almost completely ignored by the RuNet, opens up a line of the most expensive stamps with error colors, even beating another famous color mistake - Triskilling Yellow.

The Kingdom of Sicily managed to issue only one series of 7 stamps in 1859. The following year they were withdrawn from circulation due to the unification of Italy.

The lowest denomination stamp was issued in yellow. Even this “correct” color has several varieties, from bright yellow to orange, the prices for which vary tenfold and exceed 30 thousand euros.

But for some reason, in this row, a blue specimen appeared, corresponding to a different denomination. To date, two copies of this rare stamp are known, and both of them are from the same envelope.

One of the rarities on a cutting and sold in June 2011 at the Dreyfus auction in Basel (Switzerland) to an anonymous buyer from the USA for 1.86 million euros, which at the time of sale was about 2 million 720 thousand dollars and more than one and a half times exceeded the auctioneers' expectations.
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4. Yellow three-skilling - $2.3 million.

This is a stamp from the first issue of Swedish postage stamps in 1855. The interest in it is due to a color error. “Correct” three-skilling stamps were printed in green. But somehow a rarity in yellow appeared, attracting the attention of philatelists.

The stamp is unique, that is, it is known in one single copy, which ensured its place on the philatelic Olympus.

Any philatelist dreams of having in his collection the most expensive stamps in the world, the cost of which sometimes amounts to millions. Not in rubles, of course, but in convertible currency. Not every collector can afford to buy a rare postage stamp for an incredible price. Only wealthy, rich people can do this.

Many people know what a postage stamp is, especially middle-aged and older people. Before the advent of computers and mobile communications, with the limited capabilities of wired telephone communications, and when it did not yet exist, people mostly communicated with each other by sending letters to each other.

They wrote a message on paper, it was put in a special envelope, a postage stamp was stuck on it, and then the letter was sent to the addressee anywhere in the world. In correspondence, a stamp played a huge role in the world; without it, a letter would not be accepted at the post office.

Collecting some objects, things, etc. people have been interested in it for a long time. They collected collections from them and organized exhibitions. They exchanged, sold, bought them. Collecting postage stamps, match labels, postcards, etc. was especially popular.

Envelope with postage stamps

A true philatelist will not collect all stamps in a row. It's simply impossible to do. Since postage stamps appeared, so many of them have been issued in the world that no one can say at least approximately their number. Only a part has survived in the collections of philatelists. Rare stamps are especially valuable. What are they, and why do people chase them?

The value of rarities lies in the peculiarity and unusualness of the postage stamp. It is prestigious for any philatelist to have the most expensive postage stamps in his collection. This increases his authority among his friends and competitors. But whether it is truly rare and whether it is actually valuable remains to be seen.

By what principles can this be done?

Age of the brand.
Circulation.
Presence of typographical defect.
Exclusive story.

Marriage has become a rarity

Many years ago, would any printer, artist, or designer have thought that a mistake made by one of them when designing or printing a postage stamp could turn it into a rarity. A rare specimen, the value of which will increase year by year. If a defect was discovered, the circulation was, as a rule, destroyed, and the culprits were punished.

But at that time there were also lovers of such blunders. They hid several of these defective stamps for themselves and friends. When philatelists showed interest in them, the marriage quickly turned into a rarity, and brought good income, because good money was paid for it. There were cases when the entire defective edition was left, and it was on sale along with normal stamps.

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Nikolay Saganenko

Let's see what is considered a defect, because of which all printed postal labels on the envelope were thrown away as before, and are now thrown into trash containers. Errors that are made during the production of postage stamps are divided into 2 classes:

Humanities,
technical (technological).

Humanitarian errors include errors made in the plot or watermark. This means that there are elements included that are incompatible with each other, or there are details that are unacceptable in the given plot, as well as ambiguity.

On the USSR stamp on the left, from the series “Memorable Lenin Places” (DFA (ITC “Mark”) #3735), the inscription “Ulyanovsk. House-Museum of V.I. Lenin,” although the image is not of Lenin’s House-Museum, but of the house where Lenin lived in early childhood.

A postage stamp is also defective due to technical (technological) errors, such as:

non-stamping;
color shift;
incorrect, unprinted, redundant watermark;
no perforation, displaced or excessive perforation;
lack of adhesive layer on the reverse side of the stamp;
displaced or inverted overprint, missing part of the text;
defective cliché;
discrepancy between the color of the paper and its type

Such mistakes, made through oversight or negligence of people involved in the release of a stamp, sometimes lead to the appearance of rare and subsequently expensive stamps. For a philatelist, acquiring such a rarity becomes a dream.

Stamp Blue Mauritius

An example of how a defective stamp turned into a rare, expensive, highly valued stamp in the world of philatelists is the following story. In 1847, the “Blue Mauritius” stamp was issued on the island of Mauritius in blue and orange colors.

Local engraver Joseph Bernard, instead of the inscription on the stamp “post paid” (postage paid, collected), wrote “post office” (post office, or simply post office). This is the mistake that made the Blue Mauritius one of the most expensive rarities in the world.

Philately is one of the most exciting hobbies. Postage stamp collectors meet periodically to discuss their new finds, exchange rare items and add to their collections. Although this activity seems useless at first glance, it can still turn out to be a good investment in the future, since the cost of rare stamps is constantly growing from year to year.

Most often, the high cost of this or that old postage stamp, which is the ultimate dream of many philatelists, is explained by the presence of a defect on it during printing. We invite you to find out the ten most expensive postage stamps:

10th place
"Tiflis Unique"
Cost - 763,600 US dollars

The "Tiflis stamp" was issued in the Russian Empire in 1857 for the city post office of Tiflis and Kojori. The date of issue and symbolism allow us to talk about it as the first Russian brand. There are only 5 copies of this rare postage stamp known in the world.

9th place
"British Guiana"
Cost - 935,000 US dollars

The British Guiana 1 cent octagonal postage stamp was issued in 1856. It bears the handwritten signature of Postmaster E. White.

8th place
"Inverted Jenny"
Cost - 977,500 US dollars

When this philatelic rarity depicting the Curtis-Jenny aircraft was printed, a mistake was made: the aircraft was printed upside down. The printers were punished for this, but in the future it was thanks to their mistake that the cost of stamps from this series reached such heights (initially, 95 years ago, they cost 24 cents).

7th place
"Pink Mauritius"
Cost - 1,070,000 US dollars

It is the first stamp issued on the island of Mauritius. Unlike the name, her actual color is orange. The uniqueness of the stamp also lies in the marriage: instead of the words “Post Paid” (postage paid), “Post Office” (post office) was printed on it. There are only 14 copies in the world. "Pink Mauritius".

6th place
"The whole country is red"

This rare 1968 postage stamp from China, which is relatively “young”, was never issued, and in May 2012 it was sold at the China Guardian auction at a price of 7.3 million yuan (1.15 million Doll.).

5th place
"Blue Mauritius"
Cost - 1,150,000 US dollars

It was issued simultaneously with the “Pink Mauritius” - in 1847 (denomination - 2 pence). Only 6 such specimens are known. In 1993, a consortium of Mauritian banks and enterprises purchased the stamp for $1.15 million. Currently, its value is much higher, but it is difficult to say the exact figure.

4th place
"Baden Color Error"
Cost - 2,000,000 US dollars

Another rare postage stamp (with a face value of 9 kreuzers), rarely seen in such ratings, but of enormous value. Dated 1851, it was the first stamp issued in the Grand Duchy of Baden. The defect of the stamp, based on the name, lies in the color of the paper on which it was printed: when printing a stamp with a denomination of 9 kreuzers, the color of which should be pink-purple, they mistakenly used one sheet of blue-green paper intended for stamps with a denomination of 6 Kreuzers.

3rd place
"Yellow Three-Skilling Man"
Cost - 2,300,000 US dollars

Another rare postage stamp with a color error: instead of blue-green, the Swedish 3 skilling banco stamp was printed in yellowish-orange, similar to the 8 skilling banco stamps.

2nd place
"Sicilian Color Error"
Cost - 2,720,000 US dollars

Today, two rare specimens are known, the value of which also lies in the color error: in a series of stamps of 7 copies issued in 1859 in yellow, for some reason a blue specimen appeared.

1st place
"Holy Grail"
Cost - 2,970,000 US dollars

1 cent postage stamp issued in 1868. There are only two known Holy Grail postage stamps: one is kept in the New York Public Library, and the second was exchanged for an Inverted Jenny apartment worth $2.97 million, which makes it the leader of our rating. And although we are not talking about buying a brand for money, a transaction with a certain price still took place.