14 DAY TRIAL // The world’s rarest and most valuable stamp, known as the “Mona Lisa” of the stamp world, is the British Guiana 1c Magenta, which was issued in limited numbers by the British Guiana postmaster in 1856. Nowadays, only one specimen is known to exist in the world, and it’s due to be auctioned in New York this summer.
The rare stamp was discovered by a Scottish schoolboy by the name of Vernon Vaughan among his uncle’s letters in the Guyanese town of Demerara in 1873. Vaughan sold it for just six shillings, which in today's money would equal $0.069 or €0.049, to a fellow Scot, Neil R. McKinnon, in order to buy more stamps.
In 1980, the stamp was purchased by the agent of the mentally disturbed heir to the du Pont fortune, John du Pont, for $935,000 (€671,500). That was the last time the rare collectible piece was seen in public.
According to Liberty Voice, the stamp has now been put up for sale as part of du Pont's estate, following his death in prison in 2010, and is being sold at Sotheby’s in New York City on June 17. With a pre-sale estimate of $10-20 million (€7.18-14.3 million), the British Guiana 1c Magenta could turn into the most expensive stamp ever sold.
The last time the extremely valuable stamp was examined was in 1935, and it has been in private collections ever since.
The octagonal-shaped stamp is printed in black on magenta paper and has an image of a sailing vessel imprinted on it (although it has pretty much faded away), accompanied by the colony's Latin motto “Damus Petimus Que Vicissim,” which translates to “We give and we take in return.”
It was part of an emergency shipment commissioned by the British Guiana postmaster when a stamp delivery from England was delayed. It was issued by the local Royal Gazette newspaper.
In March, David Redden, director of special projects and worldwide chairman of Sotheby's Books Department, took the stamp to the Royal Philatelic Society in London to be authenticated. Officials there gave it a pre-sale estimate of between $10-20 million (€7.18-14.3 million), as mentioned above.
“For me, as a schoolboy stamp collector, [the One Cent Magenta] was a magical object, the very definition of rarity and value, unobtainable rarity and extraordinary value. That schoolboy of long ago would be bemused and astonished to think that he would one day, years later, be temporary guardian of such a world treasure,” Redden said.
The British Guiana 1c Magenta stamp will be on display at Sotheby's in New York from May 2 to May 23.