100 most expensive postage stamps. The most expensive brands in the world

We often hear that people are interested in collecting postage stamps, before the advent of free access On the Internet, this hobby was very popular, and in the modern world, undoubtedly, there are still amateurs. Sometimes it's just a hobby, like collecting little toys or postcards, and sometimes one rare stamp can fetch a fortune! Therefore, there are people who take them extremely seriously; they are called philatelists. In fact, philatelists are a whole community and put a lot of effort into studying the history of postage and finding rare items. So what are they - the most expensive brands in the world?

Holy Grail

The "Holy Grail" is an American postage stamp with a denomination of just one cent, made in blue, depicting the famous political figure United States Benjamin Franklin. This brand is one of the rarest in the whole world, it is absolutely exclusive, and there are not many people in the world who can boast that it has been in their hands. The thing is that, as a rule, everything is expensive stamps- the rarest specimens, and meeting them by chance is very unlikely. For example, there are only two copies of the “Holy Grail” in the world. One of them is a kind of museum exhibit and is stored in the New York City Public Library. The second copy has a more interesting history: it was the subject of the largest philatelic transaction in the world. It was exchanged for a quart block (four undivided stamps on one sheet) worth almost $3 million, giving the “Holy Grail” the well-deserved title of being the most expensive postage stamp in the world.

The Holy Grail stamp is the rarest and most expensive in the world

This rare stamp with an unpronounceable name comes from Sweden, and its name is a reflection of the original denomination of three skills ( currency unit some Scandinavian countries). It became rare because an error occurred during the circulation and the stamp was printed in the wrong color. This denomination was originally intended to be printed in blue-green, but was eventually printed in yellow, similar to the eight skilling stamps. Nowadays it is very rare to find such an “erroneous” yellow example, and they are among the most expensive postage stamps in the world.

In 1996, one of the stamps was sold for $2,300,000

We mentioned above that one of the two existing copies of the “Holy Grail” was exchanged for an incredibly expensive apartment block, the cost of which was about three million dollars. We were talking about a block of four stamps with the image of “Jenny” - a biplane carrying mail. The value of individual copies is that part of the circulation was released with an inverted image - “Jenny” flies “upside down” on them. It is these blocks that contain very expensive postage stamps.

It is noteworthy that this rare specimen cannot be found alone - only four at a time

This rarity belongs to a series of the most expensive postage stamps in the world, which received their high value due to an error with the color in which they were printed. Rare copies were issued at a time when Sicily was a separate state - later Italy united, and there were no separate Sicilian stamps. In total, only one series of seven of these stamps was released, some of them even had the correct color for their denomination - yellow. Even the yellow postage stamps of Sicily are now considered a rarity and cost huge money(up to thirty thousand dollars each), and among them there were also two absolutely unique copies - by mistake they were released in blue. In 2011, one of these rare stamps was sold at an auction in Switzerland; its price was $2,720,000, which largely exceeded all experts’ expectations.

The cost of the stamp amazed even the most avid philatelists

This strange name is given to one of the most expensive postage stamps in the world, being from China. By the way, this is not its only name, it is also called “Red China” or “All China is Red”, and do not forget to mention the size of the stamp itself - it is known that there are only 8 enlarged versions of it, while the standard ones are small , although also expensive, are not that rare. Confusion often arises with the names of various stamps of the Celestial Empire, all this is explained by difficulties in translation; specifically, it is known about this postage stamp that its release (or rather, a very, very limited edition) is timed to coincide with the complete victory of the Cultural Revolution.

The price of one copy in 2012 was 1.15 million US dollars

And these expensive postage stamps are so valuable not because they were printed in the wrong color or with the wrong image, the reason for their high cost, oddly enough, is that they are absolutely of poor quality! The first batch of postage stamps in Hawaii (at that time it was not yet a US state, but an entire separate kingdom) was issued in 1851, and they were based on very thin paper Bad quality. This explains why only a few pieces from the first batch of “Hawaiian Missionaries” have survived to this day, which are now standing big money– about half a million US dollars.

Low-quality materials used in production can increase the value of the brand

As you know, the most expensive stamps in the world are not only rarities from distant past centuries, some of them are very young. Such expensive postage stamps include the German unreleased 2001 “Audrey Hepburn” series, which honors the famous actress.

In addition to Audrey, the stamp booklet contained monuments to other famous actors XX century, and partly because of this, difficulties arose, due to which the stamps were never put into wide circulation. The heirs of celebrities were constantly dissatisfied with something - either they didn’t like a shot from the film, or the behavior of the actress in the photo... Therefore, 14 million commemorative stamps depicting Audrey Hepburn in the frame of the cult film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” were never released - the actress’s son at the last moment I revoked my permission to publish. He explained this by the fact that Audrey is smoking in the image, which can be considered propaganda for such an unhealthy lifestyle.

After this statement, the entire circulation was destroyed, with the exception of only five “lucky” copies, which were kept one by one for a period of time. recent years, they had record prices at auction and became known as some of the most expensive postage stamps in the world.

All five rarities have been sold and are in the private collections of the world's richest philatelists

This romantic name is given to one of the most expensive brands in the world, produced by Canada at a time when it was still a British colony. These copies were the first issue of standard postage stamps of the province of Canada and bore the image of the famous British Queen Victoria. It is also noteworthy that other expensive postage stamps of the former British colonies are based on the same image; this series is called “Head of Chalons” (after the name of the artist who painted the portrait of the queen used). In general, experts value the “Black Queen of Canada” at 76 thousand US dollars, but in 2009, at auction, an unexpected amount of 299 thousand dollars was given for it.

Now only eighteen pieces of “The Black Queen of Canada” are known - of which six uncanceled and twelve canceled copies

Originating from Austria, this postage stamp was intended exclusively for sending newspapers, not letters. It depicts the messenger god Mercury, and initially this stamp did not even have a specified denomination, it was determined only by the color of the image. However, this idea quickly failed: since only one newspaper was sent to subscribers, the cost was always the same, and all the colors of this brand, except blue, were not in demand at all.

Instead of simply eliminating unused variants, the Austrian government decided to destroy them all and begin issuing new ones with a single denomination - this is how the now expensive Red Mercury postage stamps were born. They were not in circulation again for long: after two years, the government ordered the production of these stamps to be stopped and all those in circulation to be burned. Of course, some copies still survive. About 37 surviving rarities are known, and the most high price, which was offered for one copy of “Red Mercury” - 70 thousand euros.

It is known that there are many counterfeits of this particular brand - fake “valuables” made by the Austrian merchant Z. Friedl and the master J. de Sperati are circulating around the world

The Penny Black may not be the rarest stamp in existence, but it has firmly taken its place among the most expensive postage stamps in the world. IN in this case its value is determined not by the limited edition or some oversight in the application of color or image, but by the fact that the copies of this series were the first stamps of a standard type in history. They were the first to be applied with glue, and its appearance is directly related to historical events - the establishment of a new unified tariff for letters and a reduction in the cost of letters in general. It is due to this historical significance that the “Black Penny” is now so highly valued among philatelists.

The cost of "Black Penny" is about two million dollars

“British Guiana” is an absolute unique product that sits next to the “Holy Grail” as the most expensive brand in the world. In narrow circles of collectors, she is even called the “princess of philately”, and all because in the whole world there is only one stamp, “British Guiana”. It seems absolutely incredible that a rarity, preserved in a single copy, still “survived” to this day, but nevertheless, it is so: remaining private property collector Weizaman, now “British Guiana” is presented to everyone at the National Postal Museum American city Washington. For all my long history“British Guiana” had many fake “sisters” appearing - over and over again supposedly more copies of this series surfaced, but when checked, they all turned out to be fakes, and the series itself was more than once subject to doubts about its authenticity. Nevertheless, today the authenticity of “British Guiana” has been officially confirmed, and the most expensive postage stamp in the world costs nine and a half million dollars.

"British Guiana" was issued in 1856 with a denomination of one cent.

Of course, we have not described all rare and expensive postage stamps. There are many more specimens on collectors' lists, for which they are willing to pay a lot of money to own them. Some of them have a high cost due to a typographical error - for example, the American “CIA Reversal” (the characteristic image of a candlestick and candle on it is located “upside down” or “Baden color error” (this stamp has been “swept into the general blue-green flow”) "purple copies). The most expensive postage stamps in the world also include copies with plot errors - “Pink Gronki”, which depicts a map of the state of Peru, in fact showed the world absolutely incorrect outlines of the country’s territory.

There are also many stamps that are not so rare, but rather remarkable in their own right, having a substantial value - the USA issued a series promoting the fight against alcoholism, and Germany issued stamps immortalizing the country itself in the image attractive woman. Having examined in more detail the most expensive stamps in the world, we can say with confidence only one thing: the rarest specimens are truly difficult to overestimate, and with them, collectors preserve the history of many countries around the world that issued different years and to various events these brands.

Philatelists do not just collect stamps as such, but research, within the framework of their chosen direction, a set of postal payment marks, study the history and development of mail. Passionate people with early childhood They search for and collect stamps, ranging from the most common to the rare and expensive. Sometimes, philatelists can pay a fortune for one copy. This hobby can be a good investment! When collectors began to buy these small pieces of paper with ribbed edges, the stamps even began to be issued in separate series. For example, in honor of holidays or historical events and famous people.

Many stamps appear in limited editions. We present to your attention the most expensive postage stamps in the world. Many of them are equivalent to buying an apartment or a car, some can only be found in private collections. The price of stamps is determined by its condition: if it has already been used (it has a postage stamp on it) or has been damaged for other reasons, its value is reduced several times. Whole and pure stamps are valued more than others.

Mauritius

One of the most expensive brands. It was printed on the island of Mauritius back in 1847. But a mistake was made during printing, so the stamp became very rare.
The experts made a mistake in the inscription. They printed Post Office instead of Post Paid. Only 28 such marriages are known. Today, such a stamp can fetch about 20 million US dollars at auction.

Yellow Swedish stamp

Printed in 1855, it is one of the most expensive. The stamp was supposed to be green, but by mistake the series was painted green yellow and released into circulation.
In 1996, the yellow Swedish mark or "Yellow Treskilling" was purchased for $2.3 million.

Jenny

There is a block of four stamps. They depict a Curtis-Jenny airplane. But the value of a brand is in its typo. The airplane in the lot turned out to be upside down, so such copies are valued higher than the originals.
In 1954, all stamps were purchased for 18.2 thousand dollars. In 2017, their price is $3 million.

Tiflis stamp

Original and expensive brands have been around since time Russian Empire. For example, Tiflis stamp. It was printed in 1857.
TO today Only three copies have survived - all of them belonged to the jeweler and philatelist Faberge. Now they are in private collections and it’s not so easy to even look at them.

Hawaiian missionaries

This is the first stamp to be issued in Hawaii. They appeared in 1851 and were called "Hawaiian Missionaries". Their peculiarity is that they are poorly printed.
Due to poor and too thin paper, they are quite rare today. Only 16 copies have survived to this day. Each one costs a fortune - about half a million dollars.

Benjamin Franklin Z Grill

The rarest postage stamp in the USA. There are only two of them in the world. In 1988, the Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, with a face value of just one cent, was sold in the United States for a record amount of $1.5 million.

Penny Black

Or "Penny Black" - the first official postage stamp, on reverse side which glue was applied. She was released in 1840.
She made a real revolution in the world of postage stamps. The stamp is not considered rare, but its cost reaches 200-300 dollars.

British Guyana One Cent Black on Magenta

The world saw this brand in 1856. It is printed on purple bond paper with black ink.

Audrey Hepburn

Good money can also be earned from postage stamps of our time. For example, the most expensive modern stamp is a German postal and charity stamp depicting actress Audrey Hepburn with a cigarette in her mouth and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. It appeared in 2001, but was not officially released for postal circulation.
This stamp was supposed to be part of a series that was dedicated to the actors: Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Jean Gabin, Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman. 14 million Audrey Hepburn stamps were originally printed. However, the publication was canceled because the actress’s son took away the publishing rights. He didn't like the fact that his mother was smoking a cigarette. The circulation was destroyed, except for 30 copies. They were sold to museums and archives, and their value is about 94 thousand dollars.

Louis Armstrong

The stamp of the legendary trumpeter and composer Louis Armstrong was released in 1995 as part of the “Legends of American Music: Jazz Musicians” series. The musician was also a pioneer jazz singing in scat style - voice improvisation musical instrument. In addition to Armstrong, this series included vocalist Ella Fitzgerald.

Philatelists also replenish their collections with Soviet stamps, the most expensive of which we will tell you about in the material below.

40 years of the Soviet circus

As planned, this stamp was supposed to go into circulation in 1959 - on the 40th anniversary of the appearance of the Soviet circus, but later disagreements arose about the date of its formation. In 2008, at the Cherrystone auction, a copy of this brand that came to collectors was sold for $13,800.

250 years of the historical Poltava victory of 1709

Rare and expensive stamp from 1959. The stamp was not released, since Khrushchev’s visit to Sweden was scheduled for that time.

Limonka

A factory defect caused the appearance of a rare stamp, which philatelists call “Limonka”. In 1925, the first standardized issue of “Gold Standard” stamps was issued in the USSR, which included postage stamps in 20 different denominations - from 1 kopeck to 5 rubles. While printing blocks of 15-kopeck stamps with a lemon-yellow portrait of a peasant, the perforation machine broke down. In order not to miss delivery deadlines, Goznak management sent the batch with only a few sheets of this stamp. Now the cost of “Limonka” is estimated at about $20,000.

Flight of peace and friendship to Denmark, Sweden and Norway

In 2008, a copy of the stamp “Flight of Peace and Friendship to Denmark, Sweden and Norway” was sold at the Cherrystone auction for $28,750. This stamp became a rarity for the same reasons as the “250th anniversary of the Poltava Victory” - it was not put into circulation because of Nikita Khrushchev's diplomatic visit to Sweden. In this case, the planned visit did not take place.

Consular fifty dollars

Not only one of the three most expensive Soviet stamps, but is also considered one of the most unusual. Consular stamps appeared in circulation back in 1913 for registration of entry and exit documents. In 1922, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Rapallo between the RSFSR and Germany, the volume of correspondence between the two countries increased significantly, and therefore, in order to speed up the postal process, regular correspondence was sent to Germany by air mail with an additional payment, according to the tariffs in force in Germany. For this purpose, in July 1922, an additional red stamp was made on the consular stamps stored at the RSFSR Embassy. Initially there were 50-75 such stamps, but over time only a few copies remained - all postal items from the consulate were considered secret and were destroyed. At one auction, a copy of this stamp was sold for $63,250.

"Cardboard"

The record holder among lots of Soviet postal objects is the so-called “Carton” - a souvenir sheet with four stamps. In 1932, the postal department issued these sheets in an edition of 500 copies; they were sent along with invitations to the first All-Union Philatelic Exhibition. However, 25 copies from the series were prepared for rewarding collectors who made a significant contribution to the organization of that exhibition - on these sheets there was an additional overprint: “To the best drummer of the All-Union Society of Philatelists.” Over time, most of the name blocks were destroyed, and to date the only block in the name of E. M. Nurkas is known. In 2008, this copy was sold on Cherrystone for $776,250 - a record amount for USSR issues.

Well, have you already checked your brands with those described in the article?

How else can we explain the statement that wanders from one site to another that one of the most expensive brands in the world includes Penny Black 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 small review the most expensive postage stamps in the world, in which we will try to adhere to real auction prices as much as possible.

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. One can only guess how much this rarity might be worth today, after 32 years. 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, let’s 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...
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1. British Guiana - $9.48 million

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

This is an unperforated postage stamp, 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 "British Guiana", 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 2014 at Sotheby’s they paid almost ten and a half million dollars for it, taking it from ninth place in the ranking to the undisputed leader.
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2. Holy Grail - $2.97 million

(Z-Grill) is an 1868 1-cent U.S. 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” 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're talking about not 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 a line of the most expensive stamps with a color error, even surpassing another famous color error - Yellow Treskilling.

The Kingdom of Sicily managed to issue only one series of 7 stamps in 1859. Already in next 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 an instance appeared in this row of blue color, 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 a single copy, which ensured its place on the philatelic Olympus.

For the amount of $2,300,000, “Swedish Unique,” ​​as it is sometimes called, was sold at D. Feldman’s auction in 1996. After that, the brand was put up for auction several times, but this price was never exceeded.

In 2010, the rarity was sold again at the same auction, but the price was not officially announced, although they claim that it is no lower than in 1996. Some sources claim that it is more expensive than the Sicilian, but until the price has been announced, it will be the fourth ...
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5. Baden color mistake - $2 million

“Baden color error” is another rarity that is unfairly overlooked and is not so often found in such ratings. Meanwhile, in terms of the amount paid for it, it is firmly in fifth place.

This is a very rare black on blue-green 9 kreuzer postage stamp from the first issue of the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1851, which included stamps in four denominations, printed on different colored paper.

9 kreuzers were printed on pink paper, but one sheet refused to be printed on paper Green colour, which was used for stamps of lower denominations.

Currently, philatelists know of one clean and three canceled copies of this rarity. The last sale of a canceled stamp took place in 1985 for 2,645,000 German marks (just over 800 thousand dollars at the exchange rate at that time).

The single uncanceled copy, discovered in 1919, fetched €1.3 million (approximately $2,000,000) at David Feldman's 2008 philatelic auction.
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6. Blue Mauritius - $1.15 million

"Blue Mauritius" is the second postage stamp of the island of Mauritius, although it would be more correct to say one of the first, since in 1847 an orange 1 cent and a blue 2 cent were issued simultaneously.

According to information on the website www.stampsmauritius.com, dedicated to the two most famous brands island of Mauritius, 12 copies of this rarity are known: 6 pure and 6 cancelled. At the same time, Wikipedia talks about 2 and 10 brands, respectively.

A number of sources claim that the cost of the Blue Mauritius reaches $15 million at auctions. But in fact, the maximum price for this rare stamp, formed at the auction, is 1.15 million dollars. It was for this amount that “Mauritius” was purchased by a consortium of Mauritian banks and enterprises at the Feldman auction in 1993 for transfer to the Mauritius Postage Stamp Museum.

Currently, after almost 20 years, the price, naturally, will be significantly higher, but, alas, all uncanceled Blue Mauritius are in museums and are not put up for auction, and therefore it is more than difficult to give an objective assessment of them today.

Cancelled copies are valued at almost half the price. At the same time, an envelope containing both stamps was sold at the same auction by David Feldman in November 1993 for 5 million Swiss francs (approximately $3,300,000).
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7. The whole country is red – $1.15 million.

This is an unissued 1968 Chinese postage stamp that was auctioned by the China Guardian in May 2012 for 7.3 million yuan (about $1,150,000). There are 8 known copies of this rarity: 5 clean and 3 canceled.

By the way, there is a little confusion in the names of this and some others rare stamps China. So this rarity is sometimes called “Long live the complete Victory in the Great cultural revolution» according to the inscription on the stamp (not to mention various options translation of the Chinese name: “All China is Red” or “Red China”). Meanwhile, there is another Chinese brand with a similar name.

At the same time, they usually emphasize that this is a “Big “The Whole Country Is Red”” in order not to be confused with the “small” brand released with the same name, which is also not cheap.
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8. Pink Mauritius - $1.07 million

“Pink Mauritius” (although the correct name in the original is “orange”, which corresponds to the actual color of the rarity) is the first postage stamp of the island of Mauritius. It is known in 14 copies: 2 pure and 12 cancelled.

By the way, on the first issue of the stamp, as on the “Blue Mauritius”, there is the inscription “Post office” instead of “Post paid”. Contrary to a previously existing legend, this is not an engraver's error, but an officially approved inscription. The stamps of the next issue already have “Post paid” printed on them.

The price is also determined based on the results of the above auction for this rare stamp at the Feldman auction in 1993, where the “Pink Mauritius” was acquired by a Mauritian consortium at the same time as the blue one.
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9. Inverted Jenny - $977.5 thousand

The "Inverted Jenny" is a 1918 24-cent United States airmail stamp featuring a Curtis JN-4 aircraft. On some sheets the plane was printed upside down by mistake. The defective stamps were destroyed, but one sheet went on sale and was subsequently divided into separate blocks and stamps.

In 2005, at Siegel's auction, a block of four Inverted Jennys was purchased for $2,970,000 and then exchanged for the Holy Grail.

A single stamp was purchased at the same auction in 2007 for $977,500. A very considerable price, considering the existence of about 8 dozen surviving copies, and therefore it is difficult to call this brand rare.
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10. Tiflis Unique - 763.6 thousand dollars.

“Tiflis Unique” was issued in order to use the needs of the city post of Tiflis and Kodzhori in 1857 and is in fact the first Russian postage stamp.

Until recently, three uncanceled copies of this rarity were known. All of them were at one time part of the collection of A. Faberge.

In 2011, the discovery of another such stamp was announced in the storage of the National Postal Museum in Washington.

In October 2008, one of the rarities was sold at a philatelic auction by D. Feldman for 480 thousand euros (approximately $ 763,600 including the auctioneer’s commission), which allows it to be included in the top ten most expensive stamps in the world.
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Conclusion

Naturally, this is far from an exhaustive list of philatelic rarities that deserve attention. There are many rare stamps that are slightly lower in price than those listed above or do not have an established market price, but at the same time they may be even more desirable for philatelists.

For example, we can mention the “Hawaiian Missionaries” series, the most expensive of which is a two-cent stamp, and the “Dawson Envelope” with two stamps from this series sold for $2 million.

Very interesting for Russians is Levanevsky with an inverted overprint with a small “f”, which in 2008 was sold at the Cherrystone auction for $603,750. No less interesting is “Carton”, sold at the same auction in the same year for $776,250, which is good puts it in the top ten, but the hand did not rise to the Tiflis Unique. Excuse me... Besides, “Carton” is still not a brand, but a block.

There is a relatively new example of an 1897 Chinese 3 cent postage stamp overprinted with 2 cents in green ink, known as the "Red Lady in a Green Dress". In July 2010, it was exhibited at the Hong Kong InterAsia auction with a preliminary estimate of 8-10 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately 1-1.3 million US dollars), but was not sold. In any case, the price of this rarity can be considered close to a million.

Or the "Blue Alexandria", a 1846 5-cent round postmaster's note from the city of Alexandria, known in one copy on an envelope. In this condition, it was sold in 1981 at Feldman’s auction for $1 million. And it is excluded from this rating only because the stamp on the envelope is a slightly different story.

And there are many such examples. Perhaps a little later we will return to this issue and compile a more extensive list of philatelic rarities.

In the meantime... save up, gentlemen!

Update dated October 26, 2013

Life does not stand still. Our magnificent ten have also changed. First, in July, at the Interasia auction, an 1897 Chinese 3-cent official postage stamp with a “1 dollar” overprint (on the scan on the left) was sold for almost 7 million Hong Kong dollars (approximately US$ 889,500).

And the second breakthrough was an 1869 15-cent inverted US stamp commemorating Columbus's discovery of America, purchased on October 9 at Siegel's auction for $800,000.

So, alas, the Tiflis Unique was pushed out of the top. Where are the Russian moneybags? Is there really no one to buy the unique item for a couple of million in order to firmly cement it among the ranks of rarities?

Prices for rare postage stamps are constantly rising, reaching several million dollars.
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 stamps are rising every year.
In most cases, the high cost of an old stamp, so desired by philatelists, is caused by a defect in its printing.

"Holy Grail" - $2.97 million

The "Holy Grail" (Z-Grill) is a 1-cent postage stamp featuring the first 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 a quart block of “Inverted Jenny” worth $2.97 million for it.

"Sicilian Color Error" - $2.72 million

"Sicilian color error." From the name it becomes clear that the brand has been violated 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 Treskilling” - $2.3 million.

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

"Baden color error - $2 million"

"Baden color error." This is 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 - $1.15 million"

"Blue Mauritius". 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” - $1.15 million.

"The whole country is red." 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)

Pink Mauritius - $1.07 million

"Pink Mauritius". Its actual color is orange. Its remarkable feature lies in the fact that it is the first printed stamp of the island of Mauritius. The defect lies in the fact that the inscription “Post Paid” was left on it instead of “Post office”. And this is not an engraver’s mistake, but an officially approved inscription. There are 14 copies of this brand in total.

“Inverted Jenny” - $977.5 thousand.

"Inverted Jenny" An error was made during the printing of this philatelic rarity depicting an aircraft. Aircraft“Curtis-Jenny” was printed upside down, for which the printers were punished, but this is precisely why the stamps of this series are so expensive. The original cost was 24 cents and over 95 years since its creation it has grown to 977.5 thousand dollars!

British Guiana - $935 thousand

Do you often look at postage stamps when you receive or send letters? But for collectors, these pieces of paper are real treasures, for which they don’t mind paying tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the most valuable stamps in the world go under the hammer for millions of “evergreen American presidents.”

We present to you top 10 rarest and most expensive stamps in history.

Our list opens with the most expensive stamp in Russia, which is also the first postage stamp issued in our country. This happened in 1857, on the territory modern Georgia. As the name implies, the stamp was intended for the city post office of Tiflis. It had a face value of 6 kopecks and had no teeth.

Only 5 copies of the “Tiflis Unique” have survived to this day.

9. Inverted Jenny - $977.5 thousand.

Here is the rarest stamp error in the history of stamps issued in the United States. The aircraft featured on the stamp is a JN-4HM built by Curtiss in the middle of World War I.

A printing error meant that the blue vignette - the plane and the air around it - was printed upside down, but the red frame framing the scene was printed correctly.

Jennys, military biplanes, were modified to carry US government mail. They often crashed. In fact, the very first American Post Office flight, on May 15, 1918, ended in disaster. The pilot flew in the wrong direction and crashed in a farmer's field, ironically next to property owned by Otto Praeger, the official in charge of airmail.

8. Pink Mauritius - $1 million.

Along with its “brother” - the Blue Mauritius - this very expensive rarity is one of the first stamps island state Mauritius. Instead of the words “Post office”, the words “Post Paid” are emblazoned on the stamp. Moreover, they were officially approved, and are not a mistake made by the engraver.

7. The whole country is red - $1.1 million.

This valuable stamp, issued in 1968, depicts smiling citizens of the Middle Kingdom holding Mao Zedong's Red Book, a symbol of Chinese communism.

Although the overall design of this philatelic jewel is red, the Taiwan region (right) remains white. Because of this design error, the entire batch of stamps was hastily recalled. It is unknown how many stamps have survived, but they are certainly extremely rare.

It is curious that there were no reprisals against the artist Wang Weisheng, who made a mistake.

6. Blue Mauritius - $1.1 million.

In September 1847, these colored 2p stamps were used to send envelopes containing tickets to a ball. It was given by Elizabeth Gomm, the wife of the governor of the tropical island of Mauritius. No one at this privileged party had any idea that cheap stamps would one day cost more than a million dollars.

When two Mauritius Blues appeared on the fledgling French philatelist market in 1865, they immediately gained popularity. These unique specimens were the first "nationality" stamps British Empire, but released outside the metropolis. Additionally, there was an error in their initial release. Such a combo is simply a godsend for collectors, because such stamps are much rarer and are valued much more expensive than “infallible” stamps.

5. Baden color mistake - $2 million.

The most expensive German postage stamp. It is known to collectors all over the world because only 4 copies have survived. These 9 kreuzer stamps were planned to be printed in pink color, but several sheets turned out green. And this color was planned to be used in the production of stamps with a denomination of 6 kreuzers.

4. Swedish unique - $2.3 million.

It is believed to be the only surviving misprint of the 1855 Three Skilling Banco stamp, which was supposed to be blue-green but ended up being yellow. Because of this, one of the rarest postage stamps is called the “Treskilling Yellow”.

The last time the curiosity was shown in public was in 2010, at the London Stamp Festival. The same year it was sold at auction in Switzerland. The buyers were a group of people who wished to remain anonymous.

3. Sicilian Color Mistake - $2.7 million

This unattainable dream of philatelists is rare for several reasons.

• First of all, due to a color error. It was supposed to be released in orange color. Instead, the stamp was issued in blue in 1859.
• Secondly, today only two such brands are known.
• And most importantly, despite the fact that the stamp is very old, it is in excellent condition.

2. Holy Grail - $2.9 million

One of the rarest US stamps, printed in 1868. It shows the profile of Benjamin Franklin, who, although he was not American President, but at one time he was the postmaster of all the North American colonies.

This specimen is distinguished by a special type of waffling (the so-called Z-Grill design). This type of pressing was not used for very long, a couple of weeks at most. A short time production is what makes the brand so rare.

Z-Grill is unique in two ways.

1. Firstly, it was the first type of stamp pressing to go into production in 1868 (despite the fact that its name used the last letter of the English alphabet).
2. Secondly, with this type of waffling the ribs are positioned horizontally, whereas with other types of pressing they are positioned vertically.

1. British Guiana - $9.5 million.

This 1-cent stamp was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2014 and was purchased by Stuart Weitzman, who participated in the auction by telephone. The sale price was lower than the auction house's original estimate of $10 million to $20 million but still a world record. And British Guiana (also called “British Rose Guiana”) is to this day the rarest and most expensive stamp in the world. It exists in only 1 copy.

The history of British Guiana

A series of three stamps was issued on behalf of the postmaster of British Guiana, E. T. E. Dalton, as a contingency reserve until a shipment of stamps arrived from Great Britain. Two varieties were created: 4-cent stamps and 1-cent stamps.

The British Guiana is the only surviving one-cent stamp from the entire 1856 issue.

How British Guiana changed hands

In 1873, the stamp was discovered by a 12-year-old boy among his uncle's letters. The boy sold the stamp to collector N.R. MacKinnon, valued at only a few shillings.

Then McKinnon's collection came to the Liverpool dealer Thomas Ridpath, who showed the stamp to specialists and learned that he had a fortune in his hands. Ridpath profitably sold British Guiana to a major philatelist, Baron Philip von Ferrari.

Time passed, and the brand grew in price until it was sad famous John Eleuther Dupont did not buy it for $935,000 in 1980. Du Pont was convicted in 1997 of murdering Olympian David Schultz and died in custody in 2010. According to Dupont's will, 80 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the brand went to the former wrestler and medalist Olympic Games Valentin Yordanov and members of his family. The rest is earmarked for the Conservation Fund wildlife Eurasia Pacific.