STAMP STORIES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21416, 7 March 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

STAMP STORIES

The World's Most Valuable Stamp (By R. J. G. Collins) The reference in the article on the Post Office Mauritius stamps to the fact that these arc not the most valuable of the world's postage stamps has brought forth several enquiries for further information. It should be clearly understood that there is no such thing as the world's rarest stamp. There arc numerous instances of unique items, and even among the issues of New Zealand there are at least three varieties of which only single copies have ever been recorded. Value depends upon a number of factors, including relative importance and popularity; scarcity is therefore not synonymous with value. The particular stamp which has the distinction of being the most valuable is a lc. British Guiana of 1856. The stamp consists of a design of a ship with printer's rule and inscription. It was set up and printed at the office of the "Official Gazette" by Messrs Baum and Dallas, George-

town. Magenta coloured paper was used, and the printing was in black ink. The 4c. value, although scarce, is not an outstanding rarity, but of the stamp inscribed lc. only one copy has ever been discovered, and it has been suggested that this was really an error of inscription, noticed early in the printing and corrected. The extant specimen is not in very good condition, the corners have been cut away, making it octagonal in shape. A school boy, L. Vernon Vaughan, discovered the lc. on an envelope among some old family letters over 60 years ago. He soaked the stamp off and put it with his collection, but as he had become more interested in some of the pictorial foreign stamps then being issued, he decided to exchange some of his British Guiana stamps. Mr Vaughan,

who is still alive, has told how in looking through his album for exchanges he picked on the lc. because it did not look a very good specimen and because he thought it quite easily replaced by a better specimen when next he took the trouble to search through the old family letters. He therefore sent it to a Mr .McKinnon, a keen collector friend of his. At first Mr McKinnon would not have anything to do with the stamp, but ultimately he offered 6s for it, at the same time stating that he was taking a great risk by buying it, and he hoped that Mr Vaug'han would appreciate his generosity. After keeping the stamp for 10 years Mr McKinnon disposed of it by auction in London for £25. The buyer was the celebrated Count Ferrary, and it remained in his collection until after the war, when the French Government disposed of the collection at a series of auctions in Paris. Spirited bidding took place for this unique and historical piece of paper and it was ultimately sold to an American multi-millionaire, the late Mr Arthur Hind, for a sum equivalent to approximately £7BOO. Mr Hind is reported to have refused an offer in excess of this figure, and he valued the stamp himself at £IO,OOO. On the basis of weight, it is, I think, not an exaggeration to say that this piece of paper is the most valuable item in the world.