Hi Is this the one time of year you pay any attention to stamps? Sticking those bright Christmas commemoratives on cards is a lovely annual ritual. But, as a collector, stamps should be on your radar all year round. This is is why:Meet the $2 million stamp:
If you read a story about the sale last week of the legendary Inverted Jenny you probably know:
It's the first single US postage stamp to sell for $2 million
Only 100 exist
It's famous enough to have featured in an episode of the Simpsons
But you might be surprised to learn that the Jenny is far from the rarest error. And that you can buy stamps much scarcer, quite as striking, and every bit as important to postal history today. For a tiny fraction of the price. In fact, these three stamps you can own now rival or surpass the Jenny in many ways.
Homer couldn't see the appeal of a stamp with a mistake on it.
Finding your own Jenny
When Charles Hack made it through 2 minutes of fast-paced bidding in a New York auction room on November 8 last week he secured a legend.And fulfilled a boyhood dream.When Charles was starting out on a life of stamp collecting in the 1950s he thought the sums paid for Jennys were "more money than God".That was $7,500.A career in New York real estate means he now owns three of the hundred. His historic $2 million bid got him "position 49", the best preserved Jenny of them all according to experts. The Jenny's appeal is a magical mix of scarcity, philatelic distinction, and a striking image. And a lot of it is down to the legend.The stamps you're about to see now share some of those magic ingredients.All are incredibly rare. There is some striking history here. And an oh-my-word story. They're Jennys in the making that you can snap up right now.
An upside-down stamp
No need for any philatelic expertise to spot the error on this beautiful, pastoral stamp from 1929.The error is rare. Just 75 stamps were flipped to give the inverted surcharge. Most were picked up by collectors and stuck in albums with hinges.That was the practice until relatively recently. Blocks like this are super scarce. And one pair of this block of four is "unmounted mint". The best stamp condition rating possible.The Stanley Gibbons catalogue number is SG188a. And their value is over £3,800. Canada's best catalogue, the Unitrade, values this set at £5,276. We'll send you unimpeachable authority in the shape of a British Philatelic Association certificate of authenticity from 2007.
An amazing story
How's your cricket knowledge? In 1988 the printers at Walsall Security Printers failed a test on that subject. They printed four of the five stamps to celebrate Barbados's cricketing heritage with no bother. But there wasn't a good portrait photo of the fifth hero, Herman Griffith. A team photo was sent, with Griffith's location written on the back.Back in the Caribbean the stamps were shown to Griffith's son before issue. It was easy for him to see the portrait of E. Lawson Bartlett alongside his father’s name was not his dad!
It's a great story. Because the error was spotted not many made it into circulation - 101 we believe. That makes these four highly sought after. Positional blocks like this add value to any stamp. As do the margins and their traffic lights. These are rated "unmounted mint" with full original gum and must be among the best collections of this much-loved error anywhere in the world. That story means they're the perfect buy for a cricket-loving philatelist.
Historically important stamp
The Jenny has a now-modest 24c face value.But it was an important stamp. The US's first airmail stamp.The rush to print it in time to get airborne contributed to the fateful error. The wonderfully named "deep blue" also carries that distinction. It was Australia's first decimal currency stamp. Cents and dollars replaced pounds, shillings, and pence. This is a perforation error.Two pairs of the three stamps in this upper-left corner block are imperforate. Just two sheets had this error. That's 20 strips of stamps. The quality of this block is wonderful: unmounted mint with full original gum.To find a block like this is needle-in-a-haystack stuff. Our expert calls them: "especially desirable and important."This block comes with a British Philatelic Association certificate of authenticity dated 2011.Stanley Gibbons have this example catalogued with a value of at least £6,000.
Looking for your own Holy Grail
The stamps you can buy today aren't Inverted Jennys. But they are just as magical.Rarer or as rare. Easily as distinguished. And just as visually appealing. Like all of our favourite stamps: they're dreams come true, needles in haystacks, nuggets in spoilheaps. Any one of these groups will be a star in your collection. And they're extremely competitively priced. So if you'd like your own Jenny, I urge you to reply to this email quickly and reserve the one you want.Or jump on the phone and talk to me on +44 (0)1534 639 998. One reason Jennys make so much is because there's no doubt as to what they are.
Two of these groups come to you with the best expert authentication.
And all of them have our own certificated, money-back guarantee.
Plus a 28-day no-questions-asked money-back refund period when you buy.
Until next time. OwenPS. Some of these items are much rarer than a stamp that just sold for $2 million.
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