British Guiana 1856 One cent Magenta

The rarest stamp in the world will be auctioned at Sotheby's New York on June 17: the British Guiana 1856 One Cent Magenta. No stamp is rarer than the British Guiana 1856 One Cent Magenta. Record prices have consistently been achieved during auctions of this stamp. The estimated value at this auction is also a record, with proceeds of between 10 and 20 million dollars expected. This famous stamp is being auctioned at Sotheby's New York. Should you be considering adding this stamp to your collection, then here the auction description.

History

Since 1852, the first stamps of British Guiana were issued, printed by Waterlow & Sons. Due to a shortage of stamps in the period 1856 and a delay in a new supply from England, it was decided to print a local emergency issue. The stamps, printed and issued in 1856 by the printers of the Official Gazette, came out in denominations of 1 cent (for newspapers) and 4 cents (for envelopes), the latter on two-color paper. The British Guiana 1 cent magenta was discovered on April 4, 1873, among family mail by L. Vernon Vaughan, a twelve-year-old stamp collector from Georgetown. The stamp was in moderate condition and bore the barely visible Demerara postmark and the initial “EDW”. Shortly thereafter, he sold the stamp to a local collector, NR McKinnon, for six shillings, equivalent to just over one dollar at the time. Five years later, the stamp was sold by McKinnon as part of a complete collection to his friend Wylie Hill in Glasgow. Hill later sold the stamp to Thomas Ridpath, a dealer in Liverpool, for 120 British pounds. In the early 1900s, this dealer sold the stamp for £150 to the Frenchman Count Philip La Renotiere Von Ferrari, the most famous stamp collector of that period. After Ferrari's death in 1917, his collection was auctioned in Paris between 1921 and 1925. In one of these auctions, the stamp was purchased in 1922 by millionaire Arthur Hind for 300.000 francs, equivalent to 7343 British pounds. The story goes that Hind was so obsessed with this stamp that he bought a second One Cent Magenta and immediately destroyed it, so that his remaining One Cent Magenta would be the only one left in the world. Arthur Hind died in 1933, and his widow offered the stamps at Harmer Rooke & Co auctions, where no more than 7.500 pounds was bid for this stamp by Percival Loines Pemberton. The lot was not accepted and returned to Mrs. Scala (formerly Mrs. Hind). In 1940, she offered the stamp again through the Macy's department store in New York, and it was sold to the Australian Frederick T. Small for 40.000 dollars.

During an auction by Robert Siegel Galleries in 1970, the stamp was sold for $280.000 to the Irwin Weinberg Stamp Consortium. The One Cent Magenta remained in this collection for ten years. In 1980, it was sold to the well-known manufacturer John E. du Pont for $935.000. He was convicted in 1997 of the murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz and died in prison in December 2010 at the age of 72. And so now for sale again at Sotheby's on June 17 in New York.

Emergency issuance 1856

The emergency issue of 1856 included, in addition to the 1 cent magenta, a 4 cent stamp printed on blue and magenta paper.

Stamping and initials

Due to limited printing capabilities, all emergency stamps used in 1856 bore the initials of one of the three postmasters: ETE Dalton, CA Watson, and ED Wight. The cancellations are known from Demerara.

Counterfeits

The British Guiana 1 cent magenta has also been frequently counterfeited. With many facsimiles, but also with deliberate forgeries, including the so-called genuine stamp found in 1999 (click). here for more information.

New certificate

To entice wealthy collectors for this unique stamp, Sotheby's is putting considerable effort into publicizing the auction of this special stamp. The stamp is first to tour the world and, after London, is currently on display in Hong Kong. A new certificate has also been issued. The certificate issued by the Royal Philatelic Society London on March 17 states in a telegram-like manner: “British Guiana: 1856 SG: 23 1c Black on Magenta – unperforated – surface coloured paper – used – is genuine.”

David Redden, a vice-chairman at Sotheby's in New York, said that although the provenance is not in dispute, the company took the step for a new certificate because potential buyers of this stamp must receive an ironclad guarantee. The penultimate certificate for this stamp was issued on October 17, 1935, also by the RPSL, and examined on behalf of Harmer Rooke & Co Auctions, who submitted this stamp for examination for the 1935 auction on behalf of the widow of Arthur Hind.

Inspection

Although the RPSL committee has a vast amount of source material regarding stamps and forgeries, they are missing one thing: a genuine example to compare this 1856 one-cent black-on-magenta stamp to. “It was a very well-thought-out process,” according to Redden. “The committee came to headquarters with spectrometers, microscopes, and other equipment to examine this stamp. The process of examining this stamp took about five hours. The committee was looking for signs of fraudulent alteration, such as inconsistencies in the paper or color, or physical signs pointing to possible imitation.” None were found. The spectrometer measurements from different areas of the stamp were identical, according to Redden, and no part of the stamp fluoresced or glowed under ultraviolet light, which could also be a sign of falsification.

The back

The reverse side of the stamp has a different color compared to the obverse, in addition to all the hallmarks. If the obverse of this stamp was polished or overpainted in the past, part of the magenta color on the reverse appears in a watercolor-like manner. However, the cause may also be the harsh tropical conditions in which the stamp had to endure its first 20 years. The new certificate states: “Image on obverse unclear due to ‘overpainting’ in the past, probably while in the Ferrari collection.”

Quality Labels

All the hallmarks on the reverse are interesting (see photo). Two impressions of Ferrari's cloverleaf mark, one of which is less clear. A large faint H in the upper right corner belonging to Arthur Hind. Small FK, belonging to Finbar Kenny, the stamp manager at Macy's department store, who brokered the sale for Widow Hind. Small shooting star by Frederick Klein, who was the owner from 1940 to 1970. In pencil, IW belonging to Irwin Weinberg, head of an investor consortium that acquired the stamp in 1970. Large JE d P, the initials of the most recent owner: John E. du Pont. Some of these hallmarks are upside down, probably because the mark was applied while the stamp was pasted into an album with an adhesive. Light adhesive residue is present at the top. Another mystery is the hallmark with the 17-pointed star; this unknown, prominently present hallmark is unknown to the certification committee and cannot be linked to a known owner or stamp expert.