World’s rarest stamp British Guiana 1856 1¢ Magenta stamp will be auctioned again on 17th June by Sotheby’s Auction house in New York.

The 1856 British Guiana 1 Cent stamp the stamp is said to be the last example of the British Guiana one-cent Magenta. The world will know what the world’s rarest stamp is actually worth. Sotheby’s Auction House will offer the British Guiana 1856 1¢ Magenta stamp in a dedicated evening sale on 17^th June 2014 at New York. The stamp is estimated around US $10-20 Million. The unique stamp has set a world record each of the three times it has been sold at auction.

British Guiana 1856 1¢ Magenta  world's rarest stamp.

Printed in black on magenta paper, the British Guiana stamp bears the image of a three-masted ship and the Latin motto "we give and expect in return". It was produced in Georgetown, British Guiana (now GUYANA) after a shipment of stamps was delayed from London, threatening to disrupt the postal service. It carries a post mark, showing it has been used, and is initialed by a post-office employee. 

The stamp is cut to shape, thinned, torn, and repaired apparently. But the original 1935 RPSL Certificate does not mention the repairs and thins and creases that it allegedly has? As can be seen the circular date stamp is nice and dark and words BRITISH GUIANA top and base can be made out readily. 

Original Certificate issued by the Royal Philatelic Society ,London on 17th October 1935.

The British Guiana is equally notable for its legacy, having been rediscovered by a 12 years old Scottish boy living in South America in 1873, and from there passing through some of the most important stamp collections ever assembled. Since it was discovered, it has had this wonderfully colourful history and that certainly adds to its appeal.The stamp looks really terrible on the front, and seems to have suffered under John E. Du Pont’s ownership.He was a chemical industry millionaire, who kept it largely out of public view, locked away in a vault. It is rumoured to have sometimes he slept with it under his pillow. Du Pont was later jailed for 40 years for shooting dead an Olympic gold medal winning wrestler David Schultz in 1996, and died in the prison during 2010. Frederick T. Small an Australian owned this stamp for nearly 30 years and sold it via Robert Siegel auction at New York in 1970. 

HISTORY OF OWNERSHIP

1873- L. VERNON VAUGHAN, BRITISH GUIANA.

• Discovered by the Scottish schoolboy living in South America, among family papers in 1873.

NEIL R. MCKINNON, BRITISH GUIANA.

• Purchased from Vaughan

• Sent to Glasgow, Scotland for inspection 1878.

THOMAS RIDPATH, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

• Purchased from McKinnon.

• Recognized the stamp’s rarity 1878.

PHILIPPE LA RENOTIÈRE VON FERRARY, FRANCE.

• Purchased from Thomas Ridpath.

• Austrian nobleman and owner of the world’s most famous stamp collection, who moved to Switzerland at outbreak of World War I.

• Bequeathed his collection to Postal museum in Berlin at his death.

• Ferrary Collection seized by France as war reparations and sold in a celebrated series of 14 auctions from 1920 to 1925, including the British Guiana in 1922.

1922- ARTHUR HIND, UTICA, NEW YORK.

• Purchased at the auction by dealer Hugo Griebert on behalf of Hind
Set then-record auction price of $35,000.

1933- WIDOW OF ARTHUR HIND, NEW YORK.

• Hind's will directed that his collection should be sold for the benefit of his estate. His widow successfully contested this, saying Hind had given her the stamp in his lifetime.

• Hind’s widow continued to exhibit and display the stamp.

• Sold to Frederick T. Small by Finbar Kenny, Manager of the stamp department of R.H. Macy of New York, after the 1940 World’s Fair exhibition.

 1940- FREDERICK T. SMALL, FLORIDA.

• Australian living in Florida.

 • Consigned for auction with Robert Siegel of New York, 1970.

1970-IRWIN WEINBERG STAMP CONSORTIUM. 

• Irwin Weinberg led a consortium of buyers at the auction
Set then-record auction price of $280,000.

• Consigned to auction in 1980.

1980-JOHN E. DU PONT, PENNSYLVANIA.

• Purchased at auction for then-record price of $935,000.

One of the more fascinating aspects of the British Guiana 1856 1¢ Magenta stamp is the reverse, which shows the personal owner marks of several of its famous owners.

Back side of British Guiana 1856 1¢ Magenta showing the personal owner marks of several of its famous owners. 

1. Two impressions of Count Ferrary's famous ‘trefoil’ owner's mark.

2. A large faint "H" of American Billionaire Arthur Hind. It is said to have burnt a second copy sold to him. 

3. A small "FK" of Finbar Kenny, the stamp manager at Macy's who brokered its sale by Arthur Hind's widow.

4. A small shooting star added by the Australian, Frederick T. Small who owned it from 1940 to 1970.

5. A penciled "IW" by Irwin Weinberg, head of a group of investors who bought the stamp in 1970 and sold it to John E. Du Pont.

6. A large pencilled "J E d P", initials of the late John E. Du Pont who bought it for $US 935, 000 in 1980, and died in prison.

7. The large and ornate 17-pointed star has all the experts completely stumped.

On April 17 The National Postal Museum in Washington was visited by David Redden, a vice president of Sotheby’s, who took along the 1¢ British Guiana for detailed analysis.

On April 17 The National Postal Museum in Washington was visited by David Redden, a vice president of Sotheby’s, who took along the 1¢ British Guiana for detailed analysis.

On April 17 The National Postal Museum in Washington was visited by David Redden, a vice president of Sotheby’s, who took along the 1¢ British Guiana for detailed analysis. Redden was joined by highly respected stamp expert Captain Robert Odenweller, of the museum's Council of Philatelists, a security officer, and a reporter and photographer from the New York Times. The equipment used for testing included the VSC6000, Leica Microscope, X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) and the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope (FT-IR). ”VSC6600” is the Video Spectral Comparator 6000, which is a high resolution analyser, allowing for the removal of color to better see the stamp and its markings under high magnification. The wonderfully clear VSC6000 MONO image shown nearby is from that recent visit. The stamp design, detail and postmark all show wonderfully when in mono, as you can see! If you look at the colour shot nearby of the face you cannot even see the central ship design, Latin wording, nor read the postmark not the wording on outer edges of stamp.

The stamp has not been on view publicly since the 1986, when it was exhibited at the Ameripex 1986 International Stamp Show in Chicago. Sotheby’s took the Guiana stamp on a road show during May that included London and Hong Kong. Their “Buyer Fee” alone, if it sells for the middle of their estimate range is around $US2 million.

The current auction record for a single stamp is CHF 2, 8750,000 (approximately US$2.2 million), set by the Treskilling Yellow of SWEDEN in 1996. So, all are finger crossed for the auction on 17^th June that who will be the proud owner of world’s rarest stamp!!!

On April 17 The National Postal Museum in Washington was visited by David Redden, a vice president of Sotheby’s, who took along the 1¢ British Guiana for detailed analysis.

On April 17 The National Postal Museum in Washington was visited by David Redden, a vice president of Sotheby’s, who took along the 1¢ British Guiana for detailed analysis.