British Guiana 1856 One-Cent Stamp to Fetch $20 Million

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Sotheby’s New York is ready to sell the “world’s most valuable stamp”. It is a tiny piece of history, which was originally purchased on April 4, 1856, or maybe even earlier. Seventeen years later, in 1873, a 12 year old kid named Louis Vernon Vaughan discovered the piece in his uncle’s stamp collection.

From here on, the unique British Guiana 1856 One-Cent Stamphad a very adventurous life, turning up in Paris in 1878, then in the impressive stamp collection of Count Philippe la Renotiere von Ferrary, an Australian nobleman, only to break a few records in the decades to come.

In 1922 it was purchased for the record price of $32,500, already being considered the world’s rarest stamp at the time. Another record was set by the same stamp in 1980, when it became John E. du Pont’s possession for $935,000. Now again on the market, the historic piece is expected to fetch between $10 and $20 million.