“Inverted Jenny” sold at auction for a record $2 million – Kommersant

A rare postage stamp known as the “Inverted Jenny” sold at auction for $2 million plus buyer’s premium, setting a record for the highest sale price for a single U.S. stamp. The auction price, that is, excluding the fee, was $1.7 million. According to the publication ARTnewsthe auction was conducted by the Robert A. Siegel auction house, which specializes in the sale of stamps and rarities.

The item sold is one of approximately 100 stamps issued in 1918 by the US Postal Service to commemorate the inauguration of regular mail service between Washington, Philadelphia and New York. Due to the rush to produce the stamps at the printing house, one sheet containing 100 stamps was printed with an error: the image of the Curtiss JN-4 aircraft on them was upside down. This batch of defective stamps is considered the most famous in the history of philately in the United States, and the sale of the Inverted Jenny is a collector’s event.

As the head of the auction house, Scott Trepel, said, the stamp sold this time “is the best example of those 100 stamps from the sheet.” He says they have tracked down and tested all the other stamps in the lot and are confident that everything else “can’t compare to this one,” so the $2 million price tag reflects the quality. Prior to this record-breaking sale, the Robert A. Siegel auction house had already dealt with Inverted Jennys: a total of 66 stamps from this lot had passed through it. In particular, in 2005, a block of four such stamps was sold for $2.7 million, and in 2018, a separate stamp was sold for $1.35 million.

Alena Miklashevskaya