The world’s rarest stamp is returning to Britain permanently for the first time in 143 years.
The British Guiana 1c Magenta (1856), which has been described as “the Mona Lisa of the stamp world”, was bought for 8.3 million US dollars (£6.2 million) by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons at auction last month.
For nearly a century and a half, the stamp has been held in collections abroad, but it will now go on display at the Stanley Gibbons flagship store in central London.
Stanley Gibbons said gram for gram, the stamp is thought to be the most valuable man-made item in the world, around 2.5 million times more valuable than 24-carat gold.
The world’s rarest stamp is returning to Britain permanently for the first time in 143 years.
The British Guiana 1c Magenta (1856), which has been described as “the Mona Lisa of the stamp world”, was bought for 8.3 million US dollars (£6.2 million) by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons at auction last month.
For nearly a century and a half, the stamp has been held in collections abroad, but it will now go on display at the Stanley Gibbons flagship store in central London.
Stanley Gibbons said gram for gram, the stamp is thought to be the most valuable man-made item in the world, around 2.5 million times more valuable than 24-carat gold.
The world’s rarest stamp is returning to Britain permanently for the first time in 143 years.
The British Guiana 1c Magenta (1856), which has been described as “the Mona Lisa of the stamp world”, was bought for 8.3 million US dollars (£6.2 million) by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons at auction last month.
For nearly a century and a half, the stamp has been held in collections abroad, but it will now go on display at the Stanley Gibbons flagship store in central London.
Stanley Gibbons said gram for gram, the stamp is thought to be the most valuable man-made item in the world, around 2.5 million times more valuable than 24-carat gold.
BBC News
By Hazel Shearing
image captionThe British Guiana One-Cent Magenta stamp was produced in 1856
An $8.3m (£6.2m) stamp is returning to the UK for the first time in 143 years, after being sold at auction to a British rare stamp dealer.
The British Guiana 1c Magenta was bought by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons last month.
The dealer said that, gram for gram, the stamp is thought to be the most valuable man-made item in the world.
It is the only survivor of a small batch printed on the former British colony British Guiana, now Guyana.
The stamp, printed on magenta paper and measuring 29 x 26mm, bears a three-masted ship and the colony s motto, We give and expect in return .
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