One Cent Magenta

R331,46

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When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. When it was sold at Sotheby’s in 2014, the tiny square of faded red paper known as the one-cent magenta cost nearly $US9.5 million, making it the world’s most valuable object by weight.

Printed in what was then British Guiana, one-cent magentas were provisional stamps intended for local newspapers. Most were later thrown out, but one survived. Discovered by a young boy in 1873, the stamp has since been through the hands of nine fanatical owners including an Australian-born engineer, a convicted murderer, and a fabulously wealthy Frenchman who hid it from view (not even King George V of England could get a peek).

The One-Cent Magenta weaves a fascinating tale of obsession to own the world’s most fragile treasure, and the extraordinary characters who have loved and lost it.

Authors

Language

Publisher

ISBN

9781925584073

Number Of Pages

288

File Size

1.79 mb

Format

EPUB

Published

01-05-2017