STAMPS

[Lady Cop]

The Penny Black was voted the worlds favorite stamp by collectors. The famous postage stamp celebrates its 172^nd anniversary on May 6 this year





The extremely rare used penny red stamp (left) from 'plate 77' compared with a regular four penny red (right). The stamp is expected to fetch over half a million pounds

The plate 77 Penny Red has been dubbed the ‘Holy Grail of philately’ and is one of just nine examples of the stamp ever recorded.

Although millions of Penny Reds were printed between 1841 and 1879, a number of plates were never used due to technical faults.

Flaws in plate number 77 meant the stamp’s perforations were lined up incorrectly, so all of the test sheets were destroyed.

But at least one sheet was released into circulation by mistake - making the 77 every stamp collector’s dream.

Dealer Stanley Gibbons heralds it as the 'most valuable single stamp' the company has ever had for sale in their 156 year history, with a value of around £550,000.

WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE STAMPS

In 2010, the Treskilling Yellow made the record for the most expensive stamp ever sold. It was thought the Swedish rectangular treasure went for £1.6million, though it has never been confirmed.

The world's most valuable object by weight, the first owner is said to have been a Swedish schoolboy, who found it in 1885 among a pile of letters left by his grandparents.

The Treskilling Yellow is 'one of about a half dozen highly notorious stamps in the world,' according to noted U.S. stamp expert Robert Odenweller.

Others include the 1856 British Guiana 1 cent Magenta which has been locked away in a vault since 1980 when it was bought for nearly one million US dollars by chemicals fortune heir John du Pont.

Another is the 2 Penny Post Office Mauritius Blue that sold for £970,000 in 1993.