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British Guiana 1c Magenta
Highest price paid for a single stamp at auction (2014)
The only known British Guiana 1c Magenta stamp has been sold twice at Sotheby's in recent years: for $9.48 million in June 2014, the highest price ever paid for a single stamp, and for $8.3 million in June 2021. It measures about 3 by 2.5 cm and dates to 1856.
The stamp was printed in 1856 as an emergency issue in British Guiana, when a shipment of regular stamps ran short. Sotheby's describes the stamp as unique, a one-cent value printed in black on magenta paper, with a circular datestamp from Demerara dated April 4, 1856, and measures about 29 by 26 mm.
Its ownership is unusually well documented. The recorded chain begins with the original recipient, Andrew Hunter, then passes through the famed collector Philipp von Ferrary, and later through several American owners including John du Pont, before Stuart Weitzman bought it in 2014. Sotheby's sold it in June 2021 in a sale of three treasures from Weitzman's collection; the price of about $8.3 million was reported for that sale.
The 2014 price was higher than the 2021 result, which is why the 2014 sale holds the record. Sotheby's also noted that the stamp's surface shows signs of past retouching, a detail recorded in a 2014 expert certificate.
The stamp's value comes from the combination of uniqueness, a long and traceable history, and the romance of its story, since collectors tend to pay most for objects where no other example can ever appear.