The top five most valuable stamps to be sold at philatelic stamp auctions

If you are a stamp collector, you may be interested in learning which stamps are considered the five rarest and most valuable stamps worldwide, with the highest bids in Philatelic Stamp history.

British Guiana 1-cent Magenta

The British Guiana 1-cent Magenta is indeed the rarest of rare stamps and is also referred to as the ‘Princess of Philately’. A colony of Britain at the time, the stamp was named the British Guiana after this colonial empire, until its decolonisation in May 1966.

It was originally available in one and four-cent stamps for use in the interim while postage was waiting to be received by the postmaster at the time. Only a single copy of the one-cent stamp survived worldwide and was auctioned to bidders and sold in June 2014 at a New York stamp auction for an incredible £ 9,480,000. Only a few four-cent stamps are still in existence stamps in the world today.

Penny Red Stamp

At number two is the Penny Red stamp which is one of the country’s oldest stamps. The colour of the stamp was changed from black to red due to the inability to see the cancellation mark. The rarest Penny Red to date is known as the plate 77 Penny Red whose origins date back to 1863. The stamps were never sold after they were deemed to be of inferior quality. To date, they are in the top two of the most valuable stamps in the world and have since been sold at a stamp auction with prices of £5,550,000, making The Penny Red Stamp one of the rare stamps known to exist.

6d pale dull purple Edwards VII stamp

The 6d pale dull purple Edwards VII stamp, 1904 is also one of the rarest stamps to have ever been produced worldwide as its release coincided with the cancellation of all stamps from being used. All but one stamp was destroyed and was auctioned to bidders and sold in 2010 with the highest bid of £400,000.

The original Penny Black stamp

The original Penny Black stamp of 1940 is still considered today as one of the most collectable items with some of the bids placed in stamp collecting auction history. Individually hand-cut, each stamp is unique; it features the profile of Queen Victoria and it is this unique feature that makes it a rare British treasure. While there are still lots of these stamps that are available to be collected, the earliest issues are considered more valuable with one of the very first issues selling at the highest bid of £345,100.

Tyrian Plum stamp

And last but not least to make the top five is the Tyrian Plum stamp which was first released during Kind Edward the seventh’s empire. Most of the stamps were destroyed after the king’s untimely death, with only five surviving the process, making them one of the most precious stamps to this day with a copy sold in 2011 to the highest bidder who made a payment of £159,500.