British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta
After a shipment from London was delayed, the postmaster general of British Guiana ordered a set of three varieties of stamps to be issued in 1856. British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta is the only stamp that has been discovered, the rarest stamp in the world as well as the most expensive rare postage stamp.
This is a non-serrated stamp with a black sailboat in a frame with 4 small lines, printed on red paper. There is also the Latin inscription Danmus fetinus que vicissim in the middle. Currently there is only one stamp "British Guiana 1c magenta" in the world. This stamp has been postmarked, the corners are cut off and the signature on the stamp is by a man named Dalton of Georgetown, Guyana.
In 1873, this stamp was first sold for six shillings ($1.44). The British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta sold for more than 6.4 million times its original value at a Sotheby's auction in June 2014, reaching $9.48 million. The stamp previously belonged to John E. du Pont, the heir to the du Pont fortune who murdered a man on his Foxcatcher property in 1997. (Steve Carell plays du Point in the 2014 film, "Foxcatcher"). In 1980, Du Pont paid a then-record-breaking $935,000 for it. His estate sold the stamp after he died in prison in 2010.
Price: $9.48 million
