$825,000 Postage Stamp Helps Wall St. Exec Fulfill Dream Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, Texas, the world's largest collectibles auctioneer, formally re-entered the philatelic market after 14 years with the $825,000 sale of an "Inverted Jenny" stamp.
News-Antique.com - Dec 26,2007 - (Dallas, Texas) -- A Dallas company helped a Wall Street executive fulfill a nearly life-long wish with a small, valuable piece of colorful paper. Heritage Auction Galleries (www.HA.com) found a seller willing to part with one of the world's most famous rare stamps, a misprinted 24-cent U.S. airmail stamp depicting an upside-down airplane, and the executive purchased it in time for Christmas delivery for $825,000.
"The legendary stamp is known worldwide as the 'Inverted Jenny.' It was erroneously produced in 1918 with its central design of a vintage 'Jenny' biplane, a Curtis JN-4, mistakenly printed upside-down," explained Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auction Galleries who brokered the transactions between seller and buyer.
The mint condition, red, white and blue stamp is one of the finest known surviving "Inverted Jenny" specimens from an original sheet of 100 misprinted airmail stamps purchased at a Washington, DC post office by collector William T. Robey on May 14, 1918. He sold the entire sheet a few days later for $15,000. Over the decades subsequent owners removed individual or groups of stamps from the sheet and sold them.
"We acquired this stamp from Sonny Hagendorf of Scarsdale, New York for $750,000 and sold it for $825,000 to a senior Wall Street executive who is a long-time coin collector. This is the first rare stamp he's ever purchased. He told me it's a great value and he's thrilled," said Rohan.
The anonymous new owner issued a brief statement through Heritage: "Since I was a kid I have wanted to own an 'Inverted Jenny.' I consider it to be a cultural icon, and to have the opportunity to buy one is the realization of a lifelong dream come true."
"Most of the 'Inverted Jenny' stamps today have hinge marks on the back from collectors using small adhesive strips to affix them to stamp albums. This stamp purchased by the anonymous Wall Street executive is one of no more than a half dozen that were never hinged," said Jim Halperin, Heritage Co-Chairman.
