This is a list of the highest known prices paid for philatelic items, including stamps and covers. The current record price for a single stamp is US$9,480,000 paid for the British Guiana 1c magenta.[1][2]

This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars in 2022.[note 1] Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the item was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. Individual items are listed only once, i.e. for the highest price sold.

Adjusted price Original price Item(s) Example
image(s) 		Country Year No. in existence Date of sale Seller Buyer Auction house Refs
$23,200,000 $17,400,000 Red Revenue block of four and sheet of 25 5-candarin Large Dragon stamps
Qing China 1878 (Large Dragons)
1897 (Red Revenues) 		Unknown (Large Dragons)
1 known (Red Revenues block of four)
32 known (Individual Red Revenues) 		2009 Lam Manyin Ding Jingsong Unknown [3]
$12,100,000 $11,200,000* "Ball Cover" with Mauritius 1d red (XX) British Mauritius 1847 3 known June 26, 2021 Anonymous Anonymous Christoph Gärtner [4][5][6]
$11,719,000 $9,480,000* British Guiana 1c magenta British Guiana 1856 1 known June 17, 2014 Estate of John du Pont Stuart Weitzman Sotheby's, New York [1][2][7]
$8,103,000 $4,000,000 "Bordeaux Cover" with Mauritius 2d blue (XXII) and Mauritius 1d red (XXI) British Mauritius 1847 Unique 1993 Anonymous Anonymous David Feldman SA, Geneva [8]
$5,900,000 $4,800,000 Inverted Jenny block of four United States 1918 1 (as block of four)
100 (as individual stamps) 		October 4, 2014 Donald Sundman Anonymous Private sale [9]
$5,570,760 $5,570,760 500 mon Inverted Centre Empire of Japan 1871 1 known June 3, 2023 Yuji Yamada Anonymous David Feldman SA, Geneva [10][11]
$4,450,000 $2,970,000[note 2] Z Grill United States 1868 2 2005 Donald Sundman Bill H. Gross Private exchange [12]
$4,292,000 $2,300,000[note 3] Treskilling Yellow Sweden 1855 1 known 1996 Anonymous The Box AB David Feldman SA, Geneva [13][14][15]
$3,649,000 $1,900,000 "Missionary cover" with Hawaiian 2c Blue, 5c Blue and two United States 3c Brownish Carmine Hawaii and United States 1852 Unique November 7, 1995 The Honolulu Advertiser Collection Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [16]
$3,290,000 $2,690,000 "Bombay Cover" with two Mauritius 1d red (XVIII & XIX) British Mauritius 1847 Unique 2016 Anonymous Anonymous David Feldman SA, Geneva [17][18]
$2,850,000 $2,190,000 1⁄2grano blue "error of colour" Two Sicilies 1859 2 June 10, 2011 Anonymous Anonymous Galerie Dreyfus, Basel [19]
$2,760,000 $1,900,000 "Rush 1847 Cover" with strip of six 10c black stamps United States 1847 Unique May 13, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [20]
$2,580,000 $1,900,000 "Xiphopagus Triplet" with two 30r and one 60r stamps Brazil 1843 Unknown June 5, 2008 The Islander Collection of South America Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [21]
$2,330,000 $1,150,000 Mauritius 2d blue (III) British Mauritius 1847 12 known 1993 Anonymous Mauritian private consortium David Feldman SA, Geneva [22]
$2,210,000 $1,680,000 "Champion" letter with two 5-centime Strubels in blue misprint and brown 5-centime Strubel Switzerland 1855 Unique June 10, 2011 Anonymous Anonymous Galerie Dreyfus, Basel [23]
$2,182,000 $1,605,000 "Trondheim" block of 39 4-skilling stamps Norway 1855 Unique April 2008 Anonymous Anonymous David Feldman SA, Geneva [24]
$2,300,000 $2,000,000 The Whole Country is Red People's Republic of China 1968 Unknown November 23, 2018 Anonymous Anonymous China Guardian, Beijing [25]
$2,000,100 $1,471,500 Baden 9 Kreuzer error Baden 1851 4 April 3, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous David Feldman SA, Geneva [26]
$1,856,000 $1,593,000* Inverted Jenny United States 1918 100 November 15, 2018 Anonymous Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [27]
$1,748,630 $1,344,180 Mauritius 2d blue (XIII) British Mauritius 1847 12 known June 28, 2011 The Chartwell Collection of Humphrey Cripps Anonymous Spink, London [28][29]
$1,396,290 $1,073,340 Mauritius 1d red (X) British Mauritius 1847 15 known 1993 Anonymous Mauritian private consortium David Feldman SA, Geneva [30]
$1,350,000 $1,180,000 Alexandria "Blue Boy" cover United States 1847 Unique June 22, 2019 Anonymous Anonymous H.R. Harmer, New York [7]
$1,223,000 $900,000 B Grill United States 1867-8 4 known October 28, 2008 The Perry Hansen Collection of U.S. Stamps and Covers Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [31]
$1,219,000 $970,000 Red Revenue Qing China 1897 32 known 2013 Anonymous Anonymous Interasia Auctions, Hong Kong [32]
$1,150,000 $600,000 2-cent unused Hawaii "Missionaries" stamp Hawaii 1851 1 (unused)
15 (total) 		November 7, 1995 The Honolulu Advertiser Collection Anonymous Robert A. Siegel, New York [33]

* Buyer's premium included

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Wikipedia template uses a yearly average inflation. Using monthly averages gives slightly different numbers, most significantly for items sold early or late in a year with significant inflation.
  2. ^ Value derived from exchange with Inverted Jenny block of four, bought in the same year (2005) for $2,970,000.[12]
  3. ^ The stamp was sold on May 22, 2010 for an undisclosed price higher than the 1996 price of $2.3 million USD, to Armand Rousso.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ a b "The British Guiana 1-Cent Magenta Stamp". Sotheby's. 2013-09-14. Archived from the original on 2020-05-11. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  2. ^ a b Brown, Robin (2014-06-18). "Du Pont stamp sells for $9.5 million". delawareonline. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  3. ^ "BIG SPENDER：百年郵蹤" [Big Spender: Hundred-Year Trail of Philately]. Apple Daily 蘋果日報 (in Chinese). 2013-08-22. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  4. ^ "Record result for the Mauritius Ball Cover". 2021-06-21. Archived from the original on 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  5. ^ Healey, Matthew (2021-06-30). "Mauritius Ball cover sells for almost $12 million, an all-time record price". Linns Stamp News. Archived from the original on 2022-09-26. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  6. ^ Morgan, Helen. "Post Office Mauritius (20), one penny, used (XX) (1847)". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2021-08-07. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  7. ^ a b Baadke, Michael (2019-06-25). "Alexandria 'Blue Boy' cover auctioned for $1.18 million". Linns Stamp News. Archived from the original on 2019-10-27. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  8. ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (21/22), one penny, used (XXI) + two pence, used (XXII) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  9. ^ "Mystic sells Inverted Jenny plate block; purchase price 'north of $4.8 million'". Linns Stamp News. 2014-10-10. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  10. ^ Leclere, Estelle (2023-06-03). "Japan stamp sells for world record price of 5.4 million Euros". David Feldman SA. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  11. ^ "Lot 30070 - 1871, 500 mon, greyish yellow-green, earliest printing, plate 1, pos. 8 center inverted | 2023 June 1st-3rd Latin America, Egypt and Japan | David Feldman SA David Feldman SA". David Feldman SA. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  12. ^ a b Schmid, Randolph E. (2006-05-25). "Rare and Costly Stamps to Go on Display". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  13. ^ a b "Rare stamp fetches record price". BBC News. 2010-05-22. Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  14. ^ a b Lee, Julia (2019-02-16). "Treskilling Yellow is back in the hands of a philatelist - World". Stamp Magazine. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  15. ^ "World's 'rarest' stamp 'to break record'". The Telegraph. 2010-05-21. Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  16. ^ "The Honolulu Advertiser Collection". Siegel Auction Galleries. 1954-05-03. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  17. ^ "The Bombay Cover". davidfeldman.com. Archived from the original on 2022-12-03. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  18. ^ Morgan, Helen. "Post Office Mauritius (18/19), one penny, used (XVIII) + one penny, used (XIX) (1847)". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
  19. ^ swissinfo.ch (2015-04-23). "Rare stamps fetch big money". SWI swissinfo.ch. Archived from the original on 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  20. ^ "Auction: 10c Black (2)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2006-05-13. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  21. ^ "Auction: 1843, 30r/30r/60r Black, Se-Tenant Strip of Three (1d)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2008-06-05. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  22. ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (03), two pence, unused (III) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  23. ^ "1.8 million euros for a postage stamp at Galerie Dreyfus Investor Basle". Business Wire. 2011-06-09. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  24. ^ "Stamp News". sammler.com. 2011-06-25. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  25. ^ ""The Whole Country is Red" fetched $2 million at China Guardian auction – World Stamp News". Find your stamps value online. 2018-11-28. Archived from the original on 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  26. ^ "David Feldman Spring Auctions, April 1–5, 2008, Feature Great Results for Rarities". David Feldman. Archived from the original on 2008-06-13. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  27. ^ Healey, Matthew (2018-11-15). "Nov. 15 Jenny Invert sale sets record". Linns Stamp News. Archived from the original on 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  28. ^ "Stamp Sells for £1 Million at Auction". Archived from the original on 2011-07-03. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  29. ^ "Mauritius 2d Post Office sells for £900,000 - World". Stamp Magazine. 2019-02-16. Archived from the original on 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  30. ^ Morgan, Helen (2006-03-14). "Post Office Mauritius (10), one penny, unused (X) - Stamp - Blue Mauritius". Research Companion. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  31. ^ "Auction: 3c Rose, B. Grill (82)". Siegel Auction Galleries. 2008-10-28. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  32. ^ ""1897 Red Revenue Small One Dollar" stamp sells for $970,000 at auction". NewsComAu. 2013-07-03. Archived from the original on 2020-03-28. Retrieved 2020-07-05.
  33. ^ "The Honolulu Advertiser Collection". Siegel Auction Galleries. 1921-06-23. Archived from the original on 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
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