A super-rare stamp with an accidentally upside-down plane is for sale. Only 40 examples of this 1930 airmail issue from the then-Australian territory of Papua were printed.
Mike Hall, CEO of sellers Paul Fraser Collectibles, says the mistake inevitably recalls the world’s most famous error.
He said: “Although it’s rarer than the most famous inverted error, the US Inverted Jenny, it’s for sale for a fraction of the price of a Jenny.”
The Jenny was the US’s first airmail stamp. One sheet of 100 stamps was sold in which the two-part printing process flipped the stamp’s frame and image.
This stamp tells a similar story.
The 1929 arrival of airmail to Papua New Guinea needed to be celebrated. So, the original Papua stamp – showing a traditional island canoe called a lakatoi – was overprinted with a postal aeroplane.
A plane of the period, the right way up.
The inversion happened only once, producing a single, and very striking, sheet of 40 stamps.
“This is one of my favourite overprinted stamps in all philately,” Mr Hall said, “because the contrast of these two designs couldn’t be better: the traditional Lakatoi boat and the modern airplane.
“It is also exceedingly rare. Far rarer, in fact, than its American cousin.”
Paul Fraser Collectibles say the stamp is in mint condition, and may be uniquely fine among the 40 errors.
Mr Hall said: “I’d suggest this stamp is virtually unobtainable in this quality – because almost every surviving example exhibits signs of gum toning. This one, however, does not.”
The stamp was once owned by history’s most famous aerophilatelist, Nicolas Sanabria. It was also in the collection of King Carol II of Romania, who lost his throne in the chaos of World War II in 1940.
Sent from Romania with his personal fortune and possessions intact, Carol was one of the most notable collectors of his era.
Mr Hall expects lots of interest in an area of the stamp market that is thriving.
He said: “Stamps from the Oceania regions have shown strong increases in value in recent years, fuelled by a rising number of affluent collectors.
“Since 2010 the value of this stamp has increased by 114%, and for the past four years its catalogue price has held steady – it’s hard to update the price when so few examples ever appear at auction.
“It’s a fraction of the price of an Inverted Jenny, though it is much rarer and – in my opinion – just as attractive. It proves that if you spread your wings as a collector, you can own some absolutely fantastic investment-worthy stamps at a mere fraction of those prices.
“This would be a major showpiece for any collection of South Pacific stamps.”
The stamp is due to be listed for sale on the Paul Fraser Collectibles website this week.
