Unique Swedish Stamp Sells for Record $2.26 Million

Rohit Khare (khare@w3.org)
Fri, 8 Nov 1996 16:44:04 -0500


Well, it might be the most expensive atoms a *civillian* can buy... I one
heard that Californium could be synthesized at $35 million a gram (can't
find this legend in Alta Vista, though)

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Unique Swedish Stamp Sells for Record $2.26 Million

A flimsy, yellow 19th century Swedish postage stamp was sold at auction
Friday to a secret collector for $2.26 million, making it the single most
valuable postage stamp in the world. The price to be paid, which includes
15 percent commission, was an all-time record for one stamp, the
Geneva-based Irish auctioneer David Feldman said. The stamp, actually a
dull orangy hue, has been hailed for almost a decade as the most valuable
object of any type in the world proportionate to its weight, volume and
density, Reuters said. "I am very proud to have the honor to purchase the
most valuable item in the world," said Hans Lernestal, the Stockholm dealer
who bought the stamp for a private client. He said he would have been
prepared to pay even more for it. Bidding for the stamp, the fabled
"Treskilling Yellow," issued in 1857, began at $705,000 and quickly
rocketed upward. Feldman declined to identify the new owner.

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Rohit Khare -- World Wide Web Consortium -- Technical Staff
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