The one-cent magenta
Subtitle: inside the quest to own the most valuable stamp in the world
By: James Barron
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 276
ISBN-13: 9781616205188
Subjects: Rare postage stamps; Stamp collectors; Stamp collecting; Biography; History
Other titles: 1 cent magenta; Inside the quest to own the most valuable stamp in the world
Description: "When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. In 2014, this tiny square of faded red paper sold at Sotheby's for nearly $9.5 million, the largest amount ever paid for a postage stamp at auction. Through the stories of the eccentric characters who have bought, owned, and sold the one-cent magenta in the years in between, James Barron delivers a fascinating tale of global history and immense wealth, and of the human desire to collect"--
Notes: "Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-276).
Table of contents: title: Stamp World; title: Travels with David; title: One cent (1856 : printed, sold, and forgotten); title: Six shillings (1873 : found by a twelve-year-old); title: £120 (1878 : Glasgow and London); title: £150 (1878 : the man in the yachting cap); title: $32,500 (1922 : the plutocrat with the cigar); title: $40,000 (1940 : the angry widow, Macy's, and the other plutocrat); title: $286,000 (1970 : the Wilkes-Barre eight); title: $935,000 (1980 : "the man showed up"); title: $9.5 million (2014 : "I expected to see magenta, and I saw magenta").