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Legendary Mauritius stamp sells for 210,000 euros
May 8, 2009, 19:26 GMT
Essen, Germany - A legendary rare stamp, a 'Post Office' Mauritius One Penny Red, sold Friday at an auction in Germany for 210,000 euros (277,000 dollars), disappointing its previous owner, who had been expecting more.
Ullrich Schulze had mislaid the ancient postage stamp in one of his albums 20 years ago, forgetting where he had put it. But he stumbled on it recently and put it up for sale. There are thought to be only 15 of the stamps in existence.
About 100 people attended the auction in the city of Essen. Bidding started at 200,000 euros, but stalled after just a few minutes. The buyer remained anonymous, having used an agent, Wolfgang Jakubek, to bid for him.
Schulze said, 'I thought it was worth more.'
The One Penny is only exceeded in value by the legendary matching Two Pence Blue, of which only 12 are believed to survive.
Two decades ago, Schulze hid the Red, which he had inherited from his father, in an album full of almost worthless German stamps to foil burglars and promptly forgot what he had done. For years philatelists referred to it as the 'Mauritius in limbo.'
The stamp is from the first series issued on the island of Mauritius in 1847 and is distinguished by the legend 'Post Office,' instead of the words 'Post Paid,' as printed on Mauritius stamps from the following year.
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