The position 60 1918 24c Inverted Jenny has sold for $260,000.

The lot led the June 27 Rarities of the World auction at Robert A Siegel.  

Position 60 originates from the right hand side of the sheet

It was last offered at auction in 1974, when it made $25,000.

Only 100 examples of the Inverted Jenny error exist.

All originate from the same sheet, purchased from a Washington, DC post office by collector William T Robey on the day of release in 1918.

Robey paid just $24 for the entire sheet.

He sold it on to dealer Eugene Klein for $15,000. Klein then sold it on to eccentric collector Colonel H R Green for $20,000.

Green split the sheet into singles and multiples, selling these on to individual collectors.

The issue has long been among the most celebrated US errors, prized for its beauty as much as its rarity.

The 1918 24c was also the first US air mail stamp (hence the higher charge), making it a key piece of American postal history.  

The record for a single example of the issue is $1.3m, set for a flawless specimen at Siegel in 2016.

A block of four achieved $2.7m in 2005.

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