A block of six commemorative 2013 US $2 “right side up” Jenny stamps realised $40,000 in a New York auction of US stamps at Robert A Siegel this week.
The lot is one of 100 such “error” blocks.
100 'right side up' Jennys were issued in 2013
In 2013, the US Postal Service produced a reissue of America’s most valuable error stamp, the 1918 24c Inverted Jenny.
Blocks of six were printed using the original dies and sold in sealed packaging for $12 each.
However, in a nod to the original error, the Post Office also included 100 blocks showing the iconic plane printed the right way up.
Over 2.1m sheets were printed, so these “right side up” blocks are extraordinarily rare. To date, just 30 have been registered.
This manufactured error looks set to be one of the great rarities of the future, with buyers paying a premium to get their hands on it.
In 2013, examples were being listed at $25,000. While this lot was originally estimated at $75,000 ahead of the auction, the fact it sold for $40,000 indicates this is its true value for now.
That still represents a 12.4% per annum increase on those early listings – a very promising start for such a young issue.
That said it still has some way to go to catch up with the original 1918 Inverted Jenny.
The record for a block was set at $2.7m at Siegel in 2005.
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