A sought after mint sheet of 60 reis stamps from Brazil's bull's eye edition has sold for $648,720 at Corinphila auction house in Zurich.

The remarkable stamp sheet, which has starred in three Grand Prix award-winning exhibits, led Corinphila's June 13 auction devoted to bull's eye stamps from the country.

Brazil's first issue: the bull's eye 60 reis sheet

Offered from the collection of architect Luis Alemany Indarte, the rare stamp sheet is a true philatelic gem, thus its substantial sale price.

First released on August 1, 1843, Brazilian bull's eye stamps were produced in 30, 60 and 90 reis values.

Launched just three years after the famous Penny Black, bull's eye stamps were Brazil's first stamps, and only the second set of stamps ever issued that were valid across an entire country.

As with the Penny Black, bull's eye stamps do not feature the country's name, merely the figures 30, 60 or 90.

We currently have this exceptional mint block of 12 Penny Blacks in stock.

A cover featuring a 30 reis bull's eye and two horizontal pairs of 60 reis stamps brought $167,387, while a used block of 13 60 reis bull's eyes made $32,400 at the present sale.

Corinphila's Fabienne Scheidegger comments: "We are really pleased with the outcome of the sale".

Madrid-based Indarte remains one of the most important stamp collectors in Spain. His collections have been awarded almost 90 national and international Large Gold medals and 23 International Grand Prix.

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