British Guiana 1¢ magenta

The British Guiana 1¢ magenta is among the rarest of all postage stamps. Issued in limited numbers in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1856, only one specimen is now known to exist. Image File history File links British_guiana_1c_magenta. ... This 1974 stamp from Japan depicts a Class 8620 steam locomotive. ... British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana. ... 1856 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

It is imperforate, printed in black on magenta paper, and features a sailing ship along with the colony's Latin motto "Damus Petimus Que Vicissim" (We give and expect in return) in the middle. Four thin lines frame the ship. The stamp's country of issue and value in small black upper case lettering in turn surround the frame. For postage stamps, separation is the means by which individual stamps are made easily detachable from each other. ... Magenta is a color that is not a spectral color: that is to say, the hue cannot be generated by light of a single wavelength. ... Traditional wooden cutter beating. ... Latin is an Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

Background

The 1¢ magenta was part of a series of three definitive stamps issued in that year and was intended for use on local newspapers. The other two stamps, a 4¢ magenta and 4¢ blue, were intended for postage. A definitive postage stamp is a regular issue stamp that is part of a definitive issue or definitive series consisting of a range of denominations sufficient to cover all postal rates usefully. ...

The issue came through mischance. An anticipated arrival of stamps never arrived by ship in 1856, so the local postmaster, E.T.E. Dalton, authorised a printer, Joseph Baum and William Dallas, who were the publishers of the Official Gazette newspaper in Georgetown, to print out an emergency issue of three stamps. Dalton gave some specifications about the design, but the printer chose to add a ship image of his own design on the stamp series. Dalton was not pleased with the end result, and as a safeguard against forgery ordered that all correspondence bearing the stamps be autographed by the post office clerks. Georgetown, estimated population 250,000 (1998), is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. ...

Description and history

Only one copy of the 1¢ stamp is known to exist. It is in used condition and has been cut in an octagonal shape. A signature, in accordance to Dalton's policy, can be seen on the left hand side. Although dirty and heavily postmarked on the upper left hand side, it is nonetheless regarded as priceless. One of the 8 semi-regular tessellations: octagons and squares An octagon is a polygon that has eight sides. ...

It was discovered in 1873, by 12-year-old Scottish schoolboy Vernon Vaughan in the Guyanese town of Demerara, amongst his uncle's letters. There was no record of it in his stamp catalogue, so he sold it to a collector some weeks later for six shillings. After that, the price escalated. It was purchased by Ferrary in the 1880s for US$750. Arthur Hind bought it at a Ferrary auction in 1922 for over US$30,000 (outbidding King George V among others), and it changed hands in 1970 for $280,000. John E. duPont bought it for $935,000 in 1980, and it is reportedly locked away in a vault while its owner is serving a 30-year sentence for murder. 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Demerara was one of the original British colonies that was joined into the colony of British Guiana, now Guyana. ... Philipp la Renotière von Ferrary (January 11, 1850 - May 20, 1917) was a legendary stamp collector, owner of probably the most complete worldwide collection that ever existed, or is likely to exist. ... // Events and Trends Technology Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert Windsor, (3 June 1865–20 January 1936) was the last British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, changing the name to the House of Windsor in 1917. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Controversies

An unsubstantiated rumour developed in the 1920s that a second copy of the stamp had been discovered, and that the then owner of the stamp, Arthur Hind, quietly purchased this second copy and destroyed it.

At one point, controversy broke when it was suggested that the 1¢ stamp was a "doctored" copy of the magenta 4¢ stamp of the 1856 series, which was very similar to the 1¢ stamp in appearance. These claims were disproven.

In 1999, controversy again broke out over the possibility of a second 1c stamp being discovered in Bremen, Germany. This was twice examined and found to be a fake by the London-based Royal Philatelic Society. This specimen had in fact been an altered 4¢ magenta stamp. 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Bremen lies in North Germany 50km South of the North Sea. ...