MARKET PLACE - The most expensive thing in the world is...

As of yesterday, the new Most Expensive Thing in the World is a stamp; the 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta postage stamp, to be exact.

The calculations going into the designation seem to make sense. This little red scrap of paper, measuring just 2.5cms by 3.2cms, sold yesterday for $7.9 million. Add in the 20-percent buyer’s premium and the total sales price is $9.48 million. Based on size and weight, and according to Sotheby’s, it makes the One-Cent Magenta the most expensive thing in the world.Something has to be Most Expensive Thing in the World, but a stamp?

We are not really begrudging the One-Cent Magenta or its buyer. The stamp has a fascinating history: King George V of England once tried to buy it but was outbid, it is a one of kind (unless another one miraculously turns up somewhere) and it surely is an investment. Each of the four times it was put out for auction, this tiny old stamp set value records. The estate of John du Pont, heir to the DuPont chemical company fortune, put this stamp up for auction. When du Pont bought it in 1980, he paid a little less than $1 million for it. The profit was nearly eightfold.

At Patine, we have a strong business philosophy of promoting articles that despite its age, they still should provide utility, hence we wonder, what good purpose those millions of dollars could do if they weren’t locked up in a tiny scrap of paper…

#marketplace #sotheby #antiques