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Update on the Magenta

The Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries.

It’s one of the rarest stamps in the world: A one-center from British Guiana in 1856,
printed on different paper because the local post office had run out of stamps. It’s
called the “Magenta” because of that paper.

It sold at auction in mid-2014 for 9-and-a-half million dollars. The new owner is loaning
it to the U-S National Postal Museum in Washington, beginning in April, for an exhibition.
It will be the first time the stamp is on display in decades.

Its previous owner was John du Pont, the eccentric millionaire whose story is told in the
recent movie “Foxcatcher.” At one point in the film, he instructs his protege to refer to
him as a, quote, “philAYtelist,” using an alternate pronunciation for philatelist, the
fancy word for a stamp collector. He did have quite a collection.

Du Pont used to show the Magenta at stamp collecting shows, then stopped... maybe
distracted by some new passion such as wrestling. And then he was arrested and convicted
for murder. He died while in prison, and the stamp has been in limbo ever since.

It’s actually a fairly ugly stamp... but now we’ll get to see it, and judge it, for
ourselves.

I'm Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting,
visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

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