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Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block
World’s Greatest Stamp Rarity – desired by collectors everywhere
Famous Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block
Finds New Home at Mystic |
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In an unprecedented exchange, Mystic Stamp Company recently became the proud owner of America’s greatest stamp rarity – the 1918 Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block. One of a kind, the legendary block of four 24˘ airmail error stamps had been purchased for $2.97 million in the fall of 2005. It was the highest price ever paid for a philatelic item.
Two weeks later, Mystic traded its 1868 1˘ Z Grill for the unique Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block in an even exchange, a landmark that gave the two rarities a combined value of $6 million. As a result, these stamps may be the most valuable objects in the world in terms of weight! The trade is exciting news for collectors eager to catch a glimpse of the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block, which has not been seen in public since AMERIPEX 86. After two decades in seclusion for the legendary block of four, Mystic will proudly exhibit the stamps at the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition. |
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The $6 Million Trade!
From left: Donald Sundman, president of Mystic Stamp Company; Charles Shreve, president Shreves Philatelic Galleries.
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After the Trade
Don Sundman, president of Mystic Stamp Company, with the world’s greatest stamp rarity. Sold to another collector for
$2.97 million earlier in 2005, the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block was traded for the 1868 1¢ Z Grill previously owned by Mystic.
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America’s Greatest Stamp Rarity
Only one sheet of 100 Jenny Inverts made its way into collectors’ hands, which makes
each stamp extremely rare. However, the sheet featured just one Plate-Number Block, which
makes it America’s greatest stamp rarity! Jenny Inverts have a rich history filled with
romance and adventure. They represent an era of dashing pilots pioneering a revolutionary new
service; an overworked Bureau of Printing and Engraving taxed by the World War I effort; a
young office clerk who happened upon a fortune, and a flamboyant multimillionaire eager to
spend his inheritance.
Birth of Air Mail
The order to initiate airmail service was signed on May 3, 1918, with the first flight
scheduled for May 15th – a mere 12 days to prepare. Employees at the Bureau of Engraving
and Printing rushed to produce the first U.S. airmail stamp. Working with limited resources against a tight schedule, BEP
employees literally worked around the clock as they hand-fed each sheet through the presses twice to print the bi-color frame and vignette.
The #C3 stamps went on sale just hours before the first flight. Unknown to officials, one of the
sheets they distributed contained an error – an inverted vignette (central design.)
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Find of a Lifetime
William Robey purchased the error sheet of 100 24¢ airmail stamps at a Washington, D.C.,
post office on May 14, 1918, the first day of sale. The young stamp collector immediately
realized he had made the find of a lifetime. As postal officials located and destroyed eight undistributed
error sheets, Robey sold his sheet of 100 stamps to Eugene Klein for $15,000 – an amount equal to more than
$646,000 today! When questioned about the sale, the bewildered postal clerk who sold Robey the sheet responded:
“How was I to know the thing was upside down? I never saw a plane before.” |
William T. Robey
purchased a sheet of
one hundred 24¢
airmail stamps in
May 1918, only to
find all had inverted
vignettes. |
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The famous Colonel Edward H.R. Green bought all the Inverted Jennies and considered
burning the ones with straight edges!
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$20,000 Sale Makes the News
Klein arranged the sheet’s sale to eccentric millionaire Colonel Edward H.R. Green for
$20,000. Colonel Green divided the sheet and kept 41 gems for himself – including four
blocks and a single he encased in a locket for his wife Mabel.
Over the decades, the legend of the Jenny Inverts continued to grow. As the most desirable
of all the Jenny Inverts, the value of the Plate-Number Block multiplied by a factor of more
than 16 in just 51 years – from a 1954 sale price equal to $181,444 in today’s wages to a recordshattering
$2.97 million price in 2005. Mystic President Donald Sundman began collecting stamps at the age of 6. Under his leadership,
Mystic became America’s #1 stamp dealer – yet he never expected Mystic would own both the
1¢ Z Grill and the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block. Says Sundman, “I cannot believe how
lucky I am...these are rarities I read and thought about over the years, but never expected to own.” |
Good for Philately
As a lifelong stamp collector, Don is very pleased with the positive press our hobby received
from his historic trade of America’s stamp rarities. And he looks forward to sharing his excitement
with others as Mystic exhibits the Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block at major stamp shows. The
first show will be the Washington 2006 World Philatelic Exhibition. It’s an outstanding opportunity
for collectors – a chance to see the legendary Jenny Invert Plate-Number Block! |
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