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The World’s Most Famous Error Stamp
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William T. Robey purchased a sheet of 24-cent airmail stamps in May 1918, only to find all had inverted vignettes! |
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The famous Colonel Ned Green bought all the Inverted Jennies and considered burning the ones with straight edges!
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"My heart was pounding...
we had purchased a rare Jenny Invert!"
My heart was pounding as I listened to the results of the Christie’s auction in New York City... Mystic had been successful in buying the famous Inverted Jenny (Scott number C3a). We would finally own one of the rarest and most well-known of all U.S. stamps, the legendary upside-down airplane stamp.
Just a few weeks before, I had spoken with my brother and business partner David, about whether or not Mystic should bid on the Inverted Jenny. We discussed the pros and cons of such a major purchase. Besides its great rarity, one thing excited us both – the incredible history attached to this particular stamp. This very stamp had been owned by a member of the British nobility – the fourth Marquess of Bute – one John Crichton-Stuart. Like any avid stamp collector, the Marquess was worried about his stamps during the relentless Nazi bombing raids on London. But surely they would be out of harm’s way in the Chancery Lane Safe Deposit vault... Alas, on September 24, 1940, London was ablaze following one of the heaviest German air raids of the entire war. As firefighters struggled against the flames to save the Chancery Lane, water flooded its underground vaults. Luckily for the Marquess (and us) the Inverted Jenny remained unscathed except for the loss of its gum, a small flaw indeed, considering the great rarity and amazing history of such a stamp.
Sincerely,
Donald Sundman
President, Mystic Stamp Company
Jenny Invert Highlights
- May 14th, 1918 – William Thomas Robey purchases sheet of 100 Inverted Jenny airmail stamps for $24.
- One week later, Eugene Klein of Philadelphia buys the Robey sheet for $15,000.
- Within days, multi-millionaire Colonel Edward (Ned) Green, son of Hetty (the "Witch of Wall Street") Green, pays Klein $20,000 for the 100 Jenny Inverts.
- Investigation at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing turns up eight more error sheets, all of which are destroyed.
- April, 1982 – A single Inverted Jenny sells for $198,000.
- 1985 – A Jenny Invert co-stars with Richard Pryor in the movie "Brewster’s Millions." Pryor uses the Jenny to mail a postcard.
- September, 1991 – Unique Jenny Invert plate block sells for 1.2 million dollars to broadcast executive. Ted Turner is rumored to be the buyer.
- November, 2005
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