List of most expensive philatelic items

This is a list of the highest known prices paid for philatelic items, including stamps and covers. The current record price for a single stamp is US$9,480,000 paid for the British Guiana 1c magenta.^[1][2]

This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars in 2024.^{[note 1]} Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the item was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange-rate fluctuations. Individual items are listed only once, i.e. for the highest price sold.

Adjusted price	Original price	Item(s)	Example image(s)	Country	Year	No. in existence	Date of sale	Seller	Buyer	Auction house	Refs
$24,900,000	$17,400,000	Red Revenue block of four and sheet of 25 5-candarin Large Dragon stamps		Qing China	1878 (Large Dragons) 1897 (Red Revenues)	Unknown (Large Dragons) 1 known (Red Revenues block of four) 32 known (Individual Red Revenues)	2009	Lam Manyin	Ding Jingsong	Unknown	[3]
$13,000,000	$11,200,000*	"Ball Cover" with Mauritius 1d red (XX)		British Mauritius	1847	3 known	June 26, 2021	Anonymous	Anonymous	Christoph Gärtner	[4][5][6]
$12,592,000	$9,480,000*	British Guiana 1c magenta		British Guiana	1856	1 known	June 17, 2014	Estate of John du Pont	Stuart Weitzman	Sotheby's, New York	[1][2]
$8,707,000	$4,000,000	"Bordeaux Cover" with Mauritius 2d blue (XXII) and Mauritius 1d red (XXI)		British Mauritius	1847	Unique	1993	Anonymous	Anonymous	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[7]
$6,400,000	$4,800,000	Inverted Jenny block of four		United States	1918	1 (as block of four) 100 (as individual stamps)	October 4, 2014	Donald Sundman	Anonymous	Private sale	[8]
$5,570,760	$5,570,760	500 mon Inverted Centre		Empire of Japan	1871	1 known	June 3, 2023	Yuji Yamada	Anonymous	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[9][10]
$4,780,000	$2,970,000[note 2]	Z Grill		United States	1868	2	2005	Donald Sundman	Bill H. Gross	Private exchange	[11]
$4,611,000	$2,300,000[note 3]	Treskilling Yellow		Sweden	1855	1 known	1996	Anonymous	The Box AB	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[12][13][14]
$3,921,000	$1,900,000	"Missionary cover" with Hawaiian 2c Blue, 5c Blue and two United States 3c Brownish Carmine		Hawaii and United States	1852	Unique	November 7, 1995	The Honolulu Advertiser Collection	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[15]
$3,540,000	$2,690,000	"Bombay Cover" with two Mauritius 1d red (XVIII & XIX)		British Mauritius	1847	Unique	2016	Anonymous	Anonymous	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[16][17]
$3,060,000	$2,190,000	1⁄2grano blue "error of colour"		Two Sicilies	1859	2	June 10, 2011	Anonymous	Anonymous	Galerie Dreyfus, Basel	[18]
$2,960,000	$1,900,000	"Rush 1847 Cover" with strip of six 10c black stamps		United States	1847	Unique	May 13, 2006	Anonymous	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[19]
$2,770,000	$1,900,000	"Xiphopagus Triplet" with two 30r and one 60r stamps		Brazil	1843	Unknown	June 5, 2008	The Islander Collection of South America	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[20]
$2,503,000	$1,150,000	Mauritius 2d blue (III)		British Mauritius	1847	12 known	1993	Anonymous	Mauritian private consortium	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[21]
$2,380,000	$1,680,000	"Champion" letter with two 5-centime Strubels in blue misprint and brown 5-centime Strubel		Switzerland	1855	Unique	June 10, 2011	Anonymous	Anonymous	Galerie Dreyfus, Basel	[22]
$2,344,000	$1,605,000	"Trondheim" block of 39 4-skilling stamps		Norway	1855	Unique	April 2008	Anonymous	Anonymous	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[23]
$2,500,000	$2,000,000	The Whole Country is Red		People's Republic of China	1968	Unknown	November 23, 2018	Anonymous	Anonymous	China Guardian, Beijing	[24]
$2,149,000	$1,471,500	Baden 9 Kreuzer error		Baden	1851	4	April 3, 2008	Anonymous	Anonymous	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[25]
$1,995,000	$1,593,000*	Inverted Jenny		United States	1918	100	November 15, 2018	Anonymous	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[26]
$1,878,870	$1,344,180	Mauritius 2d blue (XIII)		British Mauritius	1847	12 known	June 28, 2011	The Chartwell Collection of Humphrey Cripps	Anonymous	Spink, London	[27][28]
$1,500,290	$1,073,340	Mauritius 1d red (X)		British Mauritius	1847	15 known	1993	Anonymous	Mauritian private consortium	David Feldman SA, Geneva	[29]
$1,450,000	$1,180,000	Alexandria "Blue Boy" cover		United States	1847	Unique	June 22, 2019	Anonymous	Anonymous	H.R. Harmer, New York	[30]
$1,314,000	$900,000	B Grill		United States	1867-8	4 known	October 28, 2008	The Perry Hansen Collection of U.S. Stamps and Covers	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[31]
$1,309,000	$970,000	Red Revenue		Qing China	1897	32 known	2013	Anonymous	Anonymous	Interasia Auctions, Hong Kong	[32]
$1,240,000	$600,000	2-cent unused Hawaii "Missionaries" stamp		Hawaii	1851	1 (unused) 15 (total)	November 7, 1995	The Honolulu Advertiser Collection	Anonymous	Robert A. Siegel, New York	[33]

^* Buyer's premium included

See also

• List of postage stamps
• Philately portal

Notes

1. The Wikipedia template uses a yearly average inflation. Using monthly averages gives slightly different numbers, most significantly for items sold early or late in a year with significant inflation.
2. Value derived from exchange with Inverted Jenny block of four, bought in the same year (2005) for $2,970,000.^[11]
3. The stamp was sold on May 22, 2010 for an undisclosed price higher than the 1996 price of $2.3 million USD, to Armand Rousso.^[12][13]