Power Search™ Results

1851, 2c Blue (1). Type II, Unused, full deep impression on bright fresh paper, large margins with framelines complete all around and just touched at lower left, a few spots of blue printer's ink on back, completely sound

THE ONLY KNOWN UNUSED EXAMPLE OF HAWAII'S FIRST STAMP AND THE FINEST OF THE FIFTEEN RECORDED COPIES

This remarkable stamp appeared in the first sale of the Count Philippe de la Renotiere von Ferrary collection, held at the Hotel Drouot in Paris on June 23, 1921, under the supervision of M. G. Gilbert. In the sale this stamp was described "probablement le plus bel exemplaire qui existe de ce timbre" ("probably the most beautiful example of this stamp that exists"); the describer mistook the printer's ink on back for a light blue cancel, an error of judgment that was repeated in the Meyer-Harris book (p. 112). The 2c Missionary was purchased in the Ferrary sale by Maurice Burrus, an Alsatian tobacco magnate, for the U.S. dollar equivalent of $14,700 - the highest price ever paid for a single stamp at that time. By comparison, in subsequent Ferrary sales the Swedish 1857 3-skilling banco Yellow color error was sold for $3,095, the Baden 1851 9-kreuzer Blue-Green color error on cover sold for $8,087, and an unused Mauritius 1847 1-penny "Post Office" realized $9,733.

In the Ferrary sale, the reality about this 2c Missionary stamp - that it is an unused example - was apparently obvious to the bidders and to its buyer, Maurice Burrus. When the stamp was featured in Life magazine's "World's Rarest Stamps" (May 3, 1954), courtesy of Burrus, it was clearly identified as unused and valued at $20,000. The massive Burrus collection was dispersed after his death in numerous auctions in the 1960s, and the Hawaii was sold by H. R. Harmer of New York on May 27, 1963. At that sale the unused 2c Missionary - its unused condition confirmed by a 1963 Philatelic Foundation certificate - soared to the world-record price of $41,000. The successful bidders, Raymond and Roger Weill, wrote at the time of the acquisition, "[The stamp] was one of the two or three sound copies of an extremely rare stamp, unique in unused condition, intriguing through ancestry, issued by an American postmaster for what is now the 50th state in the union, and almost certain to realize a record price for single stamp."

The record sale was reported extensively in the news media, but nowhere so imaginatively as in Life magazine (November 29, 1963), which devoted a full page in color to proclaim, "This, pound for pound, is the most valuable substance on earth." Weighing in at a mere one two-thousandths of an ounce, troy, its value was calculated at $1,195,833,395.61 per pound.

The unused 2c Missionary was placed by the Weills in the collection of the anonymous Mr. P., where it joined the unique 2c Missionary cover. After acquiring Mr. P.'s collection in 1969, these two stellar rarities were acquired by Alfred J. Ostheimer III.

There is a story associated with the early history of this stamp that has been reported as fact by several philatelic authors, but disputed as fiction by others. Prior to Ferrary's ownership, the stamp is said to have been owned by a Parisian collector named Gaston Leroux. The story continues that Leroux was murdered by an envious philatelic colleague, who coveted the 2c Missionary and later confessed to killing Leroux to obtain it. The Missionary earned fame in another murder-mystery story when the motion picture Charade was released, casting the fabled Hawaiian stamp in a starring role with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn (we will not tell the ending).

Described and illustrated in Stamps of Fame, L. N. and M. Williams (pages 96-97, plate 15).

Ex Leroux (?), Ferrary, Burrus, Mr. P. Collection, Ostheimer III. Census No. 1-II-UNC-1. Other census references: Meyer-Harris 8; Brewster 1-II-Unused-1. With 1963 and 1995 P.F. certificates. Scott value for the unique unused example is $500,000.00

Image Magnifier / Download