

The One-Cent Magenta
Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World
Author: James Barron
Narrator: Jonathan Yen
Unabridged: 6 hr 18 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Published: 03/07/2017
Categories: Nonfiction, Antiques, Biography & Autobiography
Synopsis
One-cent magentas were provisional stamps, printed quickly when a shipment of official stamps from London did not arrive in British Guiana. They were mostly thrown out with the newspapers; one stamp survived. The singular One-Cent Magenta has had nine owners since a twelve-year-old boy rediscovered it in 1873. He soon sold it for what would be $17 today. Among later owners was a wealthy French nobleman who hid the stamp from almost everyone; a businessman who traveled with the stamp in a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist; and John E. du Pont, who died while serving a thirty-year sentence for the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.
The One-Cent Magenta explores the intersection of obsessive pursuits and great affluence and asks why we want most what is most rare.