The OneCent Magenta, James Barron
The OneCent Magenta, James Barron
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
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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

Published: 03/07/2017

Synopsis

When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. In 2014, this tiny square of faded red paper sold at Sotheby's for nearly $10 million, the largest amount ever paid for a postage stamp at auction. Through the stories of the eccentric characters who have bought, owned, and sold the One-Cent Magenta in the years in between, James Barron delivers a fascinating tale of global history and immense wealth, and of the human desire to collect.

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.

About James Barron

James Barron is a reporter on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times. He wrote the minute-by-minute stories on the 9/11 attacks for the Times on the web and the front page lead story on the 2003 blackout. He initiated the "Public Lives" column (later called "Boldface Names") and currently writes a podcast for the Times' website summarizing the next morning's front page. James wrote the timeline summaries for The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages: 1851-2008 and is the author of Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Beth on February 06, 2017

I was one of those many kids who started collecting stamps, and while I have not pursued collecting any further, it still fascinates me. I actually had not heard of the one cent magenta (although I knew about the inverted jenny), but the book cover indicated that this stamp is the most valuable one......more

Goodreads review by Yibbie on October 10, 2018

This is a very entertaining book. He managed to keep what easily could have been a very dry arcane topic quite interesting. He kept it light and humorous while introducing us to some really random trivia-type information about “Stamp World”. For example, do you know what the very first British post......more

Goodreads review by Derek on February 17, 2019

Barron's book is based around the world's most valuable stamp, but talking about an admittedly ugly stamp makes for a dull book! Instead, Barron focuses on the owners of the stamp since its discovery and he does unveil a interesting range of characters. Some loved stamps, some loved investments, and......more

Goodreads review by Katharine on July 19, 2018

"The One-Cent Magenta" - written by James Barron and published in 2017 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing. "Stamp World, an arcane parallel universe peopled by collectors who are crazed and crazy, obsessed and obsessive." Barron, through plenty of thorough research,......more

Goodreads review by Carole on May 07, 2017

This is a fun, breezy, and well - researched account of the remarkable story of the most valuable stamp in the world: a dingy, somewhat beat up and corner-clipped reddish bit of paper printed in British Guiana in 1856. New York Times reporter James Barron has turned this into quite a romp, immersing......more

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