A Famous Error Is One for the Record Books (Re: Stamps)
A block of four United States airmail stamps with the airplane in the center famously - and erroneously - printed upside down was auctioned yesterday evening in New York for $2,970,000, a world record for a stamp item.
The 1918 stamp, known to collectors as the Jenny because of the Curtiss JN-4 biplane depicted in the design, was the first American issue for air postage. Its value was set at 24 cents.
But of roughly two million printed, 100 bore the topsy-turvy center plane and became known as the Inverted Jenny. They quickly became the stuff of philatelic legend.
Read entire article at NYT
The 1918 stamp, known to collectors as the Jenny because of the Curtiss JN-4 biplane depicted in the design, was the first American issue for air postage. Its value was set at 24 cents.
But of roughly two million printed, 100 bore the topsy-turvy center plane and became known as the Inverted Jenny. They quickly became the stuff of philatelic legend.