SA's most expensive stamp expected to fetch over R1 million

South Africa’s most expensive stamp is expected to sell for over a million rand at the at the Stephan Welz & Co Stamps, Postal History, Coins and Banknotes Auction in Johannesburg tomorrow.

The stamp is a 1913 Union King’s Head 5/-inverted watermark valued between R800 000 and R1 200 000.

According to Savo Tufegdzic, Head of the Stamps and Coins Department at Stephan Welz & Co., the stamp’s high value is attributed to the fact that it is the only known Union King’s Head high value inverted watermark variety in existence.

It will be amongst over 1000 lots of collectable postal history and philatelic treasures to be sold at the auction, which coincides with the national philatelic exhibition Jomapex 2013, taking place from October 9 to 13, 2013 at Museum Africa in Newtown, Johannesburg.

‘‘We believe that this one-of-a-kind stamp as well as others on sale will appeal to a new generation of Union buyers, as has been suggested by recent phenomenal international results for this type of material,” said Tufegdzic.

Tufegdzic says the stamp market has boomed in recent years — because of the stock market crash  and because of the new markets that have opened up in Russia, China and Malaysia.

‘‘With investors looking to put fewer eggs in the stock market basket and diversify their investments, we are seeing younger and younger people investing in stamps,” says Tufegdzic, who says the average age of stamp auction attendees has dropped by three decades in the past few years.

‘‘The Internet is largely responsible for attracting a new wave of collectors, who themselves are becoming dealers who sell and buy, both online and at live auctions.”

Today is World Post Day — celebrating the worldwide achievements of the postal system.