Rare stamp could set record at NYC auction

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1-cent postage stamp from a 19th century British colony in South America is poised to become the world's most-valuable stamp — again.

The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta could bring $10 million to $20 million when it goes on the auction block later today at Sotheby's.

Three times in its long history, the little stamp has broken the auction record for a single stamp.

Measuring 1 inch-by-1¼ inches, it hasn't been on public view since 1986 and is the only major stamp absent from the British Royal Family's private Royal Philatelic Collection.

"You're not going to find anything rarer than this," according to Allen Kane, director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. "It's a stamp the world of collectors has been dying to see for a long time."

An 1855 Swedish stamp, which sold for $2.3 million in 1996, currently holds the auction record for a single stamp.

David Beech, longtime curator of stamps at the British Library who retired last year, has compared it to buying the "Mona Lisa" of the world's most-prized stamps.