Estimated ranges from catalog & auction data — condition-dependent, not a professional appraisal. Treat every figure below as a starting point and confirm with a qualified expert before buying or selling.
British Guiana 1c value: what it's worth
Value depends heavily on condition, so the figures below are given as ranges by tier rather than a single price. Unique — only one example known to exist.
| Condition | Estimated value |
|---|---|
| The unique example — bracketed by its two most recent auctions Sold for $9,480,000 incl. premium (bid $7.9M) at Sotheby's New York, 17 June 2014 — still the record for a single stamp — then for $8,307,000 incl. premium at Sotheby's New York, 8 June 2021, to Stanley Gibbons. With one example in existence, its value is simply whatever it fetches at its next sale. | $8,307,000 – $9,480,000 |
| Earlier world-record auction benchmarks (1970 and 1980) $280,000 (Robert A. Siegel auction, 1970, to the Irwin Weinberg syndicate) and $935,000 (1980, to John E. du Pont) — each a world-record stamp price at the time. Shown for the price trajectory, not as a current estimate. | $280,000 – $935,000 |
| Fractional ownership — one Showpiece 'Piece' (since Nov 2021) Stanley Gibbons split beneficial ownership into 80,000 Pieces at £100 each via Showpiece (launched 8 November 2021) — the only way anyone other than Stanley Gibbons 'owns' this stamp today. Resale value of a Piece is not guaranteed. | £100 – £100 |
Values last checked: July 4, 2026.
Record / notable sale $9,480,000 including buyer's premium (bid $7,900,000) — the highest price ever paid for a single postage stamp. Most recent sale: $8,307,000 incl. premium to Stanley Gibbons (below its $10-15M estimate — the first time it ever sold for less than its previous price). — 17 June 2014 (record); 8 June 2021 (most recent sale), Sotheby's, New York (both sales).
Rarity & how many exist
Unique — only one example known to exist.
- Print run: A small emergency printing of 1c and 4c provisionals (1856); the quantity of the 1c is unknown
- Surviving examples: One — the single example found by a 12-year-old schoolboy in 1873 is the only one known
Catalog numbers
- Scott: Scott 13
- Stanley Gibbons: Stanley Gibbons 23
History
When a shipment of stamps from England was delayed in 1856, the Georgetown postmaster had emergency provisionals printed locally by Joseph Baum and William Dallas, publishers of the Official Gazette. Each stamp shows a sailing ship with the colony's motto 'Damus Petimus Que Vicissim' and was initialled by a postal clerk as an anti-forgery measure — the surviving 1c carries 'E.D.W.' for Edmond D. Wight. The only known example was found in 1873 by 12-year-old L. Vernon Vaughan, who sold it for a few shillings; it then passed through the great collections of Philipp von Ferrary, Arthur Hind, Frederick Small, the Weinberg syndicate, John E. du Pont and Stuart Weitzman, setting a world-record price at four separate sales. Stanley Gibbons bought it at Sotheby's in 2021 for $8,307,000, displays it at 399 Strand in London, and since November 2021 has sold fractional ownership as 80,000 £100 'Pieces' via Showpiece.
How to tell if yours is the valuable one
- Only one example exists, and its whereabouts are public: Stanley Gibbons displays it at 399 Strand, London. Any other purported 1c magenta is a forgery, facsimile or altered stamp until proven otherwise.
- The most famous 'second copy' (Bremen, 1999) was proven to be an altered 4c magenta of the same 1856 issue — the 4c is the usual basis for fakes because it shares the design and paper.
- The genuine stamp is octagonal (corners clipped), black on magenta, shows the ship and motto, is initialled 'E.D.W.' and is postmarked Demerara, April 1856. Its reverse carries the documented marks of past owners (Ferrary's trefoil, Hind's cloverleaf, Weitzman's stiletto).
- Its full provenance and every sale are published in the Robert A. Siegel census — a genuine claim would have to overturn that record.
- If you have other 1856 British Guiana ship provisionals (the 4c magenta or 4c blue), they are collectible classics in their own right — get an expert certificate (RPSL or The Philatelic Foundation) before selling.
Quick identification tips
- Octagonal shape with clipped corners, black print on deep magenta paper, sailing ship with Latin motto = the 1856 design. The unique 1c reads 'ONE CENT'; the collectible-but-not-unique siblings read 'FOUR CENTS.'
- Flat, printed reproductions (many were made for exhibitions and books) have no initials, no Demerara postmark and no ownership marks on the back.
Related stamps
- Treskilling Yellow value — Unique — only one example known to exist.
- Blue Mauritius value — Among the rarest stamps in the world — only ~26-27 known.
- Inverted Jenny value — Extremely rare — only 100 ever existed.
See also our guide to what your stamp is worth and how stamp values really work.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to a published reference or recorded sale:
- British Guiana 1c magenta — Wikipedia
- The British Guiana One-Cent Black on Magenta ($8,307,000, 2021) — Sotheby's
- The British Guiana One-Cent Black on Magenta (2014 sale) — Sotheby's
- The Siegel Census — British Guiana 1856 1c black on magenta (Scott 13; SG 23)
- Stanley Gibbons to offer fractional ownership of the 1c Magenta — Linn's Stamp News
- The Remarkable Story of the World's Rarest Stamp — Smithsonian Magazine