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The One-Cent Magenta

Audiobook
Nonfiction: History
Unabridged   6.25 hour(s)
Publication date: 03/07/2017

The One-Cent Magenta

Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World

Available from major retailers or BUY FROM AMAZON
Audio CD ISBN:9781681684413
Digital Download ISBN:9781681684420

Summary

An inside look at the obsessive, secretive, and often bizarre world of high-profile stamp collecting, told through the journey of the world’s most sought-after stamp.

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Product Description

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.

Reviews/Praise

"Yen clearly revels in his narrative responsibilities, offering an enthusiastic and thoroughly entertaining account of the history of that stamp and of stamp collecting." —Booklist Audio Review

"Narrator Jonathan Yen delivers not only the main text with perfect diction, but the passages in French are read with expertise as well." —Library Journal Audio Review

"Barron's detailed attention to each [collector] pays off. . . . Barron recognizes that for most people stamps' romance has long since dissipated, but he succeeds in showing why this one stamp, at least, is still alluring." —New York Times

"(An) absorbing tale of the rarefied world of high-stakes philately." —Library Journal

"Delightful." —The Washington Post

"Quirky and informative." —Publishers Weekly

"A scintillating foray into 'what makes something collectible, valuable, and enduring.'" —Kirkus Reviews

"This delightful short book is a good bet for readers of nonfiction, especially those who enjoy microhistories." —Booklist

Author Bio

James Barron is a reporter on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times. He 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.