:While the financial markets may be down, the market for rare stamps seems to be red hot.
A single stamp issued by the US post office in 1868 sold for $1,035,000 in an auction here Wednesday, October 29, at Siegel Auction Galleries, which specializes in rare stamp auctions. The price includes the 15 percent buyer's premium.
A private collector bidding by phone purchased the 3-cent "B Grill" stamp, which was printed in 1868 with an embossed pattern in the paper. Collectors prize such "grilled" stamps, and only four copies of the "B Grill" are known.
The stamp was sold during a three-day auction of more than 1,100 stamps owned by Perry B. Hansen, a Midwestern banker, that ended October 30.
"Collectors who want rare stamps don't seem fazed by the chaos in the financial markets. We had four bidders on the B Grill over $600,000, and the stamp has a current book value of only $250,000" said Scott R. Trepel, president of Siegel Auction Galleries.
The auction gallery is at 60 East 56th Street, fourth floor. For information, 212-753-6241 or
www.siegelauctions.com
.
