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Which are the top 10 highest valuable postage stamps in the world and how can you identify the fonts that were used on these little pieces of paper?
Are you collecting postage stamps? I did when I was a teenager and I still have my own collection. It is not a large one but it is nice and I will never throw up away. In fact, I am waiting for my son to grow up a bit and give it to him, maybe he will like it and he will find a nice passion.
What contains a stamp?
Each stamp is made out of 4 elements:
Image on the face
The perforations along the edges
Denomination or monetary value
Country of origin
This is why some stamps are incredibly expensive
If you collect stamps, you know extremely well that some stamps are expensive. And when I say expensive, I am not telling about tens of dollars or hundreds of dollars.
I mean to say tens of thousands of dollars and up to millions of dollars.
Prices of the stamps depend on the following:
The rareness of the stamp
A stamp that has errors in printing, content, or perforation, will be rare.
Another rare stamp is the one that was printed in a small number.
Condition of the stamp
When a very rare stamp is in excellent condition, the price can have even 6-7 figures.
History or ownership of the stamp
A stamp will heavily grow in value if a very important person owned it.
Or if the stamp was used in the history on a certain letter.
Issue year
The issue year is probably the most important aspect of a high value stamp.
As you will see in just a few moments, the most expensive stamps in the world are also very old.
Some of the most famous collectors of postage stamps in the history
Collecting stamps was considered a “hobby of kings” because of the famous people throughout the history that were ardent collectors.
Here are some 4 of the most famous collectors:
– Charlie Chaplin
– Queen Elizabeth II
– Franklin D. Roosevelt
– John Lennon
Now let’s see which are the most expensive postage stamps in history.
Top 10 highest valuable postage stamps
You will probably be shocked of the prices that I will show you.
| Stamp | Year | Price |
| British Guiana 1c Magenta | 1856 | $9.48 Million |
| Treskilling Yellow | 1855 | $2.6 Million |
| The Sicilian Error of Color | 1859 | $2.6 Million |
| Baden 9 Kreuzer Error | 1851 | €1.31 Million |
| The Inverted Jenny | 1918 | $1.35 Million |
| 1c Benjamin Franklin Z Grill | 1868 | $935,000 |
| 3c George Washington w/ B Grill | 1867 | $900,000 |
| Tiflis Stamp | 1857 | $700,000 |
| 24c Declaration of Independence | 1869 | $625,000 |
| Hawaiian Missionaries | 1851 | $600,000 |
Spending so much money on little pieces of paper can sound crazy but I would also do it if I would own a fortune.
As you can see, all these stamps are very old, and you can bet that all of them are very rare too.
How to identify fonts from stamps?
You love stamps, but also fonts?
Here is how you can easily identify fonts used from stamps.
You will use this tool – www.whatfontis.com – an absolutely free tool that doesn’t require you to register.
Take a clear picture of the stamp and upload it on their website.
Crop the picture if needed and optimize it.
Right after you will have to write down the letters identified by the smart software.
And voila.
Now you will get the following information:
– Font name.
– If it is free or paid, and its price.
– Download link.
– 60+ similar fonts.
The tool is very efficient and the process is straightforward and quick.
It won’t take more than 60 seconds to identify a font.
Conclusions
Collecting stamps is still a superb hobby to have, even in 2021.
If you never did it, it is never late to start doing it.
