Inverted Jenny Stamp Auction Online Review
There is perhaps no stamp as well-known in philately (the study of stamps) as the Inverted Jenny.
The Upside Down Jenny or Jenny Invert (as it is sometimes called) is the most famous printing error in American stamps. Why? Well, it’s not every day that the face’s central image – in this case an airplane – was printed wrong-side-up!
What a sight… and oh, what a story for a collector!
Here are a few stats to jot down in your journal for when you find this piece at a stamp auction online.
Country of production: US
Date issued: May 10, 1918
Estimated existence: 100
Known for: Most famous US stamps error
Face value: USD 24¢
Estimated value: USD $825,000
History
The story behind this printing error is quite fascinating. The stamp was to be the first postage marker for air mail – hence, an image depicting the type of airplane – the Curtiss Jenny – that would be used. It was a costly 24 cents – 8 times the price of a 1st-class stamp (which then was 3 cents). But I digress.
The important part was the way the stamps were fed through the press. The machines at the time were double-fed, meaning the sheet (each containing 100 stamps) was printed and then reinserted. When one sheet was accidentally flipped, the printing error occurred, showing the Curtiss Jenny plane laughably stuck belly-up.
Fortunately the ink blunder was detected and corrected but not before the pieces went to market. Realizing the value of these “inverts,” a collector bought the whole sheet.
It was later auctioned off and changed hands until one of the owners, a Mister H.R. Green, decided the Inverted Jenny Stamps auctioned higher when they were sold separately. One of those blocks, a set of 4 stamps, was auctioned off in 2005 for a hefty USD $2.9 million.
If you are interested in a famous rare stamp, then look no further than this Inverted Jenny at a stamp auction online.