A new postage stamp error has been discovered at a UK private philatelic auction.
The rare sheet of 20 1982 British Motor Cars 19½p postage stamps has a previously-unknown "double grey" printing error.
In the end, the stamps sold for £10,925 at an auction held by philatelic dealer Stanley Gibbons. This price was nearly a thousand times the stamp's original value.
The sheet includes 12 stamps each affected by the double printing error, described as "a stunning visual error" by the auctioneer.
 'Stunning': the sheet of 20 1982 British Motor Cars 19½p postage stamps |
The 1982 British Motor Cars 19½p postage stamp sheet is only the latest in a long line of valuable error stamps which celebrate travel - the most famous being the Inverted Jenny, aka the 1918 24c carmine rose and blue.
With its iconic error-printed 'upside down' bi-plane, the Inverted Jenny is otherwise known as "America's most famous stamp" whose public appearances have included a cameo in an episode of The Simpsons.
Other error-printed travel stamps which have cropped-up on the markets include this 1966 British technology series of postage stamps.
 The 1966 British travel postage stamps - minus a missing Jaguar car |
Their design features Queen Elizabeth II's profile, alongside three quintessentially British automobiles including the iconic Mini Cooper.
Yet there is a glaring omission: a larger-scale blue Jaguar E-Type, which ought to be hovering about the Mini, is missing.
The 1966 error stamp sold in fine, unmounted and mint-quality for £40,000 ($63,830 - including VAT and buyer's premium) at an auction held by Grosvenor in November 2010.
