The Mauritius ‘Post Office’ Stamp sold for record $1.6 million

One of the rarest stamps, The Mauritius “Post Office” issued by the British Colony Mauritius in September 1847 fetched a record amount of £1,053,090 ($1,600,000) at an auction at Spink in London. This is a record price for stamp sold in UK.

The stamp was one of the highlights of the Chartwell collection, which consist of over 80 stamp albums formed by businessman and philanthropist Sir Cyril Humphrey Cripps.

By end of 2012, Spink will sell The Chartwell Collection through a series of 9 auctions and it is estimated to fetch well in excess of £20,000,000 before the last lot is sold in December 2012.

Olivier Stocker, Chairman and CEO of Spink, comments: “The Chartwell Collection is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the biggest “wow” moments we have ever experienced here at Southampton Row. When the collection arrived in London it was amazing to watch as our specialists turned the pages of what may be one of the finest philatelic collections of our time. Over eighty albums were opened, examined and taken in and it was wonderful to see the faces of the Spink team as treasure after treasure was revealed. The story behind this collection is absolutely amazing and so unusual in so many ways. It is a great pleasure to be a part of these momentous sales!”