A rare Sicilian “error of colour” issued in 1859 became the world’s second most expensive stamp in the year 2011.

On 22 August 1851, shortly after the issue of the "Friedrich August" stamps it was reported to the Leipzig Post Office that “25 copies of the 1/2 Neugroschen blue had been discovered amongst a supply of the 2 Neugroschen blue. 5 of which had already been sold to the public.

The rarest and mysterious stamp of Sicily is the error of colour of 1/2 grana. The stamp is rare for several reasons. First of all, it has an error of colour. It was supposed to be issued in orange colour. Instead, in 1859 the stamp was issued in blue. Secondly, there are only two stamps known to exist today. Most importantly, despite being very old the stamp is in excellent condition.

The stamp was sold at auction in Basel for €1.8 million i.e.2.6 Million dollars on 10th June 2011.

Image source: https://www.swissinfo.ch