One of the 12 stamps of Mauritius which are the rarest in the world will be sold for €2 million (93.5 million Mauritian Rupees).
Official sources at the Mauritius Post Office indicate that one precious example, the orange-red one penny belongs to a Rumanian collector Ion Ivan, from the town of Braila in Rumania.
The sources said that Ivan, the Director of the Danube Philatelic Association decided after 32 years to put the stamp on sale as it is being coveted by many big collectors from Britain, France and the Peoples Republic of China.
According to the sources, the stamp, together with the deep blue two pence stamp, were issued on 21st September 1847 during the reign of Queen Victoria when Mauritius was a British colony.
Both stamps, which bear a profile of Queen Victoria, became famous after it was discovered that the engraver, Joseph Osmond Barnard had made a mistake. Instead of engraving “Post Paid”, he had engraved “Post office”, the sources added.
The sources disclosed that five hundred of the stamps were issued and 2 surviving stamps are in the hands of collectors.
Some examples are on public display at the British Library in the British capital, London.
Source African Press Agency
