{"product_id":"9781616207175","title":"The One-Cent Magenta: Inside the Quest to Own the Most Valuable Stamp in the World","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn inside look at the obsessive, secretive, and often bizarre world of high-profile stamp collecting, told through the journey of the world’s most sought-after stamp.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. In 2014, this tiny square of faded red paper sold at Sotheby’s for nearly $9.5 million, the largest amount ever paid for a postage stamp at auction. Through the stories of the eccentric characters who have bought, owned, and sold the one-cent magenta in the years in between, James Barron delivers a fascinating tale of global history and immense wealth, and of the human desire to collect.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One-cent magentas were provisional stamps, printed quickly in what was then British Guiana when a shipment of official stamps from London did not arrive. They were intended for periodicals, and most were thrown out with the newspapers. But one stamp survived. The singular one-cent magenta has had only nine owners since a twelve-year-old boy discovered it in 1873 as he sorted through papers in his uncle’s house. He soon sold it for what would be $17 today. (That’s been called the worst stamp deal in history.) Among later owners was a fabulously wealthy Frenchman who hid the stamp from almost everyone (even King George V of England couldn’t get a peek); a businessman who traveled with the stamp in a briefcase he handcuffed to his wrist; and John E. du Pont, an heir to the chemical fortune, who died while serving a thirty-year sentence for the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Recommended for fans of Nicholas A. Basbanes, Susan Orlean, and Simon Winchester, \u003ci\u003eThe One-Cent Magenta\u003c\/i\u003e explores the intersection of obsessive pursuits and great affluence and asks why we want most what is most rare.\u003cbr\u003e  ","brand":"Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47148317671664,"sku":"9781616207175","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781616207175_p0.jpg?v=1763851502","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781616207175","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}