- Charles Hack, 76, bought an “Inverted Jenny” stamp at auction for $2 million
- After the misprint in 1918, only one sheet of the stamps was produced
- Hack bought No. 49 in New York City on Wednesday
A rare stamp called “Inverted Jenny” has broken US records after selling for $2 million.
The pricey stamp was purchased on Wednesday by stamp collector Charles Hack, 76, who told the Washington Post it was “the holy grail of postage.”
The item was sold during an auction hosted by Robert a Siegel Auction Galleries based in New York City.
The red, white and blue stamp is known for both its rarity and the fact that it was printed in error as the plane came out upside down.
The rare reverse Jenny stamp (pictured) was produced in 1918 and only 100 were printed on a sheet after people realized that the Curtiss JN-4 aircraft was printed upside down
Charles Hack (pictured) bought the stamp for $2 million at an auction in New York on Wednesday. He has purchased other Inverted Jenny stamps over the years
It dates from 1918, when only 100 were made, and originally cost 24 cents. The rare stamps featured an image of the Curtiss JN-4 aircraft in the center.
The imprint on the stamp was intended to commemorate the beginning of regular airmail service, and in the rush to produce a batch, printers made the mistake of printing the aircraft upside down.
Post offices quickly discovered the misprint and stopped distributing the Inverted Jenny, but a 100-column sheet managed to reach the public before sales were stopped.
Since then, the 100 stamps have become increasingly rare and expensive for stamp collectors.
Hack began collecting stamps as a young boy, starting in Brooklyn and later on Long Island.
“Back then, I think they sold for more money than God — $7,500 each,” Hack told The Washington Post.
The reverse Jenny even appeared in the 1993 episode of the hit animated sitcom The Simpsons.
Since the stamps were misprinted, they have become increasingly rare and expensive, and stamp collectors around the world dream of acquiring one
Scott Trepel, President of Siegel Auctions (pictured), holds up the stamp
During the episode, main character Homer Simpson was seen looking at a sheet of the limited edition stamps at a flea market when he realized that the plane on it was upside down.
Homer then tossed the paper into a pile of other priceless American artifacts such as the Declaration of Independence.
This is not the first Inverted Jenny that Hack has purchased, as he purchased one for around $300,000 in the early 2000s.
Then he bought another one in 2007 for nearly $1 million and soon discovered it was number 57 of the 100 stamps printed on that error sheet.
He also bought one in 2018 that had the number 49 out of 100 on the sheet and was previously kept by its owner in a bank vault before being sold.
In 1995, one of the “Inverted Jenny” stamps was stolen from a convention in Virginia and later returned after landing in Ireland in 2016.
A young man from Northern Ireland inherited the stamp and brought it to Congress after inheriting it from his grandfather.
Keelin O’Neill’s grandfather is said to have hidden it in a box along with old records and an antique clock.
Keelin O’Neill (pictured) returned a stolen 1955 Inverted Jenny stamp after inheriting it from his grandfather
The stamp was featured in a 1993 episode of The Simpsons (pictured).
As a reward, O’Neil eventually received a check for $50,000 shortly after the head of the FBI’s New York field office, Diego Rodriguez, presented the Jenny to the president of the American Philatelic Research Library, Roger Brody.
Hack said he’s not entirely sure what he’ll do with his new stamp once he receives it from Siegel, but he knows he’ll protect it.
To preserve the timeless piece, he plans to protect it from light and other elements. He also plans to keep it in his safe in New York.
He said he would show it to visitors interested in seeing “a little bit of American history.”