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CNN Live Today

Stamp Collecting Can Bring You Big Money

Aired May 29, 2002 - 10:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: For a lot of folks, stamp collecting can be big fun, but it can also bring you big money, if you're lucky. And you don't get much luckier than this, finding a sheet of stamps with parts printed upside down. It's called the New York Stock Exchange invert, and it's going on the auction block next month. Greg Manning of the Greg Manning Auction House joins us now to talk about this rare find.

I don't get it Mr. Manning. Many of us make a mistake and it means it's a costly mistake. But you make a mistake in the case of stamps, and finders keepers, you're in big money.

GREG MANNING, GREG MANNING AUCTION HOUSE: That's correct. This is like hitting the Phil Telleck (ph) lottery, Fredricka. There's only nine been nine error like this inverted centers since 1847 when the first U.S. postage stamp was issued.

WHITFIELD: So why is it this kind of rarity bring on such an appeal to stamp collectors, and it ends up cha-ching, cha-ching, making somebody richer.

MANNING: Well, I think it's the allure of finding the inverted center. Inverted centers has always had a mystique. The upside down Jenny airplane stamp that came out in 1918 is probably the most famous stamp and has been subject of movies and a number of books, and that stamp alone is worth about $125,000 today. But if it was tact in full sheet of 100, as when came out in 1918, it would have value of roughly $20 million. That's why this is such an exciting event to find and sell at action the New York Stock Exchange invert.

WHITFIELD: So the New York Stock Exchange invert, there are about 28 of those examples available, right, that are going on the auction block. How much money there -- or at least what's the starting bid, and how much higher is it likely to go?

MANNING: Well, the estimate that we have published in the catalog is $400,000-$600,000 dollars, but it's really difficult to say, because this happen to be the rarest of all United States inverts. There are the fewest issued by far. The air mail invert being a sheet of 100, and this being 28 known, gives you the idea of the rarity factor with this invert. So it is difficult to predict the exact price, when a McGwire baseball, 70th home run ball, brings $3 million, it's very hard to exactly predict what an inverted center like this will bring. WHITFIELD: So the inverted Jenny that we saw a moment again, and we will look at it one more time, the estimated value of the inverted Jenny would be something like $170,000, but that doesn't mean that's how much it would go for on the auction block, right?

MANNING: Well, that's the catalog value. That's what we call Scott Catalog, which is the bible of philately, and it's cataloged in Scott at 170,000. A perfect copy would probably bring in that range, $170,000, $180,000. The copy that we have coming on June 16th at auction at the plaza hotel is estimated to realize about 130,000- 140,000.

WHITFIELD: Who are these folks that are buying these? I mean, these aren't your ordinary stamp collectors by any means, so who are the folks that are usually able to place these kinds of bids?

MANNING: Basically it's a cross section. We have lot of individuals that obviously have strong disposable income that collect at that level. But stamp collecting, you can electric for pennies and dollars, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's a hobby that really crosses all ages, and with the advent of eBay, it's been popularized more with the accessibility to stamps at eBay actions. And this particular auction in addition to being a floor auction will be broadcast on eBay live simultaneously with the floor auction, and 42 million people, eBay-registered users, will see the action.

WHITFIELD: Greg Manning, thank you very much. The Super Bowl of stamp collecting I suppose, June 16th at the Plaza Hotel.

All right, thanks very much.

MANNING: Thank you, Fredricka.

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