A collection of more than 3,000 inverted stamps sold at auction for more than $5 million, a gallery owner said Friday.
The two-day auction in New York City by Spink Shreves Galleries ended Friday. The collection was amassed by Pittsburgh stockbroker Robert H. Cunliffe, who died last year at the age of 83.
Charles Shreve, president of the Dallas-based gallery, said that it was the most comprehensive collection of inverts ever formed.
"What really blows people away is how many rarities he has one after the other," Shreve said.
Shreve said more than 300 buyers from around the world bought different pieces of the collection.
Inverted stamps result when different colors and elements are printed in separate press runs and a sheet gets flipped upside-down between press runs.
Cunliffe's collection included an "inverted Jenny," a famous U.S. stamp from 1918 featuring an upside-down biplane.
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A strip of four stamps from 1901 featuring an upside-down electric automobile sold, with the buyer's premium, for $300,000, Shreve said. The most surprising sale was a 1902 35-kopek Russian stamp with an inverted center that had a catalog value of $5,500. It sold for $115,000.
