Inverted jenny rare

The Inverted Jenny stamp, issued in 1918, is one of the world's most famous postal errors, with only one sheet of 100 ever found.

About this subject

The Inverted Jenny stamp, also known as the Upside-Down Jenny, is a United States postage stamp issued on May 10, 1918, to commemorate the inauguration of airmail service. The stamp features a Curtiss JN-4 airplane (nicknamed Jenny), but due to a printing error, the airplane appears upside down on some sheets. Only one sheet of 100 stamps was ever found with this defect, making it extremely rare.

The discovery occurred when collector William T. Robey purchased the sheet from a post office in Washington, D.C., noticing the error. He sold the sheet for $15,000 at the time, an amount worth hundreds of thousands of dollars today. Individual stamps have since sold for over $100,000 at auction, and the complete sheet is valued in the millions.

The Inverted Jenny is a philatelic icon, symbolizing how printing errors can create items of immense historical and monetary value. It has inspired commemorative stamps and even a gold coin by the U.S. Mint. Its fame extends beyond stamp collecting, appearing in movies and literature as a coveted collector's item.

Interestingly, the first known stamp inversion occurred in Brazil in 1843 on the Olho de Boi, but the Jenny stands out for its global popularity. Even today, new stamps are issued with deliberate errors to honor it, such as the series released by the U.S. Postal Service in 2013.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the Inverted Jenny stamp so valuable?

It is valuable due to its extreme rarity: only one sheet of 100 stamps was found with the inverted airplane, resulting from a printing error. Collector demand and its historical significance as the most famous U.S. stamp error drive its value into the millions of dollars.

How many Inverted Jenny stamps exist today?

Of the original 100 stamps from the 1918 sheet, it is believed that about 97 still exist, though some may have been damaged or lost. Most are in the hands of collectors or institutions, and they rarely appear on the market.

How can you identify a genuine Inverted Jenny stamp?

Genuine stamps have the Curtiss JN-4 airplane printed upside down, with the inscriptions 'U.S. POSTAGE' and '24 CENTS' at the top. The paper is light blue and the perforation is 11. Certificates of authenticity from entities like the Philatelic Foundation are essential to confirm genuineness.