The world's first postage stamp at auction .. from one penny to 8 million dollars

Sotheby's said on Tuesday it will display a model of the world's first "Penny Black" postage stamp for an estimated price of $8.25 million.

Sotheby's, which will display the stamp at a treasure auction on December 7, said it was dated 1840 and is "the oldest model of the first known postage stamp".

The sticker, which bore a profile of Queen Victoria's face and cost a penny at the time, is attached to a document dated April 10, 1840, from the archives of Robert Wallace, a Scottish politician who reformed the British Postal Service.

The stamp has been offered at a flat rate since May 8, 1840. Before that, the postage was paid by the recipient.

"This is the first-ever postage stamp, the precursor to all stamps, and undisputedly the most important piece in philatelic history," Henry House, Sotheby's Treasure Sales Manager, said in a statement.

The stamp is one of three black-brown stamps believed to have survived from the first printed edition.

The other two stamps are in the British Postal Museum's collection.

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