A stamp: the world's most expensive item

After a British colony ran out of proper stamps, at around 1856, a newspaper colony created a stamp that would later, in 2014, become 'by size and weight simply the most expensive object ever sold in history.'

Sotheby's, the auction house that will sell the stamp on June 17, expects the item will bring in as much as $20 million. The less optimistic sum of money fetched after selling the stamp is $10 million, which still makes it the most expensive stamp ever sold.

$2.3 million is the largest sum of money paid to-date for a stamp.

The British Guiana One-Cent Black on Magenta stamp has not seen the light of the day for 28 years. Its last owner was convicted murderer John DuPont, who died in prison in 2010.

The history of the stamp's owners goes further bach, though, as Sotheby's mentions one young stamp collector who lived in what we now know as Guyana and who found the item among his uncle's letters, back in 1873.

Louis Vernon Vaughan then sold it for six shillings, those time's equivalent for $1.50. The price was so low because the stamp had had its corners cut and was a bit dirty. The dealer he sold it to, reportedly said: 'I am taking a great risk in paying so much for this stamp and I hope you will appreciate my generosity.'

By 1935, the stamp already had an estimated value of $40.000.