The original private owner put a philatelic rarity marked 1847 Mauritius 1d Ball Cover at an auction with a starting price of four million euros. Three parties expressed interest over the phone. The auctioneer’s hammer eventually knocked the rare catch to 8.1 million euros. The German-speaking winner should also pay over ten million euros (around 255 million crowns) with the auction commission.
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The auctioned envelope with Red Mauritius was sent on September 27, 1847 within the capital Port Louis. Most likely, it included an invitation to a ball hosted by the wife of Governor Lady Gomm, which took place on September 30, 1847. In 1899, it was sold by the addressee himself, a certain Mr. Adam.
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Since then, the stamp has changed several owners, the last known owner was the Singaporean merchant Vikram Chand, who bought the stamp in 2006 for $ 3 million (64 million crowns).
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Only three copies of the rare stamp have been preserved. One is owned by British Queen Elizabeth II. and the other is in the philatelic collection of the British Library in London. “None of them can be sold,” said auctioneer Christoph Gärtner. The third copy is now changing private owner.
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“Let’s add that in the Czech hands, in the collection of an investor who has not yet revealed his identity, there is an even more interesting Mauritius letter since 2016, namely Bombay Cover with two ‘Red’ Post Offices,” said David Kopřiva, member of the philatelic club Prestige Philately Club Prague.
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