In a piece of news sure to generate envy among the most serious philatelists, Geneva auction
house David Feldman has announced that it has sold a 1948 Mahatma Gandhi Indian stamp for a bank-busting US$
205,000. David Feldman believes that the sale stands as the world record
price paid for a modern stamp from any country.

The stamp, probably the finest remaining example out of only
18 known in existence today, was issued by the Government of India as part of a
set of 4 commemorative stamps on August 15th, 1948, as a tribute to Mahatma
Gandhi, who was assassinated in January of the same year.

These were the first commemorative stamps of India
in its Independence, and issued in
4 denominations. A set of only 100 10 Rupee stamps in two sheets were
overprinted with “Service”, making this the world’s least printed and most coveted stamp among philatelists.

Davidfeldman