Famed 'Blue Boy' Stamp Up For Auction, Starting $1 Million

The famed "Alexandria Blue Boy" stamp, which is part of the renowned "ERIVAN" collection of United States postal history in New York City, will be up for auction at a starting price of $1 million. The auction will be conducted by H.R. Harmer, which has been in the business for eight decades and has recently relocated from Southern California to Midtown Manhattan, from June 22.

The famed stamp last appeared at a public auction in 1967, according to a press release. While the price of the stamp, issued in Alexandria, Virginia, in the 1840s, will start at $1,000,000, industry experts say the final price is likely to go much higher.

The "Blue Boy" has long been an icon of American philately. The envelope bearing the stamp was supposed to be burned upon opening. However, the lady who received it disobeyed these orders, making it possible for the "Blue Boy" — the only stamp of its kind — to exist. According to the press release, the envelope bearing the "Blue Boy" contained a letter detailing a forbidden romance between young lovers of different religions.

The "Blue Boy" was featured in Life Magazine in 1954 as one of the "world's rarest stamps." It was exhibited publicly only twice in recent years. The stamp has been one of the most iconic of all postage stamps not just in America, but worldwide.

The "Blue Boy" is part of the "ERIVAN" Collection, which was assembled by German business magnate and philanthropist Erivan Haub over the course of decades. It represents one of the most impressive collections of American envelopes ever compiled.

Also for sale will be another item from the "ERIVAN" Collection — one of the two envelopes in existence carried by the first eastbound trip of the Pony Express. Only a few hundred letters sent via the Pony Express still exist today.

The famed "Running Chicken" cover from Waterbury, Connecticut, which features three bold strikes of a fancy cancellation carved from cork by an artistic postmaster, will also be made publicly. It was last offered in 1995. Provisional postage stamps from Lockport, New York, and Boscawen, New Hampshire, will be sold at the auction.