Penny Red

The Plate 77 Penny Red, 1864 Billions of Penny Reds were printed, and most cost very little. Plate 77 is the exception that should not exist: one sheet was printed from it in 1864 before the plate was found defective, and the authorities destroyed both the plate and the sheet. Nine stamps escaped. Most of the survivors are in museums, with only three in private hands, so it is Britain's great "shouldn't exist" rarity. One sold in 2012 for £550,000. It also shows newcomers why the plate a common stamp came from can matter more than the stamp itself. The picture shows the same design printed from a different plate, Plate 148, not a Plate 77 copy.