FLOAT

France 1849 '1 Franc Vermillion' Tete-beche Block

Maker
France (Second Republic)
Year
1849
Rank
67 of 100

France 1849 '1 Franc Vermillion' Tete-beche Block

France 1849 '1 Franc Vermillion' Tete-beche Block by France (Second Republic) (1849) is ranked 67 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It sold for $1,050,000 on 1 November 2003. The single most celebrated French philatelic rarity — only one mint block of four with the tete-beche is known.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

The single most celebrated French philatelic rarity — only one mint block of four with the tete-beche is known.

Yvert 7 tete-beche; the unique mint block of four containing the inverted-cliche tete-beche pair

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure
$1,050,000
Kind
Realized at auction
Date
1 November 2003

The unique mint tete-beche BLOCK OF FOUR sold for EUR 924,000 in Nov 2003 (~$1.05M). No 2024-2026 resale; the 2024 article references the old 2003 price. USD conversion approximate at 2003 rates.

This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it. Source.

How this is made

The figure
One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not
A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder
Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive
2026-08-08