An unused example of the 1918 US 24c Inverted Jenny airmail error (Scott C3a). Plate position is not identified on Commons - this is an example of the issue, not established as Position 49, the specimen whose 2023 sale prices this constituent.

Inverted Jenny (24c Airmail Invert), Position 49

Maker: United States (USPOD), Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Year: 1918
Rank: 5 of 100

Inverted Jenny (24c Airmail Invert), Position 49

Inverted Jenny (24c Airmail Invert), Position 49 by United States (USPOD), Bureau of Engraving and Printing (1918) is ranked 5 in the FLOAT 100 for Stamps. It sold for $2,006,000 on 8 November 2023. America's most famous error stamp; Position 49 is the single finest example extant and holds the all-time US single-stamp auction record.

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

America's most famous error stamp; Position 49 is the single finest example extant and holds the all-time US single-stamp auction record.

Scott C3a, 24c carmine rose & blue airmail with inverted vignette, Position 49 from the unique sheet of 100, PSE-graded 95 XF-Superb (finest surviving invert)

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure: $2,006,000
Kind: Realized at auction
Date: 8 November 2023

Robert A. Siegel, Sale 1299, Nov 2023: hammer $1,700,000 + 18% premium = $2,006,000 total — record for any US stamp. Bought by Charles Hack. (Same Position 49 sold for $1,593,000 in 2018.)

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