The British Empire Study Group is hosting a free webinar today at 6 pm EST with philatelist Robert Scott who will speak on the history of the world’s most famous stamp — British Guiana 1c black on magenta.
Scott, a British Columbia native, began his philatelic career in 1983 as curator to a private collector who amassed perhaps the greatest post war collection of Great Britain stamps and Postal History. The collection garnered numerous national and international gold and large gold awards culminating in the Grand Prix International at Capex 1987 and the Grand Prix National at London 1990.
In 1990, Scott was appointed as a senior specialist at Christie’s, New York. Among the great collections and accumulations he worked on during this period were the American Banknote Company archives, the Frank Back stock, and the Arthur Kobacker collection. Scott joined Sotheby’s in 1993 as head of the stamp department. Some of his stamp sales included the Koenig collection of Mexico and the Starr collection of China. Others highlights including the first mail delivered in space as part of the Russian Space sales, and the boyhood collection of President Kennedy at the famous Onassis auction. Most recently, in 2019 Scott described the Bakwin collection, Sotheby’s first online stamp sale.
Scott became a full time philatelic consultant and appraiser in 2001. His clients range from private individuals, corporations and law firms, as well as specialist auction firms and Sotheby’s. Since 2009 he has been a regular guest on Northeast Public Radio, with numismatist colleague David Tripp, discussing stamps and coins. He divides his time between New York City and Massachusetts.
In 2014 Scott was tasked with cataloging the British Guiana 1c black on magenta for sale for the first time in over 30 years. The stamp sold for $9.48 million to shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. Two more catalogues followed a mere seven years later in 2021, with the British Guiana realizing $8.3 million and the unique inverted Jenny plate block fetching $4.8 million.
This is a free online Webinar, open to anyone who would like to attend. Membership in the British Empire Study Group is Free but never required. For more information on the BESG visit https://bestudygroup.org
To register for tonight’s seminar, click here.