New Zealand’s Rarest Stamp Sells for $263,250 a World Record for a New Zealand Stamp
We are thrilled to announce that New Zealand’s rarest postage stamp, the unique 4d Lake Taupo with inverted centre, was sold at our 20th September 2025 Public Auction. The successful bidder is in the USA and intends to show this stamp at many future exhibitions where his exhibit will be in the Court of Honour.
Sales like this always bring strong interest to the buying market. If you have items to sell, contact us now about consigning your collection for our next International Public Stamp Auction on 21st March 2026
Testimonials:
“A really good auction, sincere congratulations on the record for the invert!”
Congratulations to all of you at Mowbrays for such a great result.”
“Making decisions like these is never easy but choosing Mowbrays as my vendor was the best of them”.
Background Information
The previous record for the most expensive New Zealand stamp ever sold is NZ $185,000.
Only one such 4d Lake Taupo stamp with an inverted centre has ever been found. The stamp was used in 1904 on a letter sent from Picton. It first surfaced in London in 1930, selling the following year at auction for just £61.
It then vanished into a private French collection for half a century, only re-emerging in New Zealand in 1982 when it was displayed at the Palmpex exhibition.
John Mowbray, the founder of Mowbray Collectables, acquired this remarkable stamp for NZ$125,000 on behalf of its current owner, NZ Post, in 1998. It was last on public display in 2005, at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s Stamped: Celebrating New Zealand’s postal history exhibition.
This stamp was scrutinised by Sir John Wilson, Sir Edward Bacon and other eminent philatelists when given a Royal Philatelic Society of London expert committee certificate in 1931. Subsequent certificates in 1980 and 1990 from Friedl and BPA confirm the original certificate’s findings.
The 4d Lake Taupo with inverted centre is listed in all major catalogues as follows:
Stanley Gibbons – SG322c (unpriced)
Scott – 113 var (not priced)
Campell Paterson – E12cz (NZ $250,000)
Yvert & Tellier – 118a
In comparison to the NZ$250,000 estimate for this unique stamp, Britain’s rarest stamp, a used Queen Victoria 1d red from plate 77 (one of nine documented) was recently offered for sale in Jersey for £650,000. While this may sound eye-watering for a small patch of paper, it is far from being the world’s most expensive stamp. This title goes to the famous 1856 British Guiana 1c magenta which was sold in 2021 to Stanley Gibbons for US $8.3 million. Also in 2021, an 1847 envelope bearing a Mauritius Post Office 1d red was sold for US $11.2 million.
In 2023 another famous inverted-centre-design stamp, a mint 24c USA Inverted Jenny – one of 100 known – was sold for US $2 million.
The Ministry of Culture & Heritage agreed that the stamp could be exported from New Zealand.