In 1989, after an auction at Christie’s in New York, a block of four inverts resulted in this headline in The New York Times: “$1 Million Stamp Sale Is Record for U.S. Issue.” It was the highest price ever paid for an American philatelic item.

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Just as they have copied priceless paintings, money, and other man-made items that have a high value, counterfeiters have made copies of this famous philatelic mistake. Stamp dealers and collectors, however, are wary of such efforts and so far have been able to spot the fakes without too much difficulty.

Although millions of airmail stamps have been printed by the United States and other nations over the years, the original 24-cent airmail stamp of 1918 is considered by most collectors to be the outstanding airmail stamp of all time. It was not only the first airmail stamp printed in the United States and the Western Hemisphere but also the world’s first “definitive” airmail stamp (i.e., based on a regularly scheduled airmail service). There were other firsts, too–first stamp to depict an airplane and first stamp to be printed in two colors. But it’s that other first that makes the 1918 24-center most memorable: the first airmail stamp to be printed and distributed with a mistake.

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