David Redden (L), Sotheby's Vice Chairman, prepares to lower the gavel as the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta (R, on video screen), described as the most famous stamp in the world, sold for USD$ 9,480,000 (with buyers' premium) at Sotheby's June 17, 2014 in New York. No stamp is rarer than the sole-surviving example of the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, a unique penny issue from 1856. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA