One Cent Magenta Page 19
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”somewhat of a Huey Long’’ Stewart McBride, “The Case of the Airmailed Voter and Other Tales of the Cook Islands,” Christian Science Monitor, March 4, 1982, 1.
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a profit of $90,000 Richard Jewell and Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1982), 156.
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Bosley Crowthers review Bosley Crowther, “The Screen: The Saint Relaxes,” New York Times, January 31, 1941, 15.
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On January 18 Author’s transcription of DVD re-release of You Bet Your Life, episode 50-22 and uncredited liner notes (Los Angeles: Shout! Factory, 2004).
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writers scribbling on an overhead projector Robert Dwan, As Long As They’re Laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life (Baltimore: Midnight Marquee Press, 2000), 84.
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“She did collect stamps” Author interview with Virginia Baxter, January 27, 2015.
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went on to a long career “Alice Backes Citron” (obituary), Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2007, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=86973891.
9. 1970: The Wilkes-Barre Eight
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never went to its owners’ hometown Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, March 19, 2016.
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”The rules are not working” Quoted in William L. Silber, Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2013), 74.
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the economy slipped See, for example, Paul Krugman, “Franklin Delano Obama,” New York Times, November 10, 2008, A29.
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Weinberg got a glimpse Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015; also David Gelernter, 1939: The Lost World of the Fair (New York: Free Press, 1995).
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even little Lorin Maazel Allan Kozinn, “Lorin Maazel, an Intense and Enigmatic Conductor, Dies at 84,” New York Times, July 14, 2014, D10.
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”He [was] bullish ” Viola Ilma, Funk & Wagnalls Guide to the World of Stamp Collecting (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1978), 137.
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He was so confident Weinberg interview, March 19, 2016.
171–72
”Inflation and devaluation are twin specters” Joseph L. Lincoln, “Royalty Under Glass,” Discover magazine, The (Philadelphia) Sunday Bulletin , May 30, 1976, 10.
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”Unique, the rarest and most valuable stamp” ”The World’s Greatest Rarity,” Rarities of the World 1970 (New York: Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, 1970), 71.
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Siegel’s wife, Miriam Interview with Robert Rose, June 9, 2015.
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But it went unmentioned Rarities of the World 1970, 2–4.
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Small’s identity was revealed David Lidman, “British Guiana 1c Owner Identified,” New York Times, April 12, 1970, D31.
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The Waldorf was where “MacArthur Plaque Unveiled at Wal dorf Towers, Marks His Residence There for 13 Years to 1964,” New York Times, January 27, 1969, 16; “James A. Farley, 88, Ran Roosevelt Campaigns,” New York Times, June 10, 1976, 1; author interview with Matt Zolbe and Meg Towner of the Waldorf, September 19, 2012.
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The auction had to be moved David Lidman, “British Guiana 1¢ Brings $280,000,” New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
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In the crowd were notables Tony Hiss, “One Cent,” The New Yorker, April 4, 1970, 34; author interview with Robert Price, April 23, 2015.
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Andrew Levitt had started Levitt, Andrew, “The United States 1851 One-Cent Blue,” American Stamp Dealers Association, http://americanstampdealer.com/SubMenu%252FOne_Cent_Blue.aspx%253Fid%253D219.
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Weinberg looked nervous Hiss, The New Yorker, 33; author interview with Joseph L. Lincoln, April 30, 2015.
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The New York Times wrote that the Weills Lidman, New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
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“A lot of people, including Mr. Weinberg” Hiss, The New Yorker, 34; and author interview with Tony Hiss, February 25, 2015.
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“A lot of people questioned spending that much” Author interview with Ken Martin, April 30, 2015.
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A customer “who has a warmth for stamps” Lidman, New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
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The story was picked up “Irwin Weinberg Got Attached to His $500,000 Treasure; Then He Found He Couldn’t Get Loose,” People, July 10, 1978, 43.
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the game show “To Tell the Truth” Chris Rosenblum, “Businessman Reflects on Brush with World’s Priciest Stamp,” Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.), June 21, 2014.
10. 1980: “The Man Showed Up”
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Weinberg cruised Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015.
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A stockbroker quoted Robert Metz, “Investors Try, Try Again,” New York Times, January 8, 1979, 61.
187–88
New York magazine echoed “Better Than Blue Chips: Objects to Appreciate,” New York, February 28, 1979, 80.
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Salomon Brothers H.J. Maidenberg, “Tangible Assets vs. Financial,” New York Times, July 16, 1979, D5.
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When Stamps magazine Quoted in James E. Lee, “Where Have All the Stamp Shops Gone?” http://www.jameslee.com/news4.htm.
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Weinberg’s investors Author interviews with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015, and March 19, 2016.
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”The queen had only twenty cottonreels” Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
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Du Pont was thrilled Author interviews with Taras M. Wochok, January 19, 2015, and Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
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The mansion itself Bill Ordine and Ralph Vigoda, Fatal Match: Inside the Mind of Killer Millionaire John du Pont (New York: Avon Books, 1998), 12.
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after her death Ibid., 120.
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As du Pont acknowledged Tom Fox, “’Nova Wrestling Coach Du Pont Aims at an NCAA Title,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 27, 1986, A13.
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Villanova repudiated du Pont Mark Bowden and Clea Benson, “The Prince of Newtown Square,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 4, 1996, 1.
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“a triumph that was essentially bought” Jere Longman, Pam Bel-luck, and Jon Nordheimer, “A Life in Pieces: For du Pont Heir, Question Was Control,” New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
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He was the model Mark Bowden and Clea Benson, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 4, 1996, 1.
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Victor Krievins told me Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
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He built the Delaware Museum Bill Hewitt, “A Man Possessed,” People, February 12, 1996, 45.
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he called the “magenta lady” Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
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Warwick Paterson Scott Paterson, “Warwick Paterson and the British Guiana 1c Magenta,” Campbell Paterson Newsletter, 2014, 3.
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He provided the local police Jere Longman, “Desperate Stand in a Dream World,” New York Times, January 28, 1996, 1.
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He gave one a second job Author interview with Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
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problems like excessive drinking Longman, Belluck, and Nordheimer, New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
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Du Pont took a seat Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
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The bidding on the one-cent magenta Carey Winfrey, “World’s Most Valuable Stamp Auctioned for a Record $850,000,” New York Times, April 6, 1980, A1.
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he sent his son Author interview with Irwin We
inberg, April 8, 2015.
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”more fiefdom than home” Ordine and Vigoda, Fatal Match, 12.
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It lay in a safe-deposit box Author interview with Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
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Du Pont filed for divorce Longman, Belluck, and Nordheimer, New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
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Du Pont’s eccentricities worsened Ordine and Vigoda, Fatal Match, 173.
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Jean could not have been his mother Ibid., 166.
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people were walking behind the walls Ibid., 165.
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”a Howard Hughes–typefigure” Ibid., 264.
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The man behind the counter Author interview with Steve Pendergast, May 7, 2015.
11. 2014: “I Expected to See Magenta, and I Saw Magenta”
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”I understand you want” Voicemail message to author, May 21, 2015.
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The house that Dave Schultz Kris Maher, “Du Pont Estate Remade With Luxury Homes,” Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/dupont-estate-remade-with-luxury-homes-1421342284.
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number one customer Author interview with Scott R. Trepel, president of Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, April 28, 2015.
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the mystery owner “A Coin So Rare It Shouldn’t Exist Is Out of the Vault,” New York Times, August 13, 2013, A14.
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”It took me back” Author interview with Weitzman, May 22, 2015.
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an operatically complicated plot Summary here is based on Joseph Cowles, “The Fabulous One-Cent Magenta,” http://www.thegoodartist.com/cbfc05.pdf.
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serial number of the Author interview with Ted Wilson, January 21, 2016
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”I was told” Author interview with Allen R. Kane, May 27, 2015.
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“We can capture a giraffe” Quoted in Grace Judd Banker, “Collection of Books of Stamps Is on Display,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, March 29, 1937, 12.
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”[d]uring the philatelic period” William Styron, The Suicide Run (New York: Random House, 2009), 190.
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“came to think of himself as cosmopolitan” Jonathan Alter, The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006), 23.
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the Subway Stamp Shop hauled away “About Our Company” on Subway Stamp Shop’s website, http://www.subwaystamp.com/Aboutus.asp.
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“The ranks of hardcore collectors” Daniel Akst, “Selling a One-Cent Stamp for Millions of Dollars,” The New Yorker (online), April 21, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/selling-a-one-cent-stamp-for-millions-of-dollars.
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“are like holy relics” Philipp Blom, “Collections Are Objects of Desire,” New York Times (online), December 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/29/why-we-collect-stuff/collections-are-objects-of-desire.
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He probably also guessed See, for example, “Marilyn Monroe Marries Joe DiMaggio,” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe-marries-joe-dimaggio.
When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. When it was sold at Sotheby’s in 2014, the tiny square of faded red paper known as the one-cent magenta cost nearly $US9.5 million, making it the world’s most valuable object by weight.
Printed in what was then British Guiana, one-cent magentas were provisional stamps intended for local newspapers. Most were later thrown out, but one survived. Discovered by a young boy in 1873, the stamp has since been through the hands of nine fanatical owners including an Australian-born engineer, a convicted murderer, and a fabulously wealthy Frenchman who hid it from view (not even King George V of England could get a peek).
The One-Cent Magenta weaves a fascinating tale of obsession to own the world’s most fragile treasure, and the extraordinary characters who have loved and lost it.