How can a single postage stamp be worth＄16， 800？
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on one inexpensive postage stamp has made the stamp worth a million and a half times its original value.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the British colony of Mauritius， a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to a London printer—Mauritius was to become the fourth country in the world to issue stamps.
Before the order was filled and delivered， a ball was planned at Mauritius Government House， and stamps were needed to send out the invitations. A local printer was instructed to copy the design for the stamps. He accidentally inscribed① the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid” on the several hundred stamps that he printed.
Today there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left─fourteen One Penny Orange-Reds and twelve Twopenny Blues. Because of the Two penny Blue’s rareness② and age， collectors have paid as much as＄16， 800 for it.
① inscribev. 题写；印[(+in/with)]
② rarenessn. 稀罕；珍贵；稀薄
一枚价值万美元的邮票
一张邮票为什么会值1.68万美元呢？
一张邮票在印制中出现的任何错误，都会使它的价值在集邮家面前提高。一张价格低廉的邮票，有了一个错，就使它的价格达到原价的150万倍。
这个错是100多年前在英国殖民地毛里求斯——印度洋中的一个小岛闹出来的。1847年，一份邮票定货单送到了伦敦一家印刷商那里——毛里求斯将成为世界上第4个发行邮票的国家。
在订货单填写并交付前，毛里求斯政府大厦里准备举行一场舞会，可是发请帖需要贴邮票。一位当地的印刷商受命照图案仿制邮票。在他印制的几百张邮票上，没有刻上“PostPaid”（邮资已付）的字样，却无意中刻上了”Post Office”（邮局）两个字。
今天，这批印错的邮票只剩下26张：14张1便士橘红色邮票和12张2便士蓝色邮票。因为2便士蓝色邮票年代久远，物稀为贵，集邮家们为它付出的钱遂高达1.68万美元。