Rare stamp stolen in 1955 is returned to owner
American Philatelic Society executive director Scott D. English holds an “Inverted Jenny,” a 1918 stamp stolen in 1955, that is finally being returned to its rightful owner, featuring an airplane printed upside-down, after it was officially handed over during the World Stamp Show, Thursday, June 2, 2016, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
The “Inverted Jenny” is a rare 1918 stamp stolen in 1955 featuring an airplane printed upside-down. (Associated Press)
NEW YORK — A rare postage stamp stolen in 1955 has been returned to its rightful owner in New York City.
But the mystery surrounding the so-called Inverted Jenny remains: Who stole it and three other such stamps at a convention in Virginia?
On Thursday at the World Stamp Show, a man from Northern Ireland who inherited one of the stolen stamps from his grandfather watched as it was handed to officials of the Bellefonte, Pennsylvania-based American Philatelic Research Library.
A total of 100 Inverted Jenny stamps were printed in 1918, erroneously depicting an airplane printed upside-down. Of the four stolen in 1955, three have now been recovered.
The stamp transferred Thursday surfaced at a New York auction house in April. — AP
