James Barron is a reporter on the metropolitan staff of the New York Times. He wrote the timeline summaries for The New York Times: The Complete Front Pages: 1851-2008 and is the author of Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand.
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When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. In 2014, this tiny square of faded red paper sold at Sotheby's for nearly $10 million, the largest amount ever paid for a postage stamp at auction. Through the stories of the eccentric characters who have bough... SEE MORE