Treasure Trove : Page 270

An example of this process, one well known and nottoo ancient to prove our point, is the case of the 24-centinverted airmail stamp issued by the United States in1918. The sheet of one hundred with inverted centerswas purchased at face value at the Post Office by W. T.Robey. They cost him exactly twenty-four dollars. Withina few weeks he sold this sheet of stamps to the lateEugene Klein, a dealer in Philadelphia. Mr. Klein isreported to have paid $15,000, or at the rate of $150per stamp. Mr. Klein sold the sheet of stamps to the lateColonel E. H. R. Green reportedly for the huge sum of$20,000, which is $200 per stamp. Colonel Green brokeup the sheet, retained the blocks he wished and made theothers available at $250 per stamp. Thus these stampswere now "in the market"; they were available to col-lectors. The price of a single stamp from this sheet rapidlyadvanced as they changed hands. In recent years a sin-gle copy has been offered for $7000. The $200 perstamp which had been changed on the initial sale fromdealer to collector had increased twenty times. The origi-