By Francis Quamina Farrier

RECENTLY, I visited the Smithsonian American Postal Museum in Washington DC, USA, for the fifth time, to view the World Famous British Guiana Magenta Postage Stamp. It was printed on Church Street, Georgetown in 1856. Now some 162 years later, it is valued at close to US$10 million and is the most valuable and famous postage stamp on the planet. The printing press on which it was printed is on display at the Guyana National Museum in Georgetown, just a short block away from where the printing was done.

That recent visit of mine to that imposing building in Washington, DC, USA., located next to the Union Station, was very special, the reason being that for the very first time I was there with a fellow Guyanese and that person, Claire Murray, is a retired senior staffer of the Guyana Post Office Corporation.

Murray, in fact, commenced her working career in the Philatelic Department of the Guyana Post Office Corporation in 1967, where she dealt with postage stamps. She worked under five Postmasters-General; Frank Giles, Julian Charles, Leyland Braithwaite, George Doris and Edward Noble before her retirement in 1999. She was elated to know that the current Postmaster-General is a female; Karen Brown.

It must be noted that although Karen Brown is a female, the title still remains “Postmaster”. The same applies to the Bandmaster of the Guyana Police Force Band. The current Bandmaster of the Guyana Police Band is a woman; she is Superintendent, Charmaine Stewart. “I feel it’s a nice change”, Claire Murray said about the present Postmaster General being a female.

During her most recent visit to Guyana in 2016, Claire Murray said that she was impressed to see a computer on every desk in the department where she worked for many years when everything was done manually. Regarding the Magenta stamp which was printed well over a century before her time, she commented, “I feel proud that it came from my country and we’re known in the postal world.” Now based in New York, she plans to visit the American Postal Museum again before the exhibition of the Magenta stamp comes to an end at that venue.

It was my pleasure, just a week ago, to have the opportunity to be at the museum with another Guyanese; this time Guyana-based Shameer Ali, formally of NCN and now Technical Manager at Radio Mix 90.1 FM. The gentleman was ecstatic as he viewed the Magenta stamp over and over again. “After reading about this stamp as a little boy, I finally got the chance to see it in person,” he said with absolute pride and satisfaction.
On a previous visit to the United States Postal Museum, I observed a young man showing his wheelchair-bound elderly mother the Magenta stamp. The elderly lady was looking at it with such amazement and satisfaction that I asked them to allow me to take a photograph of them looking at it, to which they agreed. What was equally amazing, was their reaction when I told them that I was from Guyana where the stamp was printed.

From the information received, the exhibition of that world-famous stamp at the American Postal Museum will conclude in October this year, after which the owner will take it to Europe where it will be on exhibition for an unspecified period. Shameer Ali is hopeful that there will be another opportunity for him to view the stamp.
President of the Guyana Philatelic Association, Ann Wood, expressed the view that, “Since the story of One-Cent Magenta was published, it became the most wanted stamp in the world and wealthy collectors have paid fortunes to own it.” She also says that “the value of the Magenta will continue to increase and so will all stamps in general since electronic communications have become prevalent.”
What is not widely known, is that one of the richest and most powerful women in the world, Queen Elizabeth ll, who is an avid stamp collector, had made unsuccessful attempts to purchase the British Guiana One-Cent Magenta stamp, but the American owner was in no way tempted to sell it to the British Monarch or anyone else. As is known, the image of Queen Elizabeth ll graces many British Guiana stamps. Head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, is also an avid stamp collector.
Information at the American Postal Museum is that, “Stamp Collecting ranks among the world’s most popular hobbies,” and that, “As many as 22 million people collect stamps in the United States alone.” According to the Museum’s records, “Stamp collectors represent all ages and walks of life.” The number of Stamp Collectors in Guyana is not known at this time.

With the plan to conclude the exhibition of the multi-million dollar British Guiana One-Cent Magenta stamp at the American Postal Museum in Washington, DC, and the owner taking it to Europe later this year, the opportunity of Guyanese viewing it, will then become much more difficult. As such, it is advisable for those living in Washington, DC, and nearby, or who plan to visit the Capital City of the USA, to use the shrinking window of opportunity to view the world’s most famous and expensive postage stamp, which was printed right here in Georgetown, British Guiana (Guyana).