Red Mercury
712188
218441262
2008-06-10T17:45:57Z
Eubot
231599
Hatnote formatting, see [[User:Eubot/Hatnote formatting]]
{{otheruses|red mercury (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox_RareStamps |
common_name = Red Mercury |
image = [[Image:Zinnoberroter Merkur.jpg|150px]] |
country_of_production = [[Austrian Empire|Austria]]|
location_of_production=|
date_of_production= [[1856]] |
nature_of_rarity = Few remain |
number_in_existence= few |
face_value = 6kr |
estimated_value = [[United States dollar|US $]]40,000 |
}}
The '''Red Mercury''' is the rarest of [[Austria]]n [[newspaper stamp]]s ([[postage stamp]]s issued for the mailing of newspapers).
Austria's newspaper stamps first appeared in [[1851]]; they depicted a profile of [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], the Roman messenger god, and were not denominated, the color of the stamp indicating the value. Blue indicated the 6/10 [[kreuzer]] rate for one newspaper, yellow for ten newspapers (6kr), and rose for 50 newspapers (30kr).
In [[1856]], the design was [[Postage stamp reprint|reprint]]ed in red (or scarlet), and along with the rose, was made equivalent to six kreuzer. However, it was soon superseded by a new design which came out in [[1858]], and only a few copies have survived.
Recent auctions have valued it at about US$40,000, with unused copies worth about 10% less than used. On [[February 7]], [[2008]] an unused copy was auctioned in Vienna for 26,000 [[euro]].<ref>[http://www.hdrauch.com/results/index_s.php Rauch Results - Coins<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
== Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}
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* ''Philatelic Gems 1'' (Linn's, 1989)
==External links==
* [http://www.sandafayre.com/gallery/stamp_628.htm Picture of Red Mercury at Sandafayre]
[[Category:Postage stamps]]
[[de:Zinnoberroter Merkur]]
[[he:מרקורי האדום]]
[[nl:Rode Mercurius]]
[[ru:Красный Меркурий]]