154
”somewhat of a Huey Long’’ Stewart McBride, “The Case of the Airmailed Voter and Other Tales of the Cook Islands,” Christian Science Monitor, March 4, 1982, 1.
156
a profit of $90,000 Richard Jewell and Vernon Harbin, The RKO Story (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1982), 156.
156
Bosley Crowthers review Bosley Crowther, “The Screen: The Saint Relaxes,” New York Times, January 31, 1941, 15.
157
On January 18 Author’s transcription of DVD re-release of You Bet Your Life, episode 50-22 and uncredited liner notes (Los Angeles: Shout! Factory, 2004).
157
writers scribbling on an overhead projector Robert Dwan, As Long As They’re Laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life (Baltimore: Midnight Marquee Press, 2000), 84.
159
“She did collect stamps” Author interview with Virginia Baxter, January 27, 2015.
159
went on to a long career “Alice Backes Citron” (obituary), Los Angeles Times, March 27, 2007, http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=86973891.
9. 1970: The Wilkes-Barre Eight
160
never went to its owners’ hometown Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, March 19, 2016.
165
”The rules are not working” Quoted in William L. Silber, Volcker: The Triumph of Persistence (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2013), 74.
166
the economy slipped See, for example, Paul Krugman, “Franklin Delano Obama,” New York Times, November 10, 2008, A29.
166
Weinberg got a glimpse Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015; also David Gelernter, 1939: The Lost World of the Fair (New York: Free Press, 1995).
167
even little Lorin Maazel Allan Kozinn, “Lorin Maazel, an Intense and Enigmatic Conductor, Dies at 84,” New York Times, July 14, 2014, D10.
170
”He [was] bullish ” Viola Ilma, Funk & Wagnalls Guide to the World of Stamp Collecting (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1978), 137.
171
He was so confident Weinberg interview, March 19, 2016.
171–72
”Inflation and devaluation are twin specters” Joseph L. Lincoln, “Royalty Under Glass,” Discover magazine, The (Philadelphia) Sunday Bulletin , May 30, 1976, 10.
174
”Unique, the rarest and most valuable stamp” ”The World’s Greatest Rarity,” Rarities of the World 1970 (New York: Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, 1970), 71.
175
Siegel’s wife, Miriam Interview with Robert Rose, June 9, 2015.
176
But it went unmentioned Rarities of the World 1970, 2–4.
176
Small’s identity was revealed David Lidman, “British Guiana 1c Owner Identified,” New York Times, April 12, 1970, D31.
176
The Waldorf was where “MacArthur Plaque Unveiled at Wal dorf Towers, Marks His Residence There for 13 Years to 1964,” New York Times, January 27, 1969, 16; “James A. Farley, 88, Ran Roosevelt Campaigns,” New York Times, June 10, 1976, 1; author interview with Matt Zolbe and Meg Towner of the Waldorf, September 19, 2012.
177
The auction had to be moved David Lidman, “British Guiana 1¢ Brings $280,000,” New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
177
In the crowd were notables Tony Hiss, “One Cent,” The New Yorker, April 4, 1970, 34; author interview with Robert Price, April 23, 2015.
179
Andrew Levitt had started Levitt, Andrew, “The United States 1851 One-Cent Blue,” American Stamp Dealers Association, http://americanstampdealer.com/SubMenu%252FOne_Cent_Blue.aspx%253Fid%253D219.
179
Weinberg looked nervous Hiss, The New Yorker, 33; author interview with Joseph L. Lincoln, April 30, 2015.
180
The New York Times wrote that the Weills Lidman, New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
180
“A lot of people, including Mr. Weinberg” Hiss, The New Yorker, 34; and author interview with Tony Hiss, February 25, 2015.
181
“A lot of people questioned spending that much” Author interview with Ken Martin, April 30, 2015.
181
A customer “who has a warmth for stamps” Lidman, New York Times, April 5, 1970, 122.
185
The story was picked up “Irwin Weinberg Got Attached to His $500,000 Treasure; Then He Found He Couldn’t Get Loose,” People, July 10, 1978, 43.
186
the game show “To Tell the Truth” Chris Rosenblum, “Businessman Reflects on Brush with World’s Priciest Stamp,” Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.), June 21, 2014.
10. 1980: “The Man Showed Up”
187
Weinberg cruised Author interview with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015.
187
A stockbroker quoted Robert Metz, “Investors Try, Try Again,” New York Times, January 8, 1979, 61.
187–88
New York magazine echoed “Better Than Blue Chips: Objects to Appreciate,” New York, February 28, 1979, 80.
188
Salomon Brothers H.J. Maidenberg, “Tangible Assets vs. Financial,” New York Times, July 16, 1979, D5.
188
When Stamps magazine Quoted in James E. Lee, “Where Have All the Stamp Shops Gone?” http://www.jameslee.com/news4.htm.
189
Weinberg’s investors Author interviews with Irwin Weinberg, April 8, 2015, and March 19, 2016.
190
”The queen had only twenty cottonreels” Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
190
Du Pont was thrilled Author interviews with Taras M. Wochok, January 19, 2015, and Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
191
The mansion itself Bill Ordine and Ralph Vigoda, Fatal Match: Inside the Mind of Killer Millionaire John du Pont (New York: Avon Books, 1998), 12.
191
after her death Ibid., 120.
192
192
Villanova repudiated du Pont Mark Bowden and Clea Benson, “The Prince of Newtown Square,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 4, 1996, 1.
192
“a triumph that was essentially bought” Jere Longman, Pam Bel-luck, and Jon Nordheimer, “A Life in Pieces: For du Pont Heir, Question Was Control,” New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
192
He was the model Mark Bowden and Clea Benson, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 4, 1996, 1.
193
Victor Krievins told me Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
193
He built the Delaware Museum Bill Hewitt, “A Man Possessed,” People, February 12, 1996, 45.
194
he called the “magenta lady” Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
194
Warwick Paterson Scott Paterson, “Warwick Paterson and the British Guiana 1c Magenta,” Campbell Paterson Newsletter, 2014, 3.
194
He provided the local police Jere Longman, “Desperate Stand in a Dream World,” New York Times, January 28, 1996, 1.
194
He gave one a second job Author interview with Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
195
problems like excessive drinking Longman, Belluck, and Nordheimer, New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
195
Du Pont took a seat Author interview with Victor Krievins, January 20, 2015.
196
The bidding on the one-cent magenta Carey Winfrey, “World’s Most Valuable Stamp Auctioned for a Record $850,000,” New York Times, April 6, 1980, A1.
196
he sent his son Author interview with Irwin We
inberg, April 8, 2015.
197
”more fiefdom than home” Ordine and Vigoda, Fatal Match, 12.
203
It lay in a safe-deposit box Author interview with Robert P. Odenweller, January 17, 2015.
205
Du Pont filed for divorce Longman, Belluck, and Nordheimer, New York Times, February 4, 1996, 1.
212
Du Pont’s eccentricities worsened Ordine and Vigoda, Fatal Match, 173.
213
Jean could not have been his mother Ibid., 166.
213
people were walking behind the walls Ibid., 165.
213
”a Howard Hughes–typefigure” Ibid., 264.
The man behind the counter Author interview with Steve Pendergast, May 7, 2015.
11. 2014: “I Expected to See Magenta, and I Saw Magenta”
218
”I understand you want” Voicemail message to author, May 21, 2015.
219
The house that Dave Schultz Kris Maher, “Du Pont Estate Remade With Luxury Homes,” Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/dupont-estate-remade-with-luxury-homes-1421342284.
220
number one customer Author interview with Scott R. Trepel, president of Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, April 28, 2015.
221
the mystery owner “A Coin So Rare It Shouldn’t Exist Is Out of the Vault,” New York Times, August 13, 2013, A14.
223
”It took me back” Author interview with Weitzman, May 22, 2015.
225
an operatically complicated plot Summary here is based on Joseph Cowles, “The Fabulous One-Cent Magenta,” http://www.thegoodartist.com/cbfc05.pdf.
227
serial number of the Author interview with Ted Wilson, January 21, 2016
227
”I was told” Author interview with Allen R. Kane, May 27, 2015.
231
“We can capture a giraffe” Quoted in Grace Judd Banker, “Collection of Books of Stamps Is on Display,” Berkeley Daily Gazette, March 29, 1937, 12.
231
”[d]uring the philatelic period” William Styron, The Suicide Run (New York: Random House, 2009), 190.
232
“came to think of himself as cosmopolitan” Jonathan Alter, The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006), 23.
233
the Subway Stamp Shop hauled away “About Our Company” on Subway Stamp Shop’s website, http://www.subwaystamp.com/Aboutus.asp.
234
“The ranks of hardcore collectors” Daniel Akst, “Selling a One-Cent Stamp for Millions of Dollars,” The New Yorker (online), April 21, 2014, http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/selling-a-one-cent-stamp-for-millions-of-dollars.
235
“are like holy relics” Philipp Blom, “Collections Are Objects of Desire,” New York Times (online), December 30, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/12/29/why-we-collect-stuff/collections-are-objects-of-desire.
237
He probably also guessed See, for example, “Marilyn Monroe Marries Joe DiMaggio,” http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marilyn-monroe-marries-joe-dimaggio.
When it was issued in 1856, it cost a penny. When it was sold at Sotheby’s in 2014, the tiny square of faded red paper known as the one-cent magenta cost nearly $US9.5 million, making it the world’s most valuable object by weight.
Printed in what was then British Guiana, one-cent magentas were provisional stamps intended for local newspapers. Most were later thrown out, but one survived. Discovered by a young boy in 1873, the stamp has since been through the hands of nine fanatical owners including an Australian-born engineer, a convicted murderer, and a fabulously wealthy Frenchman who hid it from view (not even King George V of England could get a peek).
The One-Cent Magenta weaves a fascinating tale of obsession to own the world’s most fragile treasure, and the extraordinary characters who have loved and lost it.