Stamp collecting can pay o

Have you ever wondered how much a stamp is worth? The recently released London 2012 stamp from Canada Post won't be reaching thousands of dollars anytime soon, but maybe with enough time your great-grandkids could be rolling in the dough.

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Treskilling Yellow
Issued: Sweden, 1855 Est. Worth: Unknown! Auctioned in May 2010 at undisclosed price; sold in 1996 for 2.875 million Swiss francs ($3.04M CAN today). Why so valuable? Should be green, yellow from printing error. How many left? One

$5.06M
Penny Black
Issued: U.K., 1840 Est. Worth: $5.06M CAN Why so valuable? Worlds rst postage stamp. How many left? Two

$3.04M
Inverted Jenny
Issued: U.S., 1918 Est. Worth: $3.04M CAN Why so valuable? Image of the plane is inverted due to printing error (sheets had to be fed in the machine twice, making it easy to ip them on the second pass). How many left? 100

$0.49M
12 Pence Black
Issued: Canada, 1851 Est. Worth: $495,365 CAN Why so valuable? Fifty-one thousand were made but due to its high denomination only 1,450 sold. Unsold copies were destroyed six years later. How many left? 100150

$0.48M
The Whole Country is Red
Issued: China, 1968 Est. Worth: $480,468 CAN Why so valuable? Taken o market after half a day due to inaccurate map of China. How many left? Unknown

$0.45M
The Red Maiden in the Green Robe
Issued: China, Qing Dynasty Est. Worth: $450,355 CAN Why so valuable? Changes made stamps with silver face values prohibited; green ink used on existing stamps for temporary use. How many left? Nine

$1.69M
Post O ce Mauritius
Issued: Mauritius, 1847 Est. Worth: $1.69M CAN Why so valuable? The words Post O ce were printed instead of Post Paid; 240 were printed before the error was noticed. How many left? 26

$0.86M
British Guiana One Cent Magenta
Issued: British Guiana Est. Worth: $861,241 CAN Why so valuable? Postmaster had local newspaper print stamps when Guiana ran out had to be signed by post o ce employees to prevent forgeries. How many left? One

$0.83M
Olive-coloured Queen Victoria's Head
Issued: Hong Kong, 1864 Est. Worth: $835,553 CAN Why so valuable? Fifty-two sheets were printed an olive colour instead of the intended brownish-grey. How many left? 40

$0.43M
Blue Military Stamp
Issued: China, 1953 Est. Worth: $434,322 CAN Why so valuable? Issued to soldiers in active duty; was reported envelopes with these stamps were easy targets for theft due to chance of condential information inside; stamps were ordered to be returned and destroyed. How many left? Unknown

$0.33M
Red Revenue Small One Dollar Surcharge
Issued: China, Qing Dynasty Est. Worth: $337,790 CAN Why so valuable? First surcharged stamp during the Qing Dynasty. How many left? 30

$0.61
2012 Olympic Games
Issued: June 27, 2012 Cost: $6.10 for booklet of 10 Relased to honour Canadas journey on the road to the London 2012 Olympic Games. It highlights the dynamic sport of rowing; based on the consistent excellence displayed by the Canadian team and their perceived strength heading into London this summer.

Source: china.org.cn

SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1; INFOGRAPHIC BY MEGAN DINNER/QMI AGENCY