In September, another stamp auction took place in Wiesbaden at the Heinrich Köhler auction house. And there was plenty to marvel at once again. The most significant rarity auctioned was the first Bavarian stamp. And not just any stamp – it was affixed to a letter sent on its first day of issue!

This is the only known first-day cover of Germany's first postage stamp, making it one of the greatest treasures of German philately and postal history. Discovered over 50 years ago by a prominent German philatelist, it remained in his private collection for decades.

From the auction catalogue, we quote:
"1849, 1 Kreuzer gray-black, plate 1, fresh colour and with full to mostly wide margins, right with continuous separation line, a clean and neatly applied first-day postmark 'WEGSCHEID 1/11' on a complete printed matter from the famous Salegg correspondence, with a representative notice from the firm J. L. Kohn of Munich, addressed to Hengersberg near Deggendorf. On the flap, a contemporary receipt note reads, '1849 Kohn München den 1 Nov.'"

And how much did this unique letter sell for? The starting price was €250,000, and the final price reached €440,000 plus auction fees. That’s nearly €550,000 in total!

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