We present you the rarest and most expensive stamps, but this is not an all-encompassing set. Various nuances, such as a secret mark or a curl, not obvious and not evident at first sight, can make an ordinary stamp expensive.
So not every stamp that looks like a stamp that appears on this page can be that expensive. If you want to identify your stamp that looks like one of the stamps on this list, you need to check all of its varieties (this information is available to our subscribers on our website).
This article is updated on 21 May 2021
Most valuable Romanian stamps
The history of modern Romania began on January 24, 1859, when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia united under a common flag. However, the country’s philatelic history began a year earlier, when Moldavia printed its first stamps. Considered as real philatelic gems, these first items are highly sought after by collectors, because of their rarity as well as hand-stamped design. Widely known as Moldavian Bulls, the first Romanian stamps rank among the most notable issues on the market. The country has also produced a great range of other interesting philatelic items, with well-preserved examples often fetching high prices when they become available at auction.
80pa bluish paper stamp, 1858-61
80 parale bluish paper stamp, 1858-61 is one of the most interesting classic stamps of Europe. It originated from the second issue of Romania's first ever release, which was created following the Treaty of Paris in 1856 that saw the Crimean states freed from Russian control. The example of 80 parale on greenish- blue paper is the rarest of this issue. The ordinary lilac-bluish paper is in exceptional greenish-blue shade, which happened when different papers were bought and used by the printing office. Only 3 examples of such stamps exist today. Featuring this paper variety 80 parale bluish paper stamp was offered for $55,000 by David Feldman at its spring sale that took place in May, 2011. The auction house described this lot as “mint with full brownish original gum, very large even margins all around, stunningly fresh, a superb item for the true connoisseur of quality as well as rarity”.
81pa blue stamp, 1858
81pa blue stamp, 1858 is one of the first stamps issued by the Principality of Moldavia, thus it is very old and valuable. Its design features the Arms of Moldavia, with that being an "auroch or bull head, with a star above". The denomination is contained within a post horn. Such a design had a political background as it served as a political statement against the Ottoman Empire, which actually ruled over the principality during this time. 81 parale blue on blued wove paper, the superb appearing large margined used example, was sold by Corinphila Auction house in February, 2013. Only 27 used examples recorded, the specimen auctioned here is the sole example of the 81 parale cancelled in red and unique thus. The lot fetched $50,132.
Census 1.75L green & brown stamp, 1956
In 1956 Romania organized a national census. This event is reflected on the 1.75L green & brown stamp, of which 832,000 pieces were issued. The rare variety is the specimens with the center inverted. Census 1.75L green & brown stamp shows a happy family with two children and the inverted map of Romania. The unique multiple of inverted centre census 1.75L stamps was auctioned by David Feldman in May, 2011. This was a block of 40 with sheet margin on three sides, being the largest remaining multiple of the 200 or so presently believed to have been produced. The lot, featuring full original gum and in a very fine condition, was sold for $36,325.
Bull's Head 108pa blue stamp, 1858
Bull's Head 108 parale issued in 1858 is one of the greatest Romanian stamps. This denomination was hand-stamped from a single die, one at a time, in blue ink onto blue on rose horizontally laid paper. An unused example of this impressive rarity having fine colour with large even margins all round, was offered by Corinphila Auction house in May, 2018. The lot featured two vertical creases, diagonal crease at lower right with two minute paper breaks and only partial traces of original gum. Nevertheless this extraordinary rarity (with just 20 examples recorded) in fine condition managed to fetch $34,217.
54pa green on blue green stamp, 1858
54p green on blue green stamp is one of the valuable specimens from the Bull`s Head series. This item along with other examples are ranked among the world's greatest philatelic rarities and seldom offered for sale in the philatelic market place. As Scott catalogue states, there are 24 mint specimens and 238 used examples of 54pa green on blue green stamps in known collections. The finest used copy of this attractive issue was offered by David Feldman in May, 2011. Described by the auction house as having “strong and slightly blurred impression with prodigious to uncommonly huge margins all around, neatly tied to fragment by crisp clear blue “GALATZ / MOLDOVA / 6.9”, this scarce stamp fetched EUR 30,000 (or roughly $34,019).
27 pa Bull’s Head stamp, 1858
Bull’s Head stamp issued in 1858 is one of the most impressive Romanian stamps and one of the first ones. It has the face value of 27 parale (old Romanian currency). These stamps are quite scarce and valuable. Only 6,016 specimens were issued, of which 3,691 were sold. The stamps from the Bull’s Head series are so special as they were the first issue introduced by Romanian principalities, and thus they represented an important step towards Moldova’s independence from the Ottoman Empire. A very fine copy of 27 pa Bull’s Head stamp, 1858 was realised for 26,000 EUR (or roughly $29,456) by Artmark, becoming the most expensive postal item ever sold at an auction in Romania. The sale took place in September, 2015.
5pa black on white paper, 1859
5pa black on white paper is a notable Romanian stamp issued in the Principality of Moldavia in 1859. It was used exclusively within the Principality of Moldavia. The design of this item differs from the first issue. It is somewhat rectangular with rounded corners. The inscription is spelled in Latin letters; however the denomination name is still spelled in Cyrillic letters. The 5 pa. denomination stamp was issued as a newspaper stamp, being inscribed GAZETEI, instead of SCRISOREI. A desirable used example of this item in a very fine condition was sold by Robert A Siegel in April, 2017. The lot featuring “huge margins to just barely touching the frameline at left, sharp impression, light blue cancel, small natural paper wrinkle at top right of no consequence” fetched $5,000. The other outstanding example of this great rarity was sold for $17,108 by Corinphila in May, 2018.
50 bani pale blue & red stamp, 1872
50 bani pale blue & red stamp is a remarkable imperforate Romanian stamp issued in 1872. The item features a portrait of Domnitor Carol, with a beard. He was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to 1914 and the first ruler of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen dynasty, which ruled the country until the proclamation of a republic in 1947. A very fine example of 50 bani pale blue & red stamp used on 1872 cover to Venice was auctioned by Corinphila in February, 2013. The stamp with large margins on three sides and shaved but not touched at right was a part of a scarce cover that was in use for just 2½ months. Just 8 letters bearing this item are recorded in the Heimbüchler census and perhaps just 10 all told. The lot fetched $15,000 at this sale.
15 bani carmine-red stamp, 1869
15 bani carmine-red stamp, 1869 is an exquisite Romanian stamp. The item shows a portrait of Domnitor Carol, without a beard. It is lithographed on white wove paper, unwatermarked, and imperforate. A very fine example of this philatelic rarity was offered by Corinphila in May, 2018. This item was described by the auction house as “a very scarce Trial, just 100 printed with very few examples recorded”. The stamp with four margins, from the Trial Printing on vertically laid paper, in a rich shade was sold for $2,415.
10 bani blue stamp, 1869
10 bani blue stamp issued in 1869 is one of the most interesting Romanian philatelic items. Only 5 examples (all used) are believed to exist today. It features a portrait of Domnitor Carol, without a beard. He was elected the Domnitor of the United Principalities of Romania on April 20, 1866, following the overthrow of Domnitor Alexandru Cuza. A fine used example of 10 bani blue stamp, 1869 was offered by Corinphila at its auction that took place in May, 2018. The stamp with exceptionally clear "Double Printi" variety fetched $2,204. The lot was described by the auction house as having “minor imperfections of absolutely no importance, a very fine and attractive example of this extremely rare variety.”
