OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Representatives of a small aviation museum in southwestern Iowa hoped they had stumbled upon a rare postage stamp potentially worth a fortune. But experts at a national stamp convention in Omaha have delivered the sad truth: it isn't the real thing, after all.
The Iowa Aviation Museum in Greenfield, Iowa, has had what it thought was an "Inverted Jenny" stamp on display for some 20 years and brought it to the Omaha gathering.
Ken Martin is with the American Philatelic Society that's holding its national convention in Omaha. He said Friday that experts knew immediately the stamp wasn't authentic because "it wasn't the right size."
Had it been real, Martin says it would be worth between $300,000 and $400,000. There were only 100 of the stamps printed in 1918, with the image of a JN-4-H "Jenny" biplane accidentally displayed upside down on a 24-cent stamp.