A Bull’s Head (Cap de Bour) stamp with a face value of 27 parale (old Romanian currency) was sold for EUR 26,000 at a recent auction organized by Artmark, becoming the most expensive stamp ever sold at an auction in Romania. Its starting price was EUR 10.000.

This stamp was issued in 1858, at the same time with the Bull’s Head stamp with the face value of 54 parale. These stamps are extremely rare. Only 6,016 stamps were issued, of which 3,691 were sold.

The Bull’s Head stamps are so valuable because they were the first stamps to be issued in the Romanian principalities, and thus represented an important step towards Moldova’s independence from the Ottoman Empire. The bull’s head was the Principality of Moldavia’s coat of arms.

The Bull’s Head stamp with the face value of 54 parale was also sold at the auction for EUR 4,750. It had a starting price of EUR 3,500.

The auction had total sales of EUR 47,000, the awarding rate reaching some 80%.

One of the most valuable Romanian stamps, on sale at auction.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com