One of the mandatory aspects of childhood is unbridled optimism through ill-conceived ideas and/or schemes. It’s actually a right-of-passage. In the case of my friends and me, our notions usually came from the pages of a comic book.
We didn’t dream of becoming super heroes. Our reality was humanly plausible. In those pages we spotted ads for rare coins or stamps. Later, we saw similar ads in issues of Popular Mechanics or Popular Science. They would show a picture of a super rare stamp with the enticing headline stating, “If you own one of these it’s worth over a million dollars!”
We figured we need only look through the old stamps our father might have in a drawer to quickly uncover our fortune. Before we even began searching, we knew what we would buy with our vast profits....
They included everything from a gyrocopter or motorcycle to a radio-controlled anything. Naturally, our dreams faded when no hidden treasures were instantly found. Those aspirations resurfaced each time we’d get a new issue of a comic or magazine.I can’t say that was the exact experience of Stuart Weitzman but it might have been. Weitzman’s interest is said to have begun around age 12 when his leg was in a cast. To pass the time he looked at old coins. He also pored through a stamp collection his brother had put together before leaving for college. Weitzman too dreamed of owning ultra-rare collectibles. The difference was he eventually did.
One of the rarities he acquired was the fabled 1856 Magenta British Guiana one-cent stamp. Only one has ever been found. Ironically, it was originally discovered by a 12-year-old boy in a box containing his uncle’s old papers – just as we hoped our childhood dreams would play out. The boy sold it for $10 in 1873 (a lot of money back then). It went on to soar in value.
Dealers used the story and image of that stamp to entice young readers – and dreamers – to begin collecting. In 1980, the stamp sold for almost one million dollars. Last month, it again went up for sale. This time, it was hammered down for just over $8.3 million.
Among Weitzman’s other prize possessions was the super rare block of four 1918 inverted “Jenny” 24-cent US air mail stamps. One of the most sought-after modern rarities, the bidding for it began at three million dollars and came down to two individuals at the Sotheby’s New York auction. Soon, the price reached four million dollars. It ended up at just over $4.8 million including the buyer’s premium.
In the packed room, the bidding began at $7 million. It soon passed $10 million and was increased in steps of $500,000. It eventually reached $15 million and was also down to just two bidders – one in the room and the other on the phone. Remember, this is for a $20 gold piece weighing barely one ounce with a bullion value of just $1,800. But, again, it’s not only rare, but arguably unique.
Finally, bidding increased to $16,500,000. The auctioneer asked for $17 million. The second bidder offered $16.75 million. Sotheby’s took it. With the buyer’s commission the final price came to $18.8 million.
Whether for a 12-year-old boy or an accomplished adult (Weitzman has been a very successful shoe designer) these are surely the things of which dreams are made. And, they still will be.
The Weitzman family is known for a Charitable Trust in their name. The proceeds from this sale are slated to go into that. One beneficiary will be the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Perhaps even more telling are the monies the family will allocate to research at Boston Children’s Hospital.
For Stuart, that’s pretty much where his dreams all started – when he was laid up in a cast. Maybe, just maybe, a few of the dollars could be spent on coin or stamp collecting kits for the hospitalized kids. Again, for at least one child, that’s how it all began.
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