BELGIUM – 1849, 40c Epaulettes block of four – worth US.$.62,170

The epaulettes were the first stamps issued for public use in Belgium in 1849. These items feature the portrait of King Leopold I, the ruler of Belgium. This unique series of stamps gets its name because the king is wearing his famous epaulettes in the picture.

Two denominations with the same design were issued simultaneously: a brown 10 centimes and a blue 20 centimes. The ten centimes value is often the rarer of the two. On December 15, 2012, the block of 40c epaulettes stamps was sold for $62,170 by David Feldman during the sale of the collection of Belgium postage stamps owned by Anatoly Karpov.