Rare stamps sell for $1.5m

New York: A collection of rare British Empire postage stamps has sold for nearly $1.5 million (Dh5.5 million) at a New York City auction.

The Spink Shreves Galleries says Friday's sale included more than 130 unused or cancelled stamps dating to the 19th and early 20th centuries.

One of the most coveted items was an unused 2-pence denomination stamp issued in Mauritius in 1848. An anonymous private collector bought it for $85,000.

Wall Street money manager Bill Gross of California put the stamps up for auction to raise money for the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

The project develops health, education, agriculture and infrastructure programmes throughout Africa.