America’s Luckiest Stamp Find
美國(guó)最幸運(yùn)的郵票的發(fā)現(xiàn)
1. The first United States airmail stamp has had an interesting story. Printed in 1918, this 24-cent stamp with a blue plane inside a rose border became the center of much attention. One hundred of the stamps sold to the public became known as "inverts", for the plane was printed upside down. Some of these "upside-down" airmail stamps are now worth over $6,000.
1、關(guān)于美國(guó)的第一枚航空郵票有一個(gè)有趣的故事。這枚面值為24美分的郵票印刷于1918年，玫瑰花邊的中間有一架藍(lán)色的飛機(jī)，成為人們關(guān)注的中心。因?yàn)樗{(lán)色的飛機(jī)被印顛倒了，僅僅有一百枚這種“倒轉(zhuǎn)”郵票賣(mài)給公眾。現(xiàn)在，有些這種“倒轉(zhuǎn)”航空郵票價(jià)值超過(guò)6000美元。
2. The story of these stamps began on May 14, 1918, the day after they were placed on sale. In Washington, D.C., W.T.Robey, a man interested in stamps, decided to buy a sheet of the new stamps and so went to the New York Avenue branch post office in Washington. When the clerk handed him a sheet of the stamps, Robey noted that they were poorly centered. He looked at other sheets and found that none was well centered. The clerk asked Robey to return later in the day when more stamps were expected.
2、關(guān)于這些郵票的故事發(fā)生在1918年5月14日，該日是它們開(kāi)始銷售的第二天。在首都華盛頓，一個(gè)集郵愛(ài)好者，羅比，決定去買(mǎi)一整版新郵票，于是他來(lái)到華盛頓市紐約大街的郵政支局。當(dāng)職員遞給他一版新郵票時(shí)，羅比看到它們（印刷）的中心位置很差。他看了其它幾版，沒(méi)有一個(gè)擺正中心位置。職員告訴羅比當(dāng)天晚些時(shí)候來(lái)退換，估計(jì)那時(shí)有更多郵票到貨。
3. About noon Robey came back, and the same clerk was on duty. He reached for the new sheets and handed one to Robey. The collector's heart stood still as he saw that the sheet, which had been offered him, had inverted centers.
3、羅比大約中午時(shí)候回來(lái)時(shí)，還是那個(gè)職員值班。他伸手夠到新貨取出一版遞給羅比。當(dāng)這個(gè)集郵者看到郵票時(shí)他的心跳剎那間停頓了，給他的這版郵票有一個(gè)倒轉(zhuǎn)的中心。
4. Excited by his find, obey shopped other branch post offices for more sheets with inverted centers but found none. Then he told his friends of his discovery, and they, too, looked in the city's post offices-also in vain.
4、羅比被他的發(fā)現(xiàn)振奮，他到其它郵政支局去尋購(gòu)更多張“倒轉(zhuǎn)”郵票，但是毫無(wú)結(jié)果。之后，他告訴他的朋友們他的這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們?nèi)缢粯�，找遍了全城的郵政支局，同樣徒勞無(wú)功。
5. Not being a rich man, obey decided to cash in on his good fortune. He turned down the first offer of $500 from a Washington stamp shop owner and took the sheet to New York. There he planned to show it to a collector, Colonel E.H.R.Green, as well as to stamp dealers.
5、羅比不是富人，他決定把他的好運(yùn)氣換成錢(qián)。他拒絕了一個(gè)華盛頓集郵商店老板500美元的第一個(gè)報(bào)價(jià)，帶著郵票去紐約。他計(jì)劃把“倒轉(zhuǎn)”郵票拿給一個(gè)名叫COLONEL的集郵者和一些郵票商看。
6. Colonel Green was out of the city, and no one else wanted to bid on the sheet for fear that Robey's might not be the only upside-down sheet. As the news of his find spread, many people said that other such sheets had been found. These stories proved to be false.
6、COLONEL先生不在紐約，而沒(méi)有其他任何人想報(bào)價(jià)，他們害怕羅比的郵票不是唯一的“倒轉(zhuǎn)”郵票。當(dāng)羅比的郵票發(fā)現(xiàn)的消息擴(kuò)散開(kāi)后，很多人聲稱找到了其它這樣的郵票。很快證實(shí)那些話都不真實(shí)。
7. Robey left New York without having made a sale, and stopped in Philadelphia on the way home. There, dealer Eugene Klein arranged to buy the sheet for $15,000, and finally did buy it. Within a few days, Klein sold the sheet to Colonel Green, the same collector whom Robey had failed to contact in Texas at the time, and that Klein phoned him there and sold him the sheet, sight unseen, for $20,000! Robey's sheet had cost him $24, and his profit was $14,976 while Klein gained $5,000.
7、羅比沒(méi)有賣(mài)出郵票離開(kāi)紐約，回家的路上他停腳費(fèi)城。在那兒，郵票商克林安排15000美元收購(gòu)全版“倒轉(zhuǎn)票”，最終成交。幾天之內(nèi)，克林轉(zhuǎn)手全版“倒轉(zhuǎn)票”給COLONEL先生，就是在德州與羅比失之交臂的那個(gè)郵票商，而當(dāng)克林打電話給德州的COLONEL先生，賣(mài)給他全版“倒轉(zhuǎn)票”時(shí)，他看都沒(méi)看，出價(jià)20000美元！羅比付出24美元買(mǎi)全版“倒轉(zhuǎn)票”，他的利潤(rùn)是14976美元，而克林先生賺了5000美元。
8. Of the 100 stamps first bought by Mr. obey, stamp collectors are now able to account for 90. What has happened to the others is not known. When a copy is offered for sale, it is a major event in the stamp world. A single such stamp has been sold for as much as $6,500. Few people have ever even seen a copy. Yet no matter how much this valuable stamp is bought and sold, no owner can match the thrill that W.T.Robey had on that day in 1918 when he made America's luckiest stamp find!
8、羅比先生最先購(gòu)買(mǎi)到的100枚郵票中，現(xiàn)在集郵者們能統(tǒng)計(jì)出的僅有90枚。沒(méi)有人知道另外一些郵票的下落和故事。今天，一個(gè)“倒轉(zhuǎn)票”的拷貝出售都是集郵界的大事。僅僅單枚這樣的郵票曾經(jīng)賣(mài)到6500美元。甚至是復(fù)制品也幾乎沒(méi)有人看到過(guò)。不論這種價(jià)值極高的郵票賣(mài)多少錢(qián)、買(mǎi)多少錢(qián)，沒(méi)有一個(gè)所有者的興奮可與羅比在1918年發(fā)現(xiàn)最幸運(yùn)的美國(guó)郵票那天的興奮相比！
