One of China's most famous stamps has sold for 13.8 million Chinese Yuan (A$2.74 million) by auction house China Guardian in Beijing last Thursday.
Printed in 1968, the stamp is nicknamed "Big Red" and shows revolutionary workers marching with Mao’s “little red book”.
The stamp features Communist slogans such as “Long live the total victory of the Cultural Revolution without the bourgeoisie” and “All mountains and rivers across the country are a sea of red”.
There are only nine of them remaining in circulation - this one was said to be in pristine condition.
It was issued by the Communist Government to celebrate the "full victory of the Great Proletarian Culture Revolution" and the establishment of 29 Revolutionary Committees across China.
It is the most expensive stamp ever have sold in China, beating a record set in 2012 of 7.3 million Chinese Yuan by the sale of another Big Red stamp.
A Chinese Paramilitary Policeman of the Tiananmen Flag Guard Brigade is seen guarding their training base inside the Forbidden City in Beijing. Source: AAP
The stamp's price at issue was 8 cents Chinese Yuan.
However, the stamp was never issued due to its large size, with government officials adopting a smaller version with the same print, nicknamed Small Red.
Apart from the scarcity, some peculiarities in the design have added enormous value to the stamp.
One such designed aspect was the island of Taiwan which appears in white, and not the symbolic revolutionary red colour used for the mainland - despite China claiming the island as part of its territory.
Another design peculiarity was that the stamp's map didn't contain islands of the South China Sea which China claims sovereignty over, while the borders between China and neighbouring countries Mongolia, Burma and Bhutan were drawn incorrectly.
While the Big Red was unissued, China's State Post Bureau quickly withdrew the Small Red versions containing these discrepancies.
No details are known of the winning bidder.
