Jay Tell

Americana Stamp and Coin Galleries © was founded by Jay Tell, a rare stamp and coin dealer whose career spans over 60 years. From his earliest transactions in 1958 to landmark sales that made international headlines, Jay has built a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable, well-connected, and historically astute dealers in the field.

Jay has owned and operated five Los Angeles–area stamp and coin stores, served as the first stamp and coin editor of the Los Angeles Times, and created the widely read column Stamp and Coin Corner. His expertise has been sought by auction houses, courts, private collectors, and television producers alike.

Whether you are buying, selling, appraising, or simply seeking expert guidance, Americana Stamp and Coin Galleries brings unmatched depth of knowledge and a lifetime of firsthand experience to every transaction.

The Jenny Invert — officially the 24-cent Curtiss Jenny airmail stamp with the biplane printed upside down — is arguably the most famous stamp error in American philatelic history. In 1918, a sheet of 100 was accidentally sold at a Washington, D.C. post office before the error was caught. The sheet was immediately broken up, and the individual stamps and small blocks have been traded and treasured ever since.

The Plate Number Block of Four — a corner block bearing the printing plate number — is the single most coveted configuration of the Jenny Invert. Jay Tell has been directly involved in the buying and selling of this extraordinary piece, placing it among the most significant transactions of his career.

The Jenny Invert Plate Block has sold at auction for record prices, consistently ranking among the highest-valued items in American philately. Its combination of historical significance, extreme rarity, and dramatic backstory makes it a centerpiece of any serious discussion of rare stamps.

The British Guiana 1856 1-cent Magenta is widely regarded as the world's most valuable stamp — and one of the most extraordinary objects in the history of collecting. Only one example is known to exist. Printed in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1856 as an emergency provisional issue, the stamp was discovered by a Scottish schoolboy in 1873 and has passed through the hands of some of the world's greatest collectors ever since.

In June 2014, the stamp sold at Sotheby's New York for $9.5 million — the highest price ever paid for a single stamp at auction. Jay Tell has followed the history of this stamp with expert attention throughout his career, and its story represents the pinnacle of what rare philately can achieve: a single piece of paper, less than an inch across, that commands the price of a masterpiece painting.

The British Guiana 1¢ Magenta is a testament to the power of rarity, provenance, and the enduring human fascination with objects that exist at the edge of the possible.

The Lost Continental is considered by many experts to be America's rarest stamp. A product of the Continental Bank Note Company, this stamp exists in such vanishingly small quantities that its very existence was debated for years. When a verified example came to market in 1999, it sold for $397,838 — a price that reflected both its extraordinary rarity and its significance to American philatelic history.

Jay Tell's deep knowledge of 19th-century American stamp issues, including the Continental Bank Note printings, has made him one of the foremost authorities on this category of rarities. His expertise in identifying, authenticating, and valuing stamps of this caliber has been sought by collectors, auction houses, and courts alike.

The Nobel Prize gold medal is among the most prestigious objects in the world — awarded annually since 1901 to individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to humanity in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics. Each medal is individually struck in 18-karat green gold plated with 24-karat gold, weighing approximately 175 grams, and bearing the portrait of Alfred Nobel on the obverse.

Jay Tell made history as the first dealer in the world to buy and sell a Nobel Prize gold medal. This transaction — unprecedented in the collectibles market — required not only the financial resources to complete the purchase but also the expertise, discretion, and professional network to identify, authenticate, and place an object of such singular importance.

The sale established Jay as a dealer operating at the very highest level of the rare collectibles market, capable of handling objects whose significance extends far beyond their material value into the realm of human achievement and history.

Jay Tell served as the stamp, coin, and currency expert for The History Channel's Pawn Stars — one of the most-watched programs in cable television history. In this role, Jay brought his decades of expertise to a national audience, evaluating rare and unusual collectibles and educating millions of viewers about the history and value of stamps, coins, and currency.

Before his television work, Jay built a distinguished career in journalism. He served as a newspaper editor, publisher, investigative reporter, and columnist — skills that inform his writing about collectibles to this day. As the first stamp and coin editor of the Los Angeles Times and creator of Stamp and Coin Corner, Jay helped define how the mainstream press covered the world of rare collectibles.

Jay's journalism background also led him to document fascinating corners of American history, including a celebrated tribute to Bobby Darin and extensive coverage of Las Vegas history — work that reflects his lifelong curiosity about the stories behind objects, places, and people.

In 1903, as Theodore Roosevelt occupied the White House and America stood at the threshold of a new century, a series of extraordinary stamp albums were assembled — complete, intact collections representing the philatelic world of that moment in time. These Roosevelt Albums are among the rarest and most historically significant philatelic artifacts in existence.

Jay Tell is the buyer and seller of three intact 1903 Roosevelt Albums — an achievement that speaks to both his extraordinary network within the collecting world and his ability to recognize and act on opportunities that most dealers never encounter. Each album is a time capsule, preserving the stamps of an era in pristine, original condition.

The Roosevelt Albums represent exactly the kind of historically rich, deeply rare material that defines Jay Tell's career: objects that are simultaneously beautiful, historically significant, and extraordinarily scarce.