The Malaysian Laszlo Hanyecz

I could not believe my eyes when I saw this on Ebay. This Malaysian first day cover has just been sold for USD43,278 in an Ebay auction by an Italy-based seller named Lirpa Loof.

The first day cover was issued in 1963 in commemoration of the inauguration of Malaysia but what makes this particular first day cover so special is that besides the three inauguration of Malaysia stamps, the cover was affixed with a stamp each from all the fourteen states of Malaysia including Singapore. This has immense historical value but I am still amazed at the final price for the winning bid.

At the same time I feel like kicking myself. Do you want to know why? I sold a first day cover similar to this one about twelve to thirteen years ago for less than RM30. I feel like I am the Malaysian Laszlo Hanyecz. For those of you who don’t know the story of Laszlo, he was the guy who in 2010 spent 10,000 Bitcoins at a local pizza restaurant called Papa John’s to buy himself two pizzas. Back then his Bitcoins were worth only $40. At today’s price, the 10,000 bitcoins are worth USD470 million.

Luck sucks!