10. Stock Exchange Invert
This stamp gets recognition not only because it’s an invert, but because it’s the last invert that the United States Post Office printed, back in 1992—on a stamp commemorating the 200th anniversary of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Only 56 of these stamps are known to be in existence. Surrounded by a green border with red numerals, the inverted images include one scene of modern traders, depicted standing beneath a hub of monitors on the stock exchange, and an exterior view of the exchange’s neoclassical facade, at 11 Wall Street.
The NYSE was unofficially created on May 17, 1792, when 24 stock brokers signed the Buttonwood Agreement, which stated that the brokers could only trade with each other and that they were to earn a commission of 0.25 percent. It was signed outside of 68 Wall Street, under a buttonwood tree. The agreement was reached after William Duer’s overzealous borrowing (and defaults) caused a financial panic earlier that year.
