The world's rarest gem is believed to be painite, a gem that most
have never heard of. The painite is orangish or reddish brown and
was first discovered in Burma in the '50s. Within the last couple of
years, the source of the two original painite crystals was discovered
and now a few hundred faceted stones exist. A more well-known
(but still very rare) gem is the red diamond (pic. left).
Rarest Signature
He may have done a lot of writing, but with only 6 of them in existence
William Shakespeare's signature is one of the rarest of all and is
valued somewhere around $3 million dollars.
Rarest Cats & Dogs
Of the rarest cat breeds, the Ashera (pic. left) is the most expensive
($20K+), the Sokoke the most exotic (from the wilds of Africa), and
the Egyptian Mau has the coolest history (lived with the Egyptians).
As for dog breeds, the one that keeps popping up on all the "rare" lists
is the Lundehund, originally bred by the Vikings to hunt Puffins.
Other rare breeds include Otterhounds and Stabyhounds.
Rarest Record Albums
In 1999, Mark David Chapman's copy of John Lennon and Yoko
Ono's album Double Fantasy, autographed by Lennon five hours
before Chapman fatally shot him, sold. The album had been found
in a flower planter outside Lennon's home, at the scene of his murder.
The record bears the forensically-certified fingerprints of Chapman,
and was even used as evidence in the case against him. Price tag:
$460,000. Or was it?
Rarest Stamps
According to Wikipedia, the most expensive item by weight and
volume is the Treskilling Yellow stamp from Sweden. It has a
current estimated worth of $2.3 million. Here's what makes it
so valuable: In 1858, when the currency was known as the skilling,
the 3-skilling stamp ("treskilling") was printed in blue. And an 8-skilling
stamp was printed in yellow. But due to a printing error, a few 3-skilling
stamps were printed in yellow.
Rarest Sea Salt
The earliest known sea salt produced by the Japanese may be the
rarest of all. Called Amabito No Moshio ("Ancient Sea Salt"),
unpolluted sea water is collected from the Seto-uchi inland sea,
infused with seaweed to develop the "unami", and then processed
by cooking in an iron kettle, put into a centrifuge, and finally,
cooked over an open fire while stirring constantly. The salt is worth
over $40 per pound.
Rarest Jeans
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most
valuable jeans are an original pair of Levi Strauss & Co 501 jeans
aged over 115 years old which were sold to a collector in Japan
for $60,000 through eBay in 2005. Quite rare indeed considering a
new pair sells for $46.
Rarest Baseball Cards
In February 2007, a "near mint-mint" Honus Wagner sold for $2.3
million, at that point probably the highest sale for a baseball card
in history. Then, in September 2007, the same card was reportedly
sold again. This time for $2.8 million to a private collector. The card
in question, aT206 Honus Wagner, was made by the American
Tobacco Company in 1909. It has been called the "Mona Lisa of
baseball cards."
Rarest Comic Books
One of the rarest comic books still in existence in near-perfect
condition is an issue of "Amazing Spider-Man #1," rare not only
because of its singularity but also because of its quality. The comic
book sold for only 12 cents per copy when it was published in
March 1963, and is now worth over $40K -- not an exceedingly high
price for comic books -- but extremely rare in such pristine condition.
Rarest Real Estate
At the intersection of location, exclusivity and history you find some
of the rarest pieces of real estate. With that criteria, Luxist.com
blogger's pick for the rarest piece of real estate currently on the
market is Bran's castle, the castle in Transylvania that inspired
Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is expected to fetch upwards of
$135 million.
Rarest Horses
The Sorraia Horse is said to be the direct descendant of the wild
Iberian horse but only 200 currently remain living in South Iberia.
The Tiger Horse is a rare breed which is said to have existed in
Ancient Spain and the beginning of the New World. Rare in terms
of its abilities and characteristics, is the Lipizzaner (pic. left). Bred
for its military prowess, one of these animals can sell for up to $100,000.
Rarest Books
There are countless rare books in the world, but by most experts'
standards the rarest of them all is the Gutenberg Bible. It was the
first book ever printed back in 1456, and although several hundred
copies were originally printed finding a complete first edition would
net you $25-$35 million. In today's market single pages alone go
for $25K each, and several years ago just 1 volume (it's a 2 volume
set) sold for $5.5M.
Rarest Necklaces
In the world of rare necklaces, a couple million dollars doesn't get
you much. Even ten million dollars is cheap for these babies. The
most expensive necklace may likely be one built around the Blue
Empress, a rare natural blue diamond. The pear-shaped diamond
weighs about 14 carats. It is set in 18k white gold and surrounded
with white diamonds. It's estimated to be worth $16 million.
Rarest Wine
One of the rarest bottles of wine ever sold was purchased by
Christopher Forbes for a mere £105,000 ($160,000). It was an
unmarked green glass bottle with the inscription of "1787 Lafitte Th. J."
(now known as Lafite and thought to be owned by Thomas Jefferson),
found behind a wall in Paris.
Rarest Vases
In 2006, a 20-inch high blue and white Yuan Dynasty vase fetched
over $2 million. That sounds rare but at the end of that year, casino
owner Steve Wynn paid even more for a rare vase. The small copper
red and white porcelain vase, is a 14th century Ming vase (pic. left)
decorated in scrolling flowers. It is from the exceptionally rare Hongwu
period and went for around $10.9 million, making it the world's
most expensive.
Rarest Coins
As a general rule the more rare a coin is the more it's worth, so
what's the rarest coin ever? It's a debatable subject as not all
experts always agree, but if the Double Eagle isn't at the top of
that list it's sure near it. Back in 2002 the only Double Eagle coin
left to be in private hands (or so everybody thought) sold for $7.9
million dollars.
Rarest Food
Served in China for over 400 years, the primary ingredient in bird's
nest soup or "Caviar of the East" is saliva nests built by cave swifts. Among one of the most expensive animal products consumed by
humans it is believed to aid digestion, raise libido, and even alleviate
asthma as it is dissolved in water to create a gelatinous soup. In
Hong Kong, a bowl costs up to $30. Red version can cost $10K per gram.
Rarest Travel Trips
What is the rarest trip? There's no real consensus on this, but Luxist.
com blogger Deidre Woodward says that the trek to summit Mount
Everest still remains among the rarest trips in the world. But even
this has become something that is accessible to more people. In
two months and for around $60,000 you can join a group and make
the attempt of a lifetime.
