Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) A rare misprinted U.S. postage stamp known as the "Inverted Jenny" will be among the highlights of the upcoming PHILATAIPEI 2026 World Stamp Championship Exhibition in Taipei, while Pokémon-themed stamps and merchandise have mostly sold out in online presales, organizers said Monday.

The "Inverted Jenny" is a famous 24-cent U.S. postage stamp issued in 1918. It features a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, nicknamed the "Jenny," printed upside down within a red frame because of a printing error.

Only about 100 examples of the misprinted stamp were reportedly still in existence worldwide, according to Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd., Taiwan's state-run postal service.

One example sold for US$2 million at a Robert A. Siegel auction in November 2023, setting a record for a single U.S. stamp sold at auction, according to auction records.

The PHILATAIPEI 2026 exhibition will run from Nov. 20 to 25 at the Taipei World Trade Center, with free admission.

At a press conference on Monday, Chunghwa Post said the exhibition, themed "Innovation ∞ Sustainability," will feature several sections, including one dedicated to rare stamps and the National Palace Museum, a Taiwan and global thematic section, a stamp art DIY section, and a section marking Chunghwa Post's 130th anniversary.

The event will bring together postal services, stamp dealers and philatelists from 69 countries and territories, with 2,054 frames displaying rare stamp collections from Taiwan and abroad, Chunghwa Post said.

Chunghwa Post Chairman Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said Taiwan last hosted a world stamp exhibition in 2016, adding that he hoped this year's event would help raise Taiwan's international profile.

Other historical stamps on display will include the Shanghai-printed Flying Geese Basic Stamps from 1949, Argentina's Farmer and Rising Sun Stamp from 1911 and the Dragon-Horse Postage Stamps from 1888, according to Chunghwa Post.

The six-day exhibition will also feature daily activities, including performances, autograph sessions, lectures and Pokémon meet-and-greet events, the company said.

Pokémon craze

For the exhibition, Chunghwa Post has teamed up with the Pokémon franchise to release stamps and co-branded merchandise.

The company said Monday that the Pokémon-themed stamps and merchandise allocated to online presales, accounting for 60 percent of the total and including 180,000 stamps, sold out mostly within two hours.

Wang said the Pokémon merchandise would not be restocked because of contractual restrictions.

Another 20 percent of the Pokémon-themed stamps and merchandise will go on sale at 11 a.m. on the exhibition's opening day at Entrance 8 of the Taipei World Trade Center, according to Chunghwa Post. A further 20 percent of the themed stamps will be sold at designated Chunghwa Post branches.

Each visitor will receive only one queue ticket, and purchases will be subject to per-person limits, the company said.