INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS NEWSPAPER ERROR

There are few people who would argue against the declaration that the Dewey Defeats Truman newspaper error serve a the most famous newspaper error ever produced.

For decades this newspaper has stood for some as an indictment of the rush of traditional media to early predictions in U.S. elections and to others as simply an historical novelty.

If an error like this occurred today it would certainly create a stir and become an instant collectible, but the odds are that the value would never reach the level of the Dewey Defeats Truman newspaper. The reason is simple.

Scarcity creates value. By that we mean, an error like this created in today's world would create such a stir that collectors would immediate gobble up every copy they could get their hands on. Furthermore, the average collector today is far more astute when it comes to saving and collecting items of this nature and would no doubt realize its potential value - thus increasing the number of people who would hoard the errors.

In 1948 few people realized the potential future value of the error. Few people saved the editions and add to that the reality that few error copies made it into the hands of collectors before it was recalled- and you had a newspaper that had become an instant celebrity.