In 1980 the Olympic Games were held in Moscow and the German Post Office prepared a commemorative stamp for the occasion, but it was subsequently not issued for political reasons as West-Germany decided to boycott the Games. Kurt Gscheidle, the then Post Minister, received a sample sheet of these unissued stamps from his ministry, which he subsequently placed in his desk at home. His wife later accidentally used the stamps for her private correspondence, resulting in several cancelled copies that have survived to this day.

At the Schlegel auction in Berlin in May 2023, however, one mint never hinged copy of this stamp was auctioned for a record price of €194,000 without auction fees, and €232,800 with fees! More than four decades ago, it was still customary in Germany to enclose a stamp with a letter to cover postage if the addressee expected a reply to his letter. And just such a piece, intended for return postage, from a letter to a friend of Mrs Gscheidle, has survived in mint condition. These stamps are commonly known in Germany as "Gscheidle-Irrtümer" or "Gscheidle-Marke" (English: Gscheidle errors or Gscheidle stamps).

Same stamp only cancelled (more of these have survived) was sold at the Heinrich Köhler auction in 2018 for €11,000.

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