HONG KONG: A rare Chinese stamp from 1897 sold for HK$4.8 million ($617,959) to an Asian bidder, setting a record price for a single Chinese stamp at auction.

The "Small One Dollar" is one of only 32 recorded copies featuring a one-dollar overprint on a stamp with a face value of three cents. The 15 percent commission paid to the auction house raised the price to about $710,600.

Another copy was sold for $333,862 in September in Hong Kong by auction house Zurich Asia, according to the company's Web site. The previous record price for a Chinese stamp was set in November when an unidentified Asian buyer paid HK$3.68 million.