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VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE AND POSSIBLY UNIQUE ESSAY GRILL ON THE 24-CENT 1870 NATIONAL BANK NOTE COMPANY STAMP. IN THE ABSENCE OF A GENUINE UNUSED EXAMPLE OF SCOTT 142 OR A "POINTS UP" ESSAY GRILL ON THIS VALUE, THE STAMP OFFERED HERE ASSUMES EVEN GREATER SIGNIFICANCE IN THE FIELD OF CLASSIC UNITED STATES PHILATELY.
This essay is believed to originate from Charles F. Steel (inventor and patent holder for grilling device) and the Earl of Crawford collection. Ronald A. Burns identifies the 3c 11 x 14 Points Down Essay Grill as coming from an early plate and printing, as opposed to the Points Up version, which he argues comes from an 1872 plate and printing ("The Early and Late States of the 'H' & 'I' Grills on the Issue of 1870 Ordinaries", Opinions VII, pp. 14-30). Extrapolating Burns' findings to the other values, the absence of a 24c Points Up Essay Grill indicates that this value was not part of the later 11 x 14 Essay Grill production. The stamp offered here was probably produced in 1870 and not deemed necessary when the later essay grills were produced. No other example is recorded, and there is no known genuine unused example of the issued 24c grilled stamp (Scott 142). (Image)