| 555 |
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 3c Rose, A. Grill (79). Clearly-defined grill and with much better perfs than usually found on this issue, bright color, neat strike of blue quartered cork cancel, small sealed tear at top left
not mentioned on accompanying certificate, otherwise Very Fine, with 1984 P.F. certificate (Image)Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com |
1,825.00
SOLD for $1,200.00
Will close during Public Auction |
| 556 |
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 5c Dark Brown, A. Grill (80a). Dark shade and perfs which are characteristic of this experimental grilled issue, quartered cork cancels and faint duplex circular datestampONE OF FOUR RECORDED
EXAMPLES OF THE 1867 5-CENT DARK BROWN WITH EXPERIMENTAL OVERALL "A" GRILL. THIS IS ONE OF THE KEYS TO A COMPLETE COLLECTION OF UNITED STATES STAMPS. Our census contains four 5c A Grill stamps considered to be issued stamps. All four are
cancelled. Two are in shades of Brown, which are classified as Scott 80 (although one has a P.F. certificate as Scott 80a), and two are in the true Dark Brown shade, Scott 80a. The 2008 Scott U.S. Specialized footnote stating that eight copies are
known is in error, because it fails to disqualify the four unused singles that originally formed a block owned by the Earl of Crawford, which are now classified as essays. For a complete census and history of the 5c A Grill, please go to http://siegelauctions.com/enc/census/80.pdf The stamp offered here is the mate to the Scott 80a last sold in our 2001 Rarities of the World sale for $130,000 hammer.
They were originally joined as a pair and were used as singles together on the same cover (see photos of the original piece bearing this stamp and the two shown together). The two stamps are printed in a distinctive shade listed as Dark Brown in
Scott and sometimes called Black Brown by specialists. This is a very scarce shade, found only on covers dated from late 1867 into 1868 (we record covers from October 1867 to May 1868). It is likely that a small number of sheets from this late
printing were available for grilling with the A Grill in 1867. The other two recorded 5c A Grills are redder shades of Brown and must come from a different supply of 5c sheets printed earlier. The stamp offered here shows the effect of the
overall grill on the perforations, which were weakened and easily torn during separation. For this reason, the experimental A Grill device was retooled to reduce the dimensions of the grill, producing the C Grill, and all later grills were made
smaller to improve the grilling process and its product. The two examples of the distinctive Dark Brown, Scott 80a, show perforation defects, but the two others do not. Obviously, the presence of perforation flaws should be considered a perfectly
normal character trait of this issue. With the elimination of the four unused 5c A Grill essays from the population of certifiable Scott 80/80a stamps, only four examples of this major rarity remain available to collectors. The Scott value is
based on the realization in the Rarities sale in 2001, long before the escalation in stamp values during the past four years and before the supply of genuine 5c A Grill stamps was reduced from eight to four. Ex Ishikawa. "W.H.C." backstamp of
Warren H. Colson. With 2008 P.F. certificate, along with 1959 P.F. and 1959 Colson certificates (the latter states "one of the only two genuine examples," which refers to the two stamps used together) (Image) Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com |
130,000.00
SOLD for $210,000.00
Will close during Public Auction |
