1867 5c brown, A.Grill Essay (covering the entire stamp), original gum, pulled perforation at lower right, fine appearance, with 1969 (as Scott No.80 unused with original gum) and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Meilstrup (1973 sale, sold as a stamp). There are four known unused "essays", all originating from a block of four from the Earl of Crawford's collection (presumably this is the lower right stamp). There are also only four known used examples, which are listed in the Scott catalogue as number 80 (with a catalogue value of $260,000, likely to rise after a recent hammer of $340,000). One of only four unused copies, this is quite possibly the finest, as it has original gum and only a minor flaw. An unused without gum copy with small faults brought $22,000 in the 2015 Siegel Rarities Sale (two of the four unused 5c A Grill stamps from the Earl of Crawford block, including this one, were previously certified as genuine Scott 80's by The Philatelic Foundation, which currently describes them as essays) (Cat No. 80E) (Image)

Est.$25,000

1867 30c orange, A.Grill (covering the entire stamp), black Crossroads cancel, usual centering, tear at upper left, ex- Meilstrup (where it was described as having a "few irregular perfs"), handstamped on back (W.H.C.), fine appearance, with 1968 ("the stamp and the grill are genuine") and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Ezra Cole. There are only 8 known copies of this stamp (including one in the New York Public Library Collection), all used, poorly centered, and most contain some degree of faults. The stamp offered in this auction is listed in the Siegel Census as 81-CAN-03 and has not been seen since 1969. A comparable copy (also with a tear) realized $150,000 in the Wingate sale (Siegel Auctions, 2018) (Scott catalogue value "for off-center examples with small perforation faults") cat. $240000 (Cat No. 81) (Image)

Cat. $240000, Est.$120,000

1867 3c rose, B. Grill, black grid cancel, accompanied by the original cover from Mason, Texas to Darmstadt, Germany (10c paid the rate to Hamburg, with additional 2c needed to pay for the transmission from Hamburg to Darmstadt), which contained a row of four of the 3c "B" Grill singles (the only four known copies). The cover is illustrated and extensively described in the 1966 "The United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century" by Lester Brookman. The example offered here is centered to upper left (as all four copies are), has a natural straight edge at right, light diagonal crease, fine, with a photograph of the 1969 PFC for the original cover showing the four stamps (removed and hinged back) and 2019 PFC for this single copy. The emergence of this particular stamp along with the actual cover from which it originated is a major philatelic revelation, as both have not been seen in over 50 years. Recent realizations of singles include $575,000 (plus buyer's premium) in a 2015 Siegel Rarities sale and $900,000 (plus buyer's premium) in the Perry Hansen sale (Siegel Auctions, 2008) on which the current Scott catalogue value is based. This 3 Cent B Grill is one of the four discovered together on a cover to Germany. It is one of the rarest stamps in the world and a key to a complete collection of the United States stamps, cat. $900000 (Cat No. 82) (Image)

Cat. $900000, Est.$500,000

1867 3c rose, C.Grill, unused with original gum, h.r., well centered for this difficult issue, nice color, v.f., with 1952 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, cat. $5500 (Cat No. 83) (Image)

Cat. $5500, Est.$1,500

1867 2c black, D.Grill, unused with large part original gum, h.r., deep and intense color, usual centering, fine and sound example of the rare D.Grill, with 2019 PFC (2c D.Grill unused with original gum is difficult to find. The finest examples are contained in multiples and most original gum singles tend to be either faulty or strongly off-center in two directions, with perforations well into the design) cat. $16000 (Cat No. 84) (Image)

Cat. $16000, Est.$1,500

1867 3c rose, D.Grill, unused without gum, nice color, fine, with 2019 PFC, cat. $2400 (Cat No. 85) (Image)

Cat. $2400, Est.$300

1867 2c black, E. Grill, unused without gum, strong color, usual centering, with 2019 PFC, cat. $650 (Cat No. 87) (Image)

Cat. $650, Est.$150

1867 3c rose red, E. Grill, unused with original gum, h.r., fresh color, fine, with 2019 PFC, cat. $950 (Cat No. 88) (Image)

Cat. $950, Est.$200

1867 10c green, E.Grill, unused without gum, deep intense color, well centered with intact perforations on all sides, fine, with 2019 PFC (catalogued as unused without gum) cat. $2000 (Cat No. 89) (Image)

Cat. $2000, Est.$500

1867 12c black, E.Grill, unused without gum, centered to bottom, light diagonal creases at bottom left, fine example of this rare Grill, with 2019 PFC, cat. $1900 (Cat No. 90) (Image)

Cat. $1900, Est.$250

1867 15c black, E.Grill, fresh original gum, h.r., fairly well centered for this tough issue, perfect grill impression and nice color, fine and attractive 15c E. Grill, with 1952 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Huber, cat. $12500 (Cat No. 91) (Image)

Cat. $12500, Est.$2,500

1867 1c blue, 2c black, 3c rose red, F.Grill, unused without gum, few short perfs, last one with slight soiling in grill, fine group, with 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, cat. $1215 (Cat No. 92-94) (Image)

Cat. $1215, Est.$250

1867 5c dark brown, F.Grill, faintly canceled (appears unused), well centered, excellent color, fine and rare stamp, with 2019 PFC, cat. $850 (Cat No. 95) (Image)

Cat. $850, Est.$250

1867 10c green, F.Grill, fresh original gum, h.r., usual centering, perfectly defined Grill, minute soiling at upper left, fine and rare stamp, with clear 1952 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Huber, cat. $2500 (Cat No. 96) (Image)

Cat. $2500, Est.$500

1867 12c black, F.Grill, unused without gum, well centered, fine, with 2019 PFC, cat. $1000 (Cat No. 97) (Image)

Cat. $1000, Est.$250

1867 15c black, F.Grill, unused with large part original, disturbed gum, h.r., usual centering, small tear at lower right and rounded corner, fine appearance, with 2019 PFC, cat. $4250 (Cat No. 98) (Image)

Cat. $4250, Est.$350

1867 24c gray lilac, Double F.Grill variety, unused without gum, usual centering, two short perforations at right, otherwise fine and rare, with 2019 PFC (the variety is only catalogued with gum) cat. $9500 (Cat No. 99var) (Image)

Cat. $9500, Est.$500

1867 30c orange, faintly canceled (if at all), looks unused, centered to left, with 2019 PFC, cat. $900 (Cat No. 100) (Image)

Cat. $900, Est.$150

1867 2c black, Z.Grill, unused with original gum, h.r., well defined Grill, usual centering, tiny perf. flaws at top, otherwise fine, with 2019 PFC (the 2c Z.Grill is one of the most difficult to obtain with decent centering, as evident from the PSE Population Report, which lists only five stamps with original gum, graded 10 (two), 20, 30 and 50) cat. $17500 (Cat No. 85B) (Image)

Cat. $17500, Est.$1,500

1867 3c rose, Z.Grill, unused with original gum, h.r., usual centering, fresh and fine, an extremely difficult stamp to find sound and with original gum, with 1955 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, cat. $25000 (Cat No. 85C) (Image)

Cat. $25000, Est.$5,000

1867 10c green, Z.Grill, segmented cork cancel, well centered on crisp white paper, completely sound, ex-Laurence and Stryker, with 1958 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation certificates (the latter graded "VF-XF 85"). There are only six known copies of this stamp, one of which is in the Miller Collection. Only one other (ex-Ishikawa) is sound and this is by far the better centered of the two. A major philatelic rarity, one of only five existing examples available to collectors, this one not seen since 1958 (Siegel Census 85D-CAN-01), worthy of the finest collection (SMQ for FN-70 $520,000) (Scott catalogue value is for a well centered copy with faults) cat. $600000 (Cat No. 85D) (Image)

Cat. $600000, Est.$750,000

1867 12c intense black, Z.Grill, unused without gum, well centered for this difficult issue, sharp impression, fresh and fine, with 1958 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Huber (catalogued as unused without gum) cat. $8500 (Cat No. 85E) (Image)

Cat. $8500, Est.$2,000

1867 15c black, Z.Grill, geometric cancel, centered to right, completely sound, one of only two known copies, with 1962 and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates, ex-Eugene Costales. A tremendous United States and World Class rarity, ex-Schilling Collection, last offered in a 1975 Siegel Rarities sale (catalogued in the grade of extremely fine at $2,000,000 and $800,000 as VG-50 in the U.S. Specialized by Grade). This stamp is definitely a key to forming a complete U.S. stamp collection, equal in rarity to the famous Z.Grill 1c (In Scott catalogue of U. S. Stamps, the 15c Z.Grill is listed as 85F: it is one of the very few issues that does not bear a unique number but must share its numeral (85) with other stamps of different denominations. This anomaly arose because Scott created its system long before the Z pattern gained general recognition as a separate variety of Grill (which did not occur until the 1910s). Accordingly, Scott assigned capital letters to the Z.Grill denominations and inserted them into the catalogue after No.85 (the 3c D.Grill). The 1c Z.Grill appeared as 85A and the 2c through 15c Z.Grills were designated 85B through 85F. This expedient enabled Scott to retain the existing numbers for all subsequent stamps, beginning with the E.Grill issues (86-91) (Cat No. 85F) (Image)

Est.$750,000

1870 1c ultramarine, H. Grill, unused large part original gum, h.r., faintly grilled, nice color and well centered, fine, with 2019 PFC, cat. $2000 (Cat No. 134) (Image)

Cat. $2000, Est.$750

1870 2c red brown, I.Grill, unused without gum, short perf. at right and a tiny corner crease at top left, fine appearance, with 1952 (as 135) and 2019 Philatelic Foundation Certificates (Scott Specialized Catalogue elevated the I.Grills to major catalogue numbers beginning with the 2013 edition) cat. $2000 (Cat No. 135A) (Image)

Cat. $2000, Est.$500