Session Two (lots 209-359): Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at 1:30pm continued...

HISTORY AND COMMENTARY

The post office in Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia), received its first supply of 1847 stamps on August 8, 1847—1,200 5¢ and 400 10¢--and soon after applied a red 7-bar grid to the center of blocks of four before or at the time the stamps were sold. We do not know if the red grids were struck on all 25 blocks in a pane of 100 stamps, or if they were applied to smaller units, but all of the known examples have the red grid in one corner of the stamp (see image at left).

Since most of the recorded examples with the red grid are additionally cancelled, some experts have been reluctant to define them as precancellations, which are usually not cancelled again. However, one of the seven recorded covers has a precancelled stamp without any other cancel, and a piece with a 5¢ has the stamp tied by the Wheeling November 6 (1847) circular datestamp, without any other cancel (Siegel Sale 203, lot 123). Whether the grid was applied as a control mark, as some have suggested, or for reasons that qualify it as a precancel, is a technical point for specialists to debate. Everyone agrees that the Wheeling grid is unique in the manner in which it was applied to the 1847 Issue. (Image)

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HISTORY AND COMMENTARY

The post office in Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia), received its first supply of 1847 stamps on August 8, 1847—1,200 5¢ and 400 10¢--and soon after applied a red 7-bar grid to the center of blocks of four before or at the time the stamps were sold. We do not know if the red grids were struck on all 25 blocks in a pane of 100 stamps, or if they were applied to smaller units, but all of the known examples have the red grid in one corner of the stamp (see image at left).

Since most of the recorded examples with the red grid are additionally cancelled, some experts have been reluctant to define them as precancellations, which are usually not cancelled again. However, one of the seven recorded covers has a precancelled stamp without any other cancel, and a piece with a 5¢ has the stamp tied by the Wheeling November 6 (1847) circular datestamp, without any other cancel (Siegel Sale 203, lot 123). Whether the grid was applied as a control mark, as some have suggested, or for reasons that qualify it as a precancel, is a technical point for specialists to debate. Everyone agrees that the Wheeling grid is unique in the manner in which it was applied to the 1847 Issue. (Image)

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Get Market Data for [United States 1]

HISTORY AND COMMENTARY

The post office in Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia), received its first supply of 1847 stamps on August 8, 1847—1,200 5¢ and 400 10¢--and soon after applied a red 7-bar grid to the center of blocks of four before or at the time the stamps were sold. We do not know if the red grids were struck on all 25 blocks in a pane of 100 stamps, or if they were applied to smaller units, but all of the known examples have the red grid in one corner of the stamp (see image at left).

Since most of the recorded examples with the red grid are additionally cancelled, some experts have been reluctant to define them as precancellations, which are usually not cancelled again. However, one of the seven recorded covers has a precancelled stamp without any other cancel, and a piece with a 5¢ has the stamp tied by the Wheeling November 6 (1847) circular datestamp, without any other cancel (Siegel Sale 203, lot 123). Whether the grid was applied as a control mark, as some have suggested, or for reasons that qualify it as a precancel, is a technical point for specialists to debate. Everyone agrees that the Wheeling grid is unique in the manner in which it was applied to the 1847 Issue. (Image)

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Get Market Data for [United States 2]

HISTORY AND COMMENTARY

The post office in Wheeling, Virginia (later West Virginia), received its first supply of 1847 stamps on August 8, 1847—1,200 5¢ and 400 10¢--and soon after applied a red 7-bar grid to the center of blocks of four before or at the time the stamps were sold. We do not know if the red grids were struck on all 25 blocks in a pane of 100 stamps, or if they were applied to smaller units, but all of the known examples have the red grid in one corner of the stamp (see image at left).

Since most of the recorded examples with the red grid are additionally cancelled, some experts have been reluctant to define them as precancellations, which are usually not cancelled again. However, one of the seven recorded covers has a precancelled stamp without any other cancel, and a piece with a 5¢ has the stamp tied by the Wheeling November 6 (1847) circular datestamp, without any other cancel (Siegel Sale 203, lot 123). Whether the grid was applied as a control mark, as some have suggested, or for reasons that qualify it as a precancel, is a technical point for specialists to debate. Everyone agrees that the Wheeling grid is unique in the manner in which it was applied to the 1847 Issue. (Image)

Search for comparables at SiegelAuctions.com

Get Market Data for [United States 2]