Sale 1024 — The Natalee Grace Collection of Used Stamps of the United States, Part One: 1847-1868 Issues
Sale Date — Thursday, 7 June, 2012
Category — 3c-30c 1867 A Grills (Scott 79-81)
5c Dark Brown, A. Grill (80a). Bold quartered cork cancel, characteristic centering and perforations of the experimental A Grill, couple pulled perfs at lower right not mentioned on accompanying certificate as this is considered normal for the issueONE OF FOUR RECORDED EXAMPLES OF THE 1867 5-CENT WITH EXPERIMENTAL ALL-OVER "A" GRILL, OF WHICH TWO ARE IN THE DARK BROWN SHADE, THIS BEING THE FINER. 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 unused copies are now classified as essays from the same block of four. For a complete census and history of the 5c A Grill, please go to http://siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/80/80.pdf .
The stamp offered here is the mate to the Scott 80a last sold in our 2008 auction of the Perry Hansen collection. 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 (see lot 161). 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.
Census No. 80a-CAN-01. Ex Duveen, Hind, Isleham and Zoellner. With 1986, 1998 and 2009 P.F. certificates. Footnote in Scott Catalogue notes that "values are for off-center examples with small perforation faults".
