7c Vermilion, Grill (138). I. Grill, Mint N.H., brilliant color on post-office fresh paper, long and full perforations all around

VERY FINE. AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE MINT NEVER-HINGED EXAMPLE OF THE 7-CENT 1870 NATIONAL BANK NOTE ISSUE WITH THE SCARCER I GRILL. A PHENOMENAL RARITY.

The 7c stamp depicting Edwin Stanton was designed to prepay the rate for mail sent directly to Prussia, Austria and the German States, effective July 1, 1870. Production of the 7c stamp was postponed when the Franco-Prussian War caused a temporary discontinuance of this service, and hence the need for this specific denomination was greatly reduced. The earliest documented use of the 7c stamp is Feb. 12, 1871. Later in 1871 the rate for mail sent to Germany and Austria by Prussian Closed Mail via England was reduced from 10c to 7c, so the stamp's utility was restored. Luff notes that the first deliveries were after January 1871.

For years we have been lobbying the editors of Scott Catalogue to create separate catalogue listings for the H and I Grills, which would make their policy consistent across all of the grilled issues. The I Grill differs in size and shape from the H Grill, and we have distinguished between them in our auction catalogues for several years. The I Grill is more common on the lower denominations, but starting with the 7c it becomes quite scarce. Using Power Search, we have located two used and one unused examples sold in our auctions. The other unused example, also in Mint N.H. condition, realized $32,500 hammer in our auction of the Scarsdale Collection.

With copy of 1976 P.F. certificate for block of four and 2004 P.S.E. certificate as single

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