2012 Rarities of the World continued...

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. THE 15-CENT E GRILL IS ONE OF THE RAREST GRILLED ISSUE BLOCKS. A BLOCK OF FOUR IS THE LARGEST RECORDED MULTIPLE FOR THIS ISSUE.

Our records contain only three or four other unused blocks of four, and no larger multiples. The Zoellner block of four was broken into singles after the sale, as have most multiples containing stamps with decent centering.

Ex Lilly. With 1968 P.F. certificate. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS MAGNIFICENT STAMP HAS BEEN AWARDED THE ULTIMATE GRADE OF GEM 100 BY P.S.E. THIS USED 1868 15-CENT E GRILL IS UNDENIABLY THE PERFECT STAMP, POSSESSING EVERY QUALITY ONE COULD POSSIBLY HOPE FOR -- CENTERING, IMPRESSION, STRONG GRILL, FULL PERFORATIONS AND A LIGHT CANCEL.

We created Power Search for occasions like this, when superlatives fail to do justice to an extraordinary stamp. To see the centering, margins and cancellations on typical used examples of the 15c Lincoln -- ungrilled or not -- please use our website's Power Search feature to find Scott 77, 91 and 98 (three different searches). You will see that the 15c Lincoln is almost always a stamp of compromise. Great centering and margins, but heavy cancel. Light or colored cancel, but small margins or not quite centered. Great looking, but small faults. Then look at the "name" collections and see which 15c Lincoln stamps were included. No one -- and there are great collector names on this list -- managed to obtain this stamp or one even remotely like it.

When numerical grading started, the 15c Lincoln was on our list of "Try to Find a 100" stamps. We did not believe one existed. When this 15c F Grill was presented to us, we knew it was perfect without even looking at the grade. The Gem 100 grade and a note of praise from master grader Dr. William A. Litle confirmed our gut reaction.

The ungrilled version of this issue was released in 1866, about one year after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is regarded by many to be America's first commemorative issue, memorializing the martyred president as the nation started to heal from the wounds of the Civil War. In 1868 it was issued with two grill types, the E Grill (Scott 91) and F Grill (Scott 98). 15c usually paid the registration fee on domestic mail or the U.S.-French treaty rate. The 15c stamps used on transatlantic mail passed through foreign-mail exchange offices, where clerks were zealous about cancelling high-value stamps. For this reason, the 15c Lincoln usually has a heavy cancel or large cancel over the portrait. This stamp, with its light target cancel, is the rare exception.

There are certainly rarer stamps in this sale, and stamps that are worth much more, but we cannot think of a stamp that has conquered the odds better than this one. The perforating machine blessed it, the postal clerk respected it, and the generations who handled it managed to preserve its soundness. We are quite sure that the collectors who bid for this stamp will express their appreciation accordingly.

With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100, unpriced in SMQ above the grade of 98, SMQ $10,500.00 as 98). This is the highest grade awarded to date and the only example to achieve this grade. (Image)

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FINE APPEARANCE. A RARE USED BLOCK OF FOUR OF THE 1868 24-CENT F GRILL.

Approximately six used blocks of four are known. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE. A BEAUTIFUL USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 90-CENT F GRILL.

The 90c stamps used to make grilled issues were printed on a thick stock of paper. It is likely that sheets remaining from the pre-grill period were used and that the thinner paper introduced in 1868 had not been used for the 90c value. Two characteristics of 90c F Grill stamps are poorly punched perforations and generally poor centering.

With 2008 P.S.E. certificate (XF 90, SMQ $5,000.00). Only three have graded higher to date and only three others share this grade. (Image)

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EXTREMELY FINE APPEARANCE. THIS IS EASILY ONE OF THE FINEST OF THE 21 USED EXAMPLES OF THE 3-CENT 1861 RE-ISSUE RECORDED IN OUR CENSUS. A GREAT RARITY.

The 3c Re-Issue was printed from the original plate, which contained 200 subjects in two panes. 10,000 were printed (50 impressions). Only 465 of the 3c were sold, the remaining 9,535 were destroyed on July 16, 1884.

Our census of Scott 104 used, available at our website at http://siegelauctions.com/dynamic/census/104/104.pdf, records 21 examples, plus one with a non-contemporary cancel (not shown). Most have duplex cancels, with a large portion sent from New York.

Census No. 104-CAN-02. Ex Twigg-Smith and Dauer. With 1982 and 2006 P.F. and 2011 P.S.E. certificates (F-VF 75, SMQ $14,000.00) (Image)

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