Z Grill - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

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12/10/13 Z Grill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_Grill

Z Grill

New York Public Library

Benjamin M iller Collection

Country of production United States

Date of production 1868

Nature of rarity Limited number

Number in existence 2

Face value 1-cent US

Estimated value US $3,000,000 (2007)

Z GrillFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, or simply "Z-Grill", is a

1-cent postage stamp issued by the United States Postal

Service in February 1868 depicting Benjamin Franklin. While

stamps of this design were the common 1-cent stamps of the

1860s, the Z-Grill is distinguished by having the so-called "Z"variety of a grill pressed into the stamp, creating tiny

indentations in the paper. Although the 1-cent Z-Grill is

generally cited as the rarest and most valuable of all US

postage stamps, the 15-cent Lincoln Z-Grill is just as rare

and the 10-cent Washington Z-Grill scarcely less so. All

three of these stamps were produced at the same time, along

with more common Z-grill versions of the contemporary 2-

cent, 3-cent, 5-cent and 12-cent stamps (The earliest known

postmarks on Z-grill stamps date from January 1868). The

"Z" pattern, unique among grill templates used by the PostOffice because it incises horizontal ridges into the stamp

rather than vertical ridges, was replaced within a very short

time, for stamps with the D- and E-Grills were already being

postmarked in mid-February.

The purpose of grilling was to permit the canceling ink to be

better absorbed into the stamp paper, thus preventing reuse

of stamps by washing out the cancellation marks. The use of

grills was found to be impractical and they were gradually discontinued after 1870.

Contents

1 Known stamps

2 Stamp numbering

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

Known stamps

There are currently only two known 1-cent 1868 Z-Grills, both with cancellation marks. [1]One is owned by the

New York Public Library as part of the Benjamin Miller Collection. This leaves only a single 1-cent 1868 Z-Grill

private hands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamp_reusehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamp_reusehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grill_(philately)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Servicehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postage_stamphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Public_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stamp_US_1868_1c_Z_grill_Miller.jpg


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The Z Grill: Gross

collection

This 18681cent Z-Grill stamp sold for $935,000 in 1998 to Mystic Stamp Company, a stamp dealer. [2]Siegel

Auctions auctioned the stamp as part of the Robert Zoellner collection. Zachary Sundman,

the eleven-year-old son of Mystic Stamp Company President Donald Sundman, was the

individual responsible for wielding the paddle and doing the actual bidding.

Later, in late October 2005, Sundman traded this Z-Grill to financier Bill Gross for a block

of four Inverted Jenny stamps worth nearly $3 million.[2]By completing this trade Gross

became the owner of the only complete collection of U.S. 19th century stamps.

Both Z-Grills were on display at the National Postal Museum along with the first part of th

Benjamin Miller Collection from 27 May 2006 until 1 October 2007.[3]

Stamp numbering

In the Scottcatalogue of U. S. Stamps, the 1 Z Grill is listed as #85A: it is one of the few issues that does not be

a unique number but must share its number (85) with other stamps. This anomaly arose because Scott created its

system longbefore 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 thecatalogue after #85 (the 3 D Grill). The 1 Z Grill appeared as #85A and the 2 through 15 Z Grills were

designated85B through 85F. This expedient enabled Scott to retain the existing numbers for all subsequent stamp

beginning with the E Grill issues (#86-91).

See also

Listof notable postage stamps

Inverted Jenny

References

1. ^Schmid, Randolph E. (2005-05-25). "Rare and Costly Stamps to Go on Display"

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501464.html). Washington Pos

Retrieved 2006-08-08.

2. ^ ab"Philatelists Make $3 Million Trade" (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4986770). NPR

2005-11-02. Retrieved 2006-08-08.

3. ^"The Benjamin K Miller Collection" (http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/millercollection/index.html). National

PostalMuseum. Retrieved 2006-08-08.

External links

Classification and photos of grills of US stamps (http://www.findyourstampsvalue.com/phil_terms/grills.htm)

Moreinformation about the Benjamin Franklin 1-cent Z Grill (http://www.arago.si.edu/flash/?

s1=1%7Cgrouping=1%7Cmode=1%7Ctid=2041031%7Coid=173866) (Flash)

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Z_Grill&oldid=546558075"

Categories: Postage stamps of the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Categoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Z_Grill&oldid=546558075http://www.arago.si.edu/flash/?s1=1%7Cgrouping=1%7Cmode=1%7Ctid=2041031%7Coid=173866http://www.findyourstampsvalue.com/phil_terms/grills.htmhttp://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/millercollection/index.htmlhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4986770http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501464.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Jennyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_notable_postage_stampshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_cataloguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Miller_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Postal_Museumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_Jennyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Grosshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Stamp_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zoellnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_dealerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic_Stamp_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Postage_stamps_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stamp_US_1868_1c_Z_grill_Gross.jpg


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