United States 1867 Grill Issue

Lot 32 United States 1867 Grill Issue

Scott85F

Description

One of two known examples of the 15¢ Z Grill, Scott 85F DESCRIPTION 15¢ Black, Z. Grill (85F). Virtually perfect centering, faded manuscript â Xâ cancel and small part of octagonal town datestampâ probably a small-town marking from a registered coverâ two partly nibbed perfs mentioned for accuracy but of no consequence, Extremely Fine PROVENANCE Identified as a Z Grill by a Siegel expert while working on the Newbury collection in 1961; certified by The Philatelic Foundation for the first time on June 5, 1961 (14038) after consultation with Elliott Perry Saul Newbury, Siegel Auction Galleries, 10/23-24/1963, Sale 264, lot 530, realized $11,500 vs. Scott value $8,000 Siegel Auction Galleries, 1966 Rarities of the World, 2/24/1966, Sale 296, lot 64, realized $13,000 vs. Scott value $10,000, to Eugene N. Costales as agent for Peyton Bernard Peyton, â Islehamâ collection, Siegel Auction Galleries, 5/25/1986, Sale 662, lot 1099, realized $100,000 (plus 10%) vs. Scott value $35,000, to Zoellner Robert Zoellner, Siegel Auction Galleries, 10/8-10/1998, Sale 804, lot 226, realized $190,000 (plus 10%) vs. Scott value $100,000, to William H. Gross CENSUS, LITERATURE AND EXHIBITION REFERENCES Siegel census no. Lester G. Brookman, United States Postage Stamps of the 19th Century, Vol. II, p. 137 ANPHILEX 1996 Invited Exhibits (Zoellner) World Stamp Show 2016 Court of Honor (Gross) CERTIFICATION The Philatelic Foundation:1961 (Jun. 5), 14038, to Robert A. Siegel, signed Louise Boyd Dale1986 (Aug. 19), 162712, to Robert A. Siegel, signed Herbert J. Bloch1998 (Sep. 29), 330753, to Siegel Auction Galleries, signed Alex Rendon2024 (Apr. 17), 602303, to William H. Gross, signed Larry Lyons HISTORY AND COMMENTARY The Newbury 15¢ Z Grill, Scott 85Fâ One of Two Known The 15¢ Z Grill stamp, Scott 85F, is actually just as rare as the 1¢ Z Grill, Scott 85A. Only two of each are known and certified genuine. However, since both of the 15¢ Z Grill stamps are in private hands, it is possible for two collectors to possess an example of this major rarity at one time. Records of grilled issues kept by the governmentâ s Stamp Agent indicate that 15¢ grilled stamps were not separately accounted for until the second quarter of 1868. The earliest known 15¢ 1868 grilled usage dates are May 2 for the E and May 4 for the F Grill, which point to 15¢ grilling between April 15 and 20. If our theory of grill production is correct, the Z Grill was replaced with the F Grill on or about March 17, 1868. It must be that a few 15¢ sheets were included with the 1¢ and 10¢ sheets run through the Z Grill device, then were turned over to the Stamp Agent with an ungrilled supply or held until an order for 15¢ stamps was submitted. There were no known 15¢ Z Grill stamps for 45 years after Stevenson first published his definitive work on grilled stamps in 1916. Remarkably, a stamp residing in the Saul Newbury collection was misidentified as the much more common 15¢ E Grill for the entire time the Newburys possessed it. In 1961, soon after Michael Newbury consigned his fatherâ s collection to the Siegel firm, a member of staff spotted the distinctive horizontal ridge points of the Z Grill on this 15¢ stamp. It was submitted to Elliott Perry, who determined it was genuine, and then to The Philatelic Foundation, where it received certificate 14038 on June 5, 1961. The 15¢ Z Grill offered here was first sold in one of the Siegel sales of the Newbury collectionâ October 23-24, 1963, for $11,500â and then again in the 1966 Rarities of the World sale for $13,000 to Eugene N. Costales as agent for Bernard Peyton, a descendant of the du Pont family and reclusive collector from Princeton, New Jersey. The Peyton collections of United States and other countries were sold by Christieâ s and Siegel in the 1980s under the name â Isleham.â At the 1986 Siegel sale of the â Islehamâ U.S. collection, Robert Zoellner acquired the 15¢ Z Grill as an important step on his path to completion. The sale price of $110,000 (including the 10% premium) eclipsed the $90,000 paid for the 1¢ Z Grill in 1977, but it would be a mere fraction of the $418,000 Zoellner paid for the 1¢ stamp months later in 1986. At the 1998 Zoellner sale, Mr. Gross acquired the 15¢ Z Grill for $209,000 (including 10% premium) in his own significant step toward completion. The publicity generated in 1961 by the discovery of the Newbury 15¢ Z Grill led to the search and discovery of the second known 15¢ Z Grill by Eugene Costales. That stamp received a â Genuineâ opinion from The Philatelic Foundation in 1962 and was sold to Wilbur H. Schilling, Jr. The Schilling example came to market in the 1975 Rarities of the World sale, selling for $21,000 vs. $22,500 Scott value. It next appeared in the May 25, 1977, inaugural sale of Sotheby Parke Bernetâ s new stamp division, selling to a reclusive New Yorker, whose collection was sold in 2019 through Cherrystone under the name â New Amsterdam.â The 15¢ Z Grill realized $1,610,000 (including the 15% premium), thus establishing a new benchmark for this rare grilled issue. The last time the 1¢ and 15¢ Z Grill stamps were together in one auction was the Zoellner sale in 1998, more than a quarter-century ago. The opportunity to acquire both in one sale might not occur again for many years