| Identification
Guides for the U.S. Postage Stamps |
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Use these links if you are not sure which
set your U.S. stamp belongs to:
Use these links if you know approximately
which year your U.S. stamp was issued:
Use these links if you know which
set your U.S. stamp belongs to:
· The Classics 1847-60
·
The Issues
of 1861-69
·
The 1869 Pictorials
·
The Banknotes 1¢ to 6¢
· The Banknotes 7¢
to 90¢
·
The Baby Banknotes and Triangles of 1890-93 - 1¢ to 8¢ .
· The Baby Banknotes and Triangles of 1890-93 -
10¢ to $5
(see also: The U.S. Bank Note
Worksheet)
·
The Series of 1902
·
The Washington-Franklins Types of the 1¢ · Types
of the 2¢ · Types of the 3¢ and 4¢
· The
Washington Franklins Types of the 5¢-8¢ · Types
of the 9¢-13¢
· The Washington Franklins Types of
the 15¢-$5
(see also: The
Washington Franklin Worksheet)
·
The Definitives of 1922-1935 - ½¢-2¢
·
The Definitives of 1922-1935 - 3¢-10¢
· The Definitives of 1922-1935 - 11¢-$5
·
The Commemoratives: 1893 -
1925
· The
Farley's Follies of 1935 - Text Links Only
· The Farley's
Follies of 1935 - Images and Links (large file size)
· The Prexies of 1938 -
½¢ to $5
· The Prexie Coils of
1939
· The Famous Americans of 1940
· The
Famous American Authors
· The
Famous American Poets
· The
Famous American Educators
· The
Famous American Scientists
· The
Famous American Composers
· The
Famous American Artists
· The
Famous American Inventors
· The Liberty Series
of 1954
· The
Prominent Americans Series of 1965-1978
| Guide to the
Printing Companies and their Abbreviations |
| RWHE |
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch, and
Edson |
| TCC |
Toppan, Carpenter, and
Cassilear & Co. |
| National |
National Banknote Company |
| Continental |
Continental Banknote Company |
| American |
American Banknote Company |
| BEP |
Bureau of Engraving and
Printing |
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A grill looks like a bunch
of dots on the surface of the stamp, formed by pressing a grilling
device against the
large sheets the stamps were printed on. The principle is similar to a waffle iron in that a pattern of
indentations would be left on the sheets. If the grilling device were
full of indentations, a "female" grill, the grill points
would point upward, that is seemingly "lifted" from the
stamp. If the grilling device were made of protrusions, a
"male" grill, the grill points would point downward,
that is "through" the paper as though pierced. The
following list is in the order in which the grill type is thought
to have appeared. Many students consider the "B" grill
to be merely an incomplete variety of the "C" grill.
|
| Grill |
Size
(mm) |
U.S. Stamps
with this Grill (Scott) |
No. of
Points |
Points
Up/Down |
| A |
all of stamp |
79,80,81 |
all of stamp |
Up/vertical ridges |
| B |
18 x 15 |
82 |
22 x 18 |
Up/vertical ridges |
| C |
13 x 16 |
83 |
16-17 x 18-21 |
Up/vertical ridges |
| D |
12 x 14 |
84,85 |
15 x 17-18 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| E |
11 x 13 |
86,87,88,89,90,91 |
14 x 15-17 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| Z |
11 x 14 |
85A,85B,85C,85D,85E,85F |
13-14 x 17-18 |
Down/horizontal ridges |
| F |
9 x 13 |
92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101 |
11-12 x 15-17 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| G |
9.5 x 9.5 |
112-122 (all 1869 Issues) |
12 x 11-12 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| H |
10 x 12 |
134-144 (grilled Nationals) |
11-13 x 14-16 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| I |
8.5 x 10 |
134,135,136,137,138 |
10-11 x 10-13 |
Down/vertical ridges |
| J |
7 x 9.5 |
"Continental Grill": 156e,157c,158e,159b 160a,161c,162a
163a,165a,178c,179c: |
9-10 x 12 |
Down/vertical ridges |
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In 1873, the contract for the printing of the U.S. postage stamps was given
to the Continental Banknote Company. At that time, Continental took over some
of the dies and plates used by the National Banknote Company, who had held the
previous contract. In order to establish whether certain stamps had been
printed by National or Continental, "secret" marks were added
to many, if not all, of the plates used to produce the Continental banknotes.
Although these "secret marks" also appear on most of the
subsequent Banknote Issues, printed by the American Banknote Company, a
discussion of the American Banknote stamps is not included here, since the
American Banknote stamps are distinguished by the type of paper used in the
production of the stamps and not by the presence or absence of a "secret
mark".
It must be noted that a "secret" mark has never been found on an
actual 24c or 90c stamp. In fact the 24c Continental is impossible to
distinguish from the 24c National, other than a few copies on ribbed paper,
which is presumed to have been used only by Continental. In fact, the Scott
number for this stamp, Scott 164, is not even listed in the Scott Catalog! The
90c issue is distinguishable by the color of ink used. The best way to
recognize the "secret" marks is to actually see them. Click on a
link above to see the "secret" mark for that issue.
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