The Benjamin Franklin Z Grill, or simply "Z-Grill", is a 1-cent

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

issued by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

in February 1868 depicting

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. 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 Post Office 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 Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose (conventional reuse) or to fulfill a different function ( creative reuse or repurposing). It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of u ...

of stamps by washing out the cancellation marks. The use of grills was found to be impractical and they were gradually discontinued after 1870.

Known stamps

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

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

as part of the Benjamin Miller Collection. This leaves only a single 1-cent 1868 Z-Grill in private hands. This 1868 1 cent Z-Grill stamp sold for $935,000 in 1998 to

Mystic Stamp Company Mystic Stamp Company is an American, employee-owned stamp dealer founded in 1923 by Lawrence K. Shaver (1903 – September 23, 1990). The company is headquartered where it was founded, in Camden, New York. It specializes in the buying and selling ...

, a

stamp dealer A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...

. Siegel Auctions auctioned the stamp as part of the Robert Zoellner collection. Zachary Sundman, the eleven-year-old son of

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 The Inverted Jenny (also known as an Upside Down Jenny, Jenny Invert) is a 24 cent United States postage stamp first issued on May 10, 1918, in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center of the design is printed upside-down; it is ...

stamps worth nearly $3 million. Both Z-Grills were on display at the

National Postal Museum The National Postal Museum, located opposite Union Station in Washington, D.C., United States, covers large portions of the Postal history of the United States and other countries. It was established through joint agreement between the United S ...

along with the first part of the Benjamin Miller Collection from 27 May 2006 until 1 October 2007.

Stamp numbering

In the

Scott catalogue The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

of U. S. Stamps, the 1¢ Z Grill is listed as #85A: it is one of the very few issues that does not bear a unique number but must share its numeral (85) with other stamps of different denominations. This anomaly arose because Scott created its system long before 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 the catalogue after #85 (the 3¢ D Grill). The 1¢ Z Grill appeared as #85A and the 2¢ through 15¢ Z Grills were designated 85B through 85F. This expedient enabled Scott to retain the existing numbers for all subsequent stamps, beginning with the E Grill issues (#86-91).

Characteristics

As previously stated, the Z grill is distinguished by horizontal ridges rather than the vertical ones of other, more common, grills. Additionally, the number of points vertically and horizontally matter, but existing reference material can be confusing. The 2019

and prior issues list the Z Grill as 11x14mm (13 to 14 by 17 to 18 points).

The Philatelic Foundation The Philatelic Foundation is a philatelic organization granted a charter in 1945 by the University of the State of New York as a Nonprofit Educational Institution. Location The Philatelic Foundation is located at 341 West 38th Street, 5th Floor, ...

published a dissenting paper in Opinions IV. In this article, Jerome Wagshal argues that Z grills are always clearly struck and 18 points in height is the norm, as well as pointing out that the two subtypes he has identified can be perceived as 13 points or 14 points depending on certain details of how they were struck. Beginning with the 2020

Scott Catalogue The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

the listing for the number of horizontal points has been changed.

References

External links

Classification and photos of grills of US stamps

More information about the Benjamin Franklin 1-cent Z Grill
{{Postage stamps of the United States Postage stamps of the United States 1868 works Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin 1868 in the United States

Known stamps

Stamp numbering

Characteristics

See also

References

External links