1867 3c Essay

1865 Essay Stamp Documents Experiment to Prevent Reuse

Now you can own #79-#15a, an essay of the 1867 3¢ Washington stamp with an A Grill.  As part of an experiment to prevent the cleaning and reuse of postage stamps, grills were added to break some of the paper fibers, allowing canceling ink to soak in.  National Bank Note Company experimented wit...  more

1865 Essay Stamp Documents Experiment to Prevent Reuse

Now you can own #79-#15a, an essay of the 1867 3¢ Washington stamp with an A Grill.  As part of an experiment to prevent the cleaning and reuse of postage stamps, grills were added to break some of the paper fibers, allowing canceling ink to soak in.  National Bank Note Company experimented with various grill designs.  This essay has an allover grill consisting of small, squares.  The points face down.  The stamp is imperforate.

Private firms submitted essays to demonstrate the high quality of their work – so very few were produced.  And that’s a shame – these masterpieces represent an important step in philatelic history.  Now you can get this seldom-seen, handsomely engraved treasure for your collection.

More About Essays

Essays are designs for stamp vignettes, stamp borders, or both combined, which were never approved and used in the final printing of a stamp. Even though a design is finally adopted with only slight modifications, it is still an "essay". To attain the status of a proof, a proposed design, or essay, must be exactly like the issued stamp for which it was submitted.

Private bank note companies made all US stamps from 1847 to 1894.  Essays and printing bids were submitted by those firms. As early as 1851, the US Post Office Department established a policy of advertising for stamp proposals to be accompanied by essays, or examples of the stamps to be furnished. After the bids were opened, an Expert Committee was asked to rule on the designs, colors and paper.
More About Grills

Grilled stamps were produced as part of a Post Office Experiment to deter the reuse of stamps.  At the time, the government believed people were removing cancellations from stamps and reusing them.  Inventors of that time turned their talents to creating a device that would make the cleaning of stamps impossible.  This experimentation led to the creation of grills.

Grills were made by embossing the stamp, breaking paper fibers, and allowing canceling ink to soak deeply into the paper. This made it difficult to remove cancels and reuse stamps.  Charles Steel, who oversaw postage stamp production in the 1860s, patented the grilling method.  It was used nine short years – 1867 to 1875.