Washington 3 Cent(Ers). 1870+

Question: I've inherited a box of covers and ETC. With literally 1000's of Washington 3 cent stamps (think #136 and those after). Most from it seems 1873 and beyond. I've yet to see a grill on one, like I say they are all on covers so I may not be seeing it yet, but my question is: with the number of re-issues, different scott #'s, some with, some without grills, was the postal service really stringent about using the appropriate stamp at/of the appropriate issue time? Did people just not use an "old" stamp if they had one? I hope that makes sense, it's hard for me to explain. I just can't believe I can't find a stamp with a grill on it (that is at least visible with magnification?)
Does anybody know the statistics (percentage) of stamps that had grills versus not from 1873 until a "new" 3 cent stamp came out?
Again, I hope this makes some kind of sense. And I certainly appreciate any expert advice you can offer!!
Dave

There were a huge number of 3c stamps from the that series - Banknotes. I think on the order of 7 billion all told. Only 60 million with a grill. That's less than 1%. Also, since they are more collectible, that also diminishes the supply.

Dave, the US postal service never cared (and still doesn't) what stamps were used when, as long as they were valid for postage, and any stamp issued in 1861 or later was valid for postage in 1873 (and still is. for that matter).

I have never calculated the percentage of grilled stamps but you can find the number issued here
http://www.stampsmarter.com/1847usa...tml#Scott136
Don

Thanks everybody!

Here we are a month later and I finally found a grill!

I've been neglecting this list and never saw this thread until today. Glad you finally found a grill on cover. Presumably it originated there, but given the condition and the fact it is not tied means that down the road someone is going to have trouble proving it was there at the time of cancellation. Anyway, now you have a sense of how well they do (or really don't) show up. But you raised another question that I think is interesting:




Back in the 1870s and 80s, most people went to the Post Office to pick up their mail. When they wanted to mail something, they also took it to the Post Office and had the clerk determine the postage, apply it, and send it off. In those early days only a portion of the people using the mails bought and held stamps for postage. No coils, no booklets, no vending machines - you went to the clerk. If you did buy a sheet to take home and use there, you had to keep the stamps from sticking to each other or to the furniture. Reliable gum was a frequent matter of complaint and concern to the stamp producers even among the postal people.

In a world like that, where stamps were most often applied in Post Offices, letters received the latest issues in production unless the clerk had old stock to use up. For these and probably other reasons, there seems to be a high correlation/proximity between date of production and date of use.

Something else to note is that during the decade of the 1870s not too many cancellations bore a year date even in the townmark. So it can be difficult to tell when a letter actually passed through the mails, and so also when the stamp was used.

Welcome to the world of the Bank Note Issues. If you like puzzles, it's a great place to be.

Including the total numbers issued of Sc 136 and Sc 147.
The 1847USA 3cent Bank Note chart Don linked to above says 172 million 136's and 1.03 billion 147's. A note on the right side of the chart mentions that 136 and 147 are known in setenant pairs.

Thanks EssayK, I never thought of it like that, and it certainly does make sense. Phil, thanks for the reminder about the numbers involved.....172 million vs. 1.03 billion is a pretty small percentage.
I admit, the stamp is in "craptacular" condition but I'm still stoked to find a grill finally. Only a couple more boxes to go through!

This is true, but it is not like the situation when two stamps with design differences are se tenant. The grills were applied from a uniform roller to the printed sheets. Anomalies in the way the sheet moved vertically during the process (due to rippling or bubbling of the large uncut sheet) might cause one stamp to grill well and its neighbor to show no grill at all. The point being - this was a production variance and not a design difference. So there is no stable basis to calculate how many such pairs may have been created.