Stamp Marked "88B Rare"

Not sure what the " 88B " marked on the back of this stamp is supposed to mean?
Could it be referring to the end roller grill or maybe the 88a (Lake Red shade)?





Thanks in advance!
Harry

Please examine the grill. The image is ambiguous. Is it points up or points down? In the image the grill points appear to be points up but the number of visible vertical and horizontal rows are consistent with an E grill. The listing for 88b in the Scott Catalog is one of the worst, least explanatory descriptions I recall seeing for at least a week. An E grill would be points down (as seen from the front).

Unfortunately, few philatelists have used UNIX. If they had, they would realize that 88b and 88B are not the same. (The Scott Catalog does not try to overload number/letter combinations. If they did, there could be an 88B and an 88b in the catalog. There is no 88B in the catalog, only 88b. I won't repeat the description here.

It doesn't look like your stamp was ever cut in half, so it is probably not an 88b.

Clark

I wonder if some past owner merely upper-cased the "B" in error and truly meant 88b - but the old version of 88b. From c1927 to at least 1971, 88b was the Scott number of the double grill variety. By 1979 the double grill had lost any special catalog number designation. It appears there might be a fainter second grill impression on the top third of the stamp, but a better illustration is needed. (The current 88b bisect oddity is a very recent addition to the catalog, clearly not the item here, as Clark notes.)

John,
That makes more sense. There is a second (partial) grill impression towards the top. My guess is this is a split or end roller grill.
I will try to get a better image of the back of this stamp posted this evening.
Harry

scott #83? C-Grill

This stamp has a well impressed 14 x 16 1/2 (E) grill in normal position (which I see as points down). I also see about 9 rows of points from another grill that is lightly impressed, shifted to the right, and runs above the present grill, and presumably further to the right. But from what I see, this does not run all the way to the edge of the stamp at top or left to right, and has no counterpart at the bottom. Neither set of grill impressions run all the way across the stamp, so if there is a second grill I am quite sure it is NOT a marginal "end roller" grill. It does appear to be a good candidate for a double grill, or perhaps a "double grill one split" variety if a faint impression to match turns up at the bottom.

I was able to get a decent picture with a camera showing the extra rows of grills at top - I see nothing at the bottom.

I count 8 rows - they also look to line up with the grill below them.

Excellent image! As one works up from the bottom one can see where another grill impression begins within the range of the grill one was initially tracking (sorry for the odd language, but I wanted to be clear in my references). Neither grill is split, and there is no marginal/"end roller" grill here.

Definitely submit this for a cert, because it is a worthy example. I suggest sending it to the Philatelic Foundation. You can get pricing info and an app form at their website. Just Google them.