Found A 24 Cent C Grill I Think, Please Help, Need Advice.

Hi,I had this grill picture up before,the stamp is now here,the reason it looked crooked before is because of the camera angle,the stamp and the grill are perfectly straight but my camera is just not good enough to get a good picture,these pictures I put up are better than mine.

This is a points UP,16 X 18 point grill,APS Quick ID said C Grill.
The staining on the bottom looks way worse in the picture,it's not too bad.The writing on back is hard to read too.The crooked grill point lower left I think is because it was rubbed by a pencil.

I understand this could be fake but it looks real,why would someone grill a flawed stamp(small tear,not noticeable from the front),I am sending it in but need one question answered please,I noticed the large grill because the grill was brought out with graphite years ago with the hinge on,the hinge is now gone and the grill is quite noticeable where the hinge was,I need to know if I should just leave it alone or bring out the grill with graphite ?

If this is the real deal this is a huge find(big bucks too)and would be a 1 of a kind and I don't want to do any damage,it's easy to lightly rub it with the graphite but I will wait until you guys advise me what to do,thanks.

Definitely do NOT touch it. Let the expertisers have it as clean as possible.

Hate to sound skeptical, but I am. The top right side of the grill is crooked. If I didn't know better, my initial reaction is that it looks like 2 (or 3?!) impressions of an 'F' grill? Would need much better pix...

Hi,having it here in person is much better,I will get my sister to take some better pictures for me,it looks like nice 90 degree angles here at home.

If you are able could you give us a much closer view of the grill area, on both sides, with rather strong low lighting from left or right only? I am only able to count 16 across and 17 vertically in the present pics.

If this were a C-grill, it should be points up, as you say, so rubbing the reverse with graphite will not be as useful as it is for points down where the tips of the grill points can catch the graphite and show up better. For points up the grill point tips come up through the design, and I am sure you do not plan to rub graphite over that. That said, the 3c is also know with an inverted C-grill which is points down.

However I am very dubious that this is a C-grill, which was only applied experimentally to a few denominations, and the 24c was not among them. None but the 3c were ever issued to the public, so would not normally be cancelled. However, although I am not a specialist in the grills of 1867, it seems to me that some essays of that era did get experimental cancels of the type your stamp shows. Let's confirm that before you let yourself get excited about anything.

As for "why add a fake grill to a damaged stamp," if the stamp really was damaged before the grill was added, the short answer is: practice. Fakers test out their devices on stamps like that because the paper is right.

Hi,not really too excited actually,been there a few times before and nothing worked out,I understand these are faked,it is defineatly points up though,I did the "finger test",I can feel them,I have other grilled stamps here with points down so I'm positive on this point.

I will get some better pics.

Sorry,this is the best my camera will do,after 30 tries LOL.It appears the rows are crooked near the bottom and the bottom of the stamp is crooked,it not,there straight,I have to get my camera on an angle to get the picture this clear,16 X 18.Where I marked 18th there is a row there but it's not coming up to well in the picture like the rows where the hinge was don't show up well.

Double grill impression.

That's not a C grill, the 24c is only known with an F grill so this is a Scott #99.

Huffy, there is another possibility, which would be a poss. Double grill variety, which would cause the portion of the grill to not be straight. You're going to want to get this certified, cause it could also be a manufactured grill...good luck, Ray

I really like to come on here but sometimes I get frustrated,for the 3rd time now it's points up,is is fake or real is the question,probably 99.9% sure it's fake like most of them are,but again,it's a points UP grill,I have 15 grilled stamps here that are points down and I know the difference.

We now have two threads on the same stamp.
https://goscf.com/t/52082

Send the stamp in for a certification, this will prevent all frustration. Please let us know how it turns out.
Don

This is silly. Debating over a stamp that doesn't exist. Agree with Billw2. Double grill F... still rare! Cannot be C grill... even Scott says experimental c grill doesn't exist on 24c. Just silly to debate.

Hi,I don't mean to debate or anything but I'm clearly being called an idiot,for the fourth time now THIS IS A POINTS UP STAMP and probably fake,again for the fifth time POINTS UP.

Huffy, I've reread all the replies and I don't see any responses that would make you think that someone responded in that matter. You've posted a stamp that has never been found in the history of US Postage stamps. A few of the replies have suggested sending it in to be certified which I agree with as well. ANY stamp that could be faked to make it seem / appear valuable should be certified by a competent professional. From the scans provided we can't (or at least I can't) determine if it's points up or down and as mentioned this is the 2nd thread started over the same stamp.

Huffy... I'm your fan. I'm hoping you have an f grill (double grill) ... quite rare. Otherwise you have a worthless fake grill. Let's hope for the best. get it certified!

I understand that Sir,it's 99% a fake,I even know this,I'm sending it away to be sure but that's not the frustrating part,I said it was points up 3 times,you can feel it and see it,nobody seemed to care what I thought,I'll post what it is when I get it back.

Could it be double grill with one grill inverted? That is could the sheet have been fed through the press twice but once with the sheet printed side up and once with the printed side down?