US 2c Jackson - Grill Identification

Good Morning,

I was hoping I could get a grill identification for this U.S. 2c Jackson stamp. Hinge mark takes up a lot of the back image.

FRONT:



BACK:



BACK - High Contrast:



Thanks!

UPDATE: Pretty cool 8 point star cancel

Not as clear as the grill on the 137 in your other post. Maybe a brighter light from sides or ends will lets us see it better.

this 2c stamp can have H or I grill and as it seems from the picture it's an H grill. You could see it better after soaking the hinge and under oblique light as littleriverphil said.

Thank you both. Yes, I will try an alternative and hopefully get a better picture.

Any idea where / what the cancel is?

Soak the stamp to get rid of the hinge residue. Thirteen rows show clearly in the image, but it is possible that one or two additional rows could be visible in watermark fluid after the stamp is cleaned up and made presentable.

The grill appears to be a "late state" variety with flattened points. I would hesitate to call it an I grill without being able to better determine the number of vertical rows. If a grill impressions is weak, it would be considered to be an H grill.

Here are some pictures of the back after I removed the hinge - every trace of it...



High Contrast Scan:


Thanks for helping identify!

Now we only need a good photo under oblique light, I don't see the grill well in your photos. In general if it's not a clear I grill, it should be seen as an H grill. Clark: it's weak and not really "X" impressions, also not really visible from the front, so could this be an early state H grill?

Here is my attempt at oblique lighting..

Any recommendations on how I should take these pictures? I'm having a heck of a time with getting these to show up right... Thanks!

Use a high quality flatbed scanner and then add contrast to the image using a program like Photoshop Elements. Alternatively, if a single lens reflex camera with a macro lens is available, it would be possible to photograph the stamp wet in cross light to highlight the grill. I prefer using a scanner because the grill image will be dimensionally accurate. While cell phone cameras are improving, most don't have the necessary closeup focusing capabilities needed to capture high-quality stamp images.

Depending on how often you work with grilled issues, it may be more efficient to spend $15 on the Sonic Imagery Labs Specialty Precision Multi Gauge, which includes grill size overlays that can be used to determine at least an initial identification and often a positive identification.

New pictures to identify this 2c grill: