Telling A Scott #126 From A #115 - Using Only Photos?

I don't have much experience with determining varieties in early US stamps. But I'd like to learn now.

Watching a collecting in album on ebay, I saw a nice looking stamp in the 126 (and one in 127) space. Wow! High catalog value. I plotted a monster bid, then hedged when I saw it was a "reprint" of an early issue. Having seen stamp-in-wrong-spot a million times (mostly in WW collections), I was betting this was the case. Still a chance, tho. I revised my bid downward. I still thought it was aggressive, and I ended up being the underbidder. Maybe I was wrong ... or the winner more trusting of the collector knowing his stuff?

I'm assuming that the existence of a grill is visible only from the back of the stamp? Could an expert tell between these 2 varieties from the front?

Overall I missed out on a nice collection ... probably worth a bit more than my bid. Maybe. If these 2 stamps were in the right spots, then for sure I should have offered more.

The question remains - how easy is it to distinguish between these 2 stamps? Can you tell anything from the front, or must you see the reverse and ... with the naked eye or do you need a loupe?

Thanks in advance. I suppose I can post a picture of the listing if it would help. I originally marked it as interesting because it was a hingeless US album and I thought I could get a deal and see if I liked the album. Only later did I look at the contents where that became center stage for me. Maybe someone else here saw it ...

In my opinion grills are easily pressed out, especially light grills. Typically you will need to have the stamp in hand to make an accurate determination.

There are but a handful of known used 126, the odds of finding one in a random ebay collection is virtually zero.
Don

ALWAYS assume it is the cheapest variety placed mistakenly in the premium spot. It never happens the other way around.

While it is possible for experts to tell them apart, the above advice is very good for most collectors. The odds are really tiny.

Only in the case of the 15 cent type III is it easy for anyone to tell the difference. Unlike the other two types, type III has no background lines behind the vignette.

Looking back at the closed auction, it seems *I* made assumptions about the spaces that weren't necessarily true. So bad on me! But yes, thanks for the feedback ... I will make it a point to read up on "grills" and hopefully get an example or 2 to see in-hand.

PLUS... there are lots of fake grills (on banknote issues, for example) out there that end up in collection lots (because they can't be sold as individual stamps) with a blanket statement on the collection of "possible faults". For the sake of a few bucks, grills can be added and grills can be pressed out. The only way to tell for sure is to view the stamps in person. Since that's not really possible on ebay lots, it is best to assume that any look-alikes are the lower value one. Remember... caveat emptor!!!

The only used re-issues I would purchase have cancels that are associated with the period after 1875 when the stamps became available. So, the most often seen cancel on re-issues is the barred number in circle. Yes, some 1869 stamps were used late and just because they have a barred numeral cancel does not mean they are re-issues. However, in valuing images of collections on the fly, look at the cancels and discount anything that bears a cancel not of the correct period.

Forget guessing about grills.

Only buy something like that from someone who will give refunds no questions asked.