SPECIAL NOTE: There are many United States stamps that look similar to the rarities listed below. Some of the differences between expensive rarities and common stamps can be subtle, including differences in perforation, shade and size. These stamps should have certificates from a recognized expertizing committee, such as The Philatelic Foundation or P.S.E.

There are eight 5c A Grill stamps recorded in our census, including four unused copies that originally formed a block of four owned by the Earl of Crawford. To answer the question of how many 5c A Grill stamps actually exist, we must first examine the Lord Crawford block, which has an interesting history.

The entire Earl of Crawford collection was purchased by Nassau Stamp Co. (John A. Klemann) in 1915. In a June 5, 1930, letter from Klemann to Philip H. Ward, one of the 5c A Grill stamps (Census No. 80-UNC-4) is described as follows: "The 5c copy was one of a block of four from the 'Lord Crawford' collection, purchased by this company and later broken into four single stamps. It was previously owned by an employee of the National Bank Note Company, Mr. Charles F. Steel." [Steel was the creator of the grilling process]. A digital reconstruction of this block is shown as Figure H. The stamps originating from the Earl of Crawford block have drawn inconsistent opinions over the years. The right vertical pair of stamps (Census Nos. 80-UNC-1 and 80-UNC-3) have been separately certified by the P.F. as genuine, while the upper left stamp was certified first as an essay (PFC 3170) and then as a counterfeit (PFC 36753). The lower left stamp--the same one described in the Klemann letter--has never been submitted to the Philatelic Foundation. It has a 1942 American Board of Experts certificate signed by Klemann, describing it as a genuine "5c Brown with essay grill covering the entire stamp", an opinion consistent with Klemann's knowledge of grilling and of the source block's origin. If the grills on the stamps from this block show the fractured points of the regularly-issued A Grill, not the pyramidal points of the essay, then all four stamps are Scott 80.

Of the four recorded used 5c A Grill stamps, two have identical shades, centering and cancellations. In fact, the two were originally joined as a pair and were used as singles together. They are printed in a distinctive shade--sometimes called Black Brown--that is very scarce and found only on covers dated from late 1867 into 1868 (we have records of four covers from Oct 1867 to May 1868). It is likely that a small number of sheets from this late printing were available for grilling with the A Grill in 1867. The other two recorded 5c A Grills are in a brighter shade of Brown and must come from a different supply of 5c sheets printed earlier.

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