Price History for Scott 98 in Used 100 Grade
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Show all gradesThree things to keep in mind when looking at the above results (unsolds are not included):
- It is important to look at the individual data points listed below. Price swings up may be due to varieties such as broken hat or other positives such as cancels. Price swings down may be due to factors such as faults on items that would have graded higher if they were sound, and may not be considered as desirable as a sound copy in this grade.
- When looking at multiple grades on the graph, grades with the same population numbers may show overlapping.
- At the time of an auction, the SMQ value has already been published and is available to bidders. Increases or decreases in SMQ value prior to the auction may affect the price realized.
This information is provided for hobbyists and is not intended to represent philatelic material as an investment or financial instrument. Past performance is neither an indication nor guarantee of future performance. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, but Siegel Auction Galleries (including its representatives and affiliates) is not liable for errors or omissions of any kind. "SMQ" refers to Stamp Market Quarterly, a copyrighted publication, and the information is used with the copyright holder's permission.
Date
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Mathematically perfect centering with unusually wide and balanced margins, bright shade and crisp impression, clear grill points, light strike of target cancel leaves entire design clearly visible, long and full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS MAGNIFICENT STAMP IS THE SOLE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL TO ACHIEVE THE ULTIMATE GRADE OF GEM 100 FROM P.S.E. UNDENIABLY THE PERFECT STAMP, POSSESSING EVERY QUALITY ONE COULD POSSIBLY HOPE FOR -- CENTERING, IMPRESSION, STRONG GRILL, FULL PERFORATIONS AND A LIGHT CANCEL.
We created Power Search for occasions like this, when superlatives fail to do justice to an extraordinary stamp. To see the centering, margins and cancellations on typical used examples of the 15c Lincoln -- ungrilled or not -- please use our website's Power Search feature to find Scott 77, 91 and 98. You will see that the 15c Lincoln is almost always a stamp of compromise. Great centering and margins, but heavy cancel. Light or colored cancel, but small margins or not quite centered. Great looking, but small faults. Then, look at past "name" sales and see which 15c Lincoln stamps were included. No one -- and there are great collector names on this list -- managed to obtain this stamp or one even remotely like it.
When numerical grading started, the 15c Lincoln was on our list of "Try to Find a 100" stamps. We did not believe one existed. When this 15c F Grill was presented to us, we knew it was perfect without even looking at the grade. The Gem 100 grade confirmed our gut reaction.
The ungrilled version of this issue was released in April 1866, one year after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is regarded by many to be America's first commemorative issue, memorializing the martyred president as the nation started to heal from the wounds of the Civil War. In 1868 it was issued with two grill types: the E Grill (Scott 91) and F Grill (Scott 98). 15c usually paid the registration fee on domestic mail or the U.S.-French treaty rate. The 15c stamps used on transatlantic mail passed through foreign-mail exchange offices, where clerks were zealous about cancelling high-value stamps. For this reason, the 15c Lincoln usually has a heavy cancel or large cancel over the portrait. This stamp, with its light target cancel, is the rare exception.
Ex "Hanover". With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100; SMQ $21,500.00). This is the highest grade awarded and the only example to achieve this grade. Working our way down the grading chart, only one other has graded higher than a 95.
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Mathematically perfect centering with unusually wide and balanced margins, bright shade and crisp impression, clear grill points, light strike of target cancel leaves entire design clearly visible, long and full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS MAGNIFICENT STAMP HAS BEEN AWARDED THE ULTIMATE GRADE OF GEM 100 BY P.S.E. THIS USED 1868 15-CENT F GRILL IS UNDENIABLY THE PERFECT STAMP, POSSESSING EVERY QUALITY ONE COULD POSSIBLY HOPE FOR -- CENTERING, IMPRESSION, STRONG GRILL, FULL PERFORATIONS AND A LIGHT CANCEL.
We created Power Search for occasions like this, when superlatives fail to do justice to an extraordinary stamp. To see the centering, margins and cancellations on typical used examples of the 15c Lincoln -- ungrilled or not -- please use our website's Power Search feature to find Scott 77, 91 and 98 (three different searches). You will see that the 15c Lincoln is almost always a stamp of compromise. Great centering and margins, but heavy cancel. Light or colored cancel, but small margins or not quite centered. Great looking, but small faults. Then look at the "name" collections and see which 15c Lincoln stamps were included. No one -- and there are great collector names on this list -- managed to obtain this stamp or one even remotely like it.
When numerical grading started, the 15c Lincoln was on our list of "Try to Find a 100" stamps. We did not believe one existed. When this 15c F Grill was presented to us, we knew it was perfect without even looking at the grade. The Gem 100 grade and a note of praise from master grader Dr. William A. Litle confirmed our gut reaction.
The ungrilled version of this issue was released in 1866, about one year after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is regarded by many to be America's first commemorative issue, memorializing the martyred president as the nation started to heal from the wounds of the Civil War. In 1868 it was issued with two grill types, the E Grill (Scott 91) and F Grill (Scott 98). 15c usually paid the registration fee on domestic mail or the U.S.-French treaty rate. The 15c stamps used on transatlantic mail passed through foreign-mail exchange offices, where clerks were zealous about cancelling high-value stamps. For this reason, the 15c Lincoln usually has a heavy cancel or large cancel over the portrait. This stamp, with its light target cancel, is the rare exception.
With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100; SMQ $21,500.00). This is the highest grade awarded and the only example to achieve this grade.
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Mathematically perfect centering with unusually wide and balanced margins, bright shade and crisp impression, clear grill points, light strike of target cancel leaves entire design clearly visible, long and full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS MAGNIFICENT STAMP HAS BEEN AWARDED THE ULTIMATE GRADE OF GEM 100 BY P.S.E. THIS USED 1868 15-CENT F GRILL IS UNDENIABLY THE PERFECT STAMP, POSSESSING EVERY QUALITY ONE COULD POSSIBLY HOPE FOR -- CENTERING, IMPRESSION, STRONG GRILL, FULL PERFORATIONS AND A LIGHT CANCEL.
We created Power Search for occasions like this, when superlatives fail to do justice to an extraordinary stamp. To see the centering, margins and cancellations on typical used examples of the 15c Lincoln -- ungrilled or not -- please use our website's Power Search feature to find Scott 77, 91 and 98 (three different searches). You will see that the 15c Lincoln is almost always a stamp of compromise. Great centering and margins, but heavy cancel. Light or colored cancel, but small margins or not quite centered. Great looking, but small faults. Then look at the "name" collections and see which 15c Lincoln stamps were included. No one -- and there are great collector names on this list -- managed to obtain this stamp or one even remotely like it.
When numerical grading started, the 15c Lincoln was on our list of "Try to Find a 100" stamps. We did not believe one existed. When this 15c F Grill was presented to us, we knew it was perfect without even looking at the grade. The Gem 100 grade and a note of praise from master grader Dr. William A. Litle confirmed our gut reaction.
The ungrilled version of this issue was released in 1866, about one year after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is regarded by many to be America's first commemorative issue, memorializing the martyred president as the nation started to heal from the wounds of the Civil War. In 1868 it was issued with two grill types, the E Grill (Scott 91) and F Grill (Scott 98). 15c usually paid the registration fee on domestic mail or the U.S.-French treaty rate. The 15c stamps used on transatlantic mail passed through foreign-mail exchange offices, where clerks were zealous about cancelling high-value stamps. For this reason, the 15c Lincoln usually has a heavy cancel or large cancel over the portrait. This stamp, with its light target cancel, is the rare exception.
With 2012 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100; unpriced in SMQ above the grade of 98, SMQ $10,500.00 as 98). This is the highest grade awarded to date and the only example to achieve this grade.
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Mathematically perfect centering with unusually wide and balanced margins, bright shade and crisp impression, clear grill points, light strike of target cancel leaves entire design clearly visible, long and full perforations all aroundEXTREMELY FINE GEM. THIS MAGNIFICENT STAMP HAS BEEN AWARDED THE ULTIMATE GRADE OF GEM 100 BY P.S.E. THIS USED 1868 15-CENT E GRILL IS UNDENIABLY THE PERFECT STAMP, POSSESSING EVERY QUALITY ONE COULD POSSIBLY HOPE FOR -- CENTERING, IMPRESSION, STONG GRILL, FULL PERFORATIONS AND A LIGHT CANCEL.
We created Power Search for occasions like this, when superlatives fail to do justice to an extraordinary stamp. To see the centering, margins and cancellations on typical used examples of the 15c Lincoln -- ungrilled or not -- please use our website's Power Search feature to find Scott 77, 91 and 98 (three different searches). You will see that the 15c Lincoln is almost always a stamp of compromise. Great centering and margins, but heavy cancel. Light or colored cancel, but small margins or not quite centered. Great looking, but small faults. Then look at the "name" collections and see which 15c Lincoln stamps were included. No one -- and there are great collector names on this list -- managed to obtain this stamp or one even remotely like it.
When numerical grading started, the 15c Lincoln was on our list of "Try to Find a 100" stamps. We did not believe one existed. When this 15c F Grill was presented to us, we knew it was perfect without even looking at the grade. The Gem 100 grade and a note of praise from master grader Dr. William Litle confirmed our gut reaction.
The ungrilled version of this issue was released in 1866, about one year after President Lincoln was assassinated. It is regarded by many to be America's first commemorative issue, memorializing the martyred president as the nation started to heal from the wounds of the Civil War. In 1868 it was issued with two grill types, the E Grill (Scott 91) and F Grill (Scott 98). 15c usually paid the registration fee on domestic mail or the U.S.-French treaty rate. The 15c stamps used on transatlantic mail passed through foreign-mail exchange offices, where clerks were zealous about cancelling high-value stamps. For this reason, the 15c Lincoln usually has a heavy cancel or large cancel over the portrait. This stamp, with its light target cancel, is the rare exception.
There are certainly rarer stamps in this sale, and stamps that are worth much more, but we cannot think of a stamp that has conquered the odds better than this one. The perforating machine blessed it, the postal clerk respected it, and the generations who handled it managed to preserve its soundness. We are quite sure that the collectors who bid for this stamp will express their appreciation accordingly.
With 2008 P.S.E. certificate (Gem 100; unpriced in SMQ above the grade of 98, SMQ $10,600.00 as 98). This is the highest grade awarded to date and the only example to achieve this grade. The next-highest grade awarded is a 95.
Date
15c Black, F. Grill, Very Thin Paper (98 var). Intense shade and impression, beautiful centering with wide margins, red, blue and black cancels leave entire design clearly visibleEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
With 2005 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00 with no premium for the very thin paper). Only two grade higher and nine others share this grade, but we do not know if any others are this paper variety
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Outstanding centering with balanced margins, neat target cancel, bright white paper, clear grill impressionEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
Ex Dauer. With 2002 P.F., 2009 and 2017 P.S.E. certificates (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00). Only two have graded higher (highest is 100)
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Detailed impression on bright paper, unobtrusive strike of cork cancel, wide and balanced marginsEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A BEAUTIFUL USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
Ex Merlin and Curtis. With 2007 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00), only two have been graded higher
15c Black, F. Grill, Very Thin Paper (98 var). Near perfect centering within extraordinarily wide margins, lightly cancelledEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL ON VERY THIN PAPER.
With 1997, 2000 P.F. and 2009 P.S.E. certificates (XF-Superb 95; unpriced in SMQ as thin paper variety, SMQ $3,250.00 as normal paper)
15c Black, F. Grill, Very Thin Paper (98 var). Near perfect centering within extraordinarily wide margins, lightly cancelledEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL ON VERY THIN PAPER.
With 1997 and 2000 P.F. and 2009 P.S.E. certificates (XF-Superb 95; unpriced in SMQ as thin paper variety, SMQ $3,250.00 as on normal paper)
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Detailed impression on bright paper, unobtrusive strike of cork cancel, wide and balanced marginsEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A BEAUTIFUL USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
Ex Merlin. With 2007 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00), only two have graded higher
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Detailed impression on bright paper, unobtrusive strike of cork cancel, wide and balanced marginsEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A BEAUTIFUL USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
With 2007 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00), only two have graded higher
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Beautiful centering with wide and balanced margins, bright shade, light cancel leaves the entire design completely visibleEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
With 1980 and 2006 P.F. certificates (XF-Superb 95). With 2007 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,250.00). Only two have graded higher.
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Beautiful centering with wide and balanced margins, bright shade, bold strike of segmented cork cancel and also with trace of red transit cancel at bottomEXTREMELY FINE GEM. A SUPERB USED EXAMPLE OF THE 1868 15-CENT F GRILL.
With 2009 P.S.E. certificate (XF-Superb 95; SMQ $3,400.00). Only one has graded higher to date.
Date
15c Black, F. Grill (98). Almost perfectly centered, intense shade, Lincoln portrait flanked by attractive blue cork cancels, Extremely Fine, with 2010 P.S.E. certificate (XF 90; SMQ $950.00)
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15c Black, F. Grill (98). Unusually choice centering with wide and balanced margins, intense shade and proof-like impression, bold strike of circle of wedges cancel, clearly-defined grill, most recent certificate notes small sealed internal tear at top right and tiny filled thin at left, Extremely Fine appearance, ex Natalee Grace, with 1988 P.F. and 2012 P.S.E. certificates (F-VF 75), the former as sound