The “A” grill is the easiest grill of all to identify as it is the only one that extends over the entire stamp. It was the first grill issued, and it didn’t work out very well. The large amount of grilling weakened the paper and made the stamp difficult to separate neatly along the perforations. When users tried to separate the stamps, they were frequently torn. The three cent (#79) is the most common of the three stamps known with an A grill; the quantity estimated issued is 50,000. Experience indicates that only 2,000 still remain in collectors’ hands. Undamaged, well-centered copies are practically unknown. The five cent A grill (#80) is a great rarity; less than 2,000 were issued, and only four or five can currently be accounted for. No unused copies are known. If you wish to acquire the stamp, you would be wise to buy the first example that you see; only one example generally is sold during any generation. The same is true for the thirty cent (#81), with again only six examples known, all defective and selling for over $100,000.
The B grill, like the A and the C, has the grill point facing up. This means that the cutting pyramids of the grill machine were placed to do their work at the back of the stamp the grill measures 18 by 15 millimeters, rather large by grill standards; or, when expressed in grill points or rows, which most collectors prefer, twenty-two rows by eighteen rows. Only one cover bearing four stamps was known with the B grill, and it is the 3-cent value (#82). The stamps have been taken off the cover. The C grill measures 13 by 16 millimeters, or sixteen to seventeen rows by eighteen to twenty-one rows. It is known only on the three cent (#83), and although rare, this is a stamp every collector can hope to attain. Three hundred thousand were estimated issued, so that though scarce, they are more than abundant than their other “Points Up” brethren. The “points U” grill was for the most part unsuccessful. Placing the grill so that it pushed and cut up visibly disfigured the stamp. It was not long before placing the grill points down was tried. This process still produced the same amount of protection against cleaning while not greatly affecting the appearance of the stamp.
