GRILLED STAMPS

What is a grill and why was it used on some U.S. stamps? In the 1860s, some people were afraid others removed cancels and reused the stamp, cheating the Post Office.  They tested a machine that embossed small waffle-shaped marks on the stamp, breaking the paper’s fibers and allowing ink to soak in.

What does a grill look like? It looks somewhat like the pattern on a waffle, a grid of horizontal and vertical lines.  It’s hard to see a grill on the front of a stamp, so here’s a picture of the back of a grilled stamp. Why are the grills named by letters? About 100 years ago, a stamp collector named William L. Stevenson discovered unknown grills and assigned letters to each different grill type or family.  He thought A grills were created first, then B grills, then C, and so on.  In 1926, Scott Catalogue changed its listing based on Stevenson’s work.  Eleven different types of grills were used on US stamps in the seven years – 1867 to 1873.

Example of a stamp grill