GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 24 · Type V · mint hinged
Lot 1
Scott 24 — 1857 1¢ blue Franklin, Type V
Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. · first U.S. perforated issue (perf. 15½) · Franklin after Caffieri’s bust. Type V exists because the British-style perforator forced the rows closer together: top and bottom frame lines break, side ornaments are cut away. Issued 17 November 1857 from plates 5–10. The workhorse 1¢ of the decade — drop letters, unsealed circulars, newspapers. Lot card: mint hinged, $140. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse
3 · Type V ornaments
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 90 · E grill
Lot 2
Scott 90 — 1868 12¢ black Washington, E grill
National Bank Note Company · line-engraved intaglio · perf. 12 · issued third week of February 1868 (~1,000,000). Charles Steel’s E grill — 11 × 13 mm, points down — broke the fibers so cancel ink could not be washed. From 1 January 1868 this denomination paid the new 12¢ half-ounce treaty rate to Great Britain (down from 24¢; it would fall to 6¢ in 1870). Packets out of New York for Liverpool. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $400; condition as you see. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · E grill area
3 · Washington in the oval
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 91 · E grill
Lot 3
Scott 91 — 1868 15¢ black Lincoln, E grill
National Bank Note Company · plate 41 · ~500,000 · same E grill as Scott 90. The vignette is H. B. Hall’s Sons’ memorial bust — America’s first mourning stamp, issued after Lincoln’s assassination and then grilled for 1868. Fifteen cents paid the 1857 treaty rate to France (per ¼ oz, American or British packet) and the registered-mail fee; also seen to Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $575. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · E grill area
3 · Lincoln’s memorial bust
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 98 · F grill
Lot 4
Scott 98 — 1868 15¢ black Lincoln, F grill
Same National Bank Note Lincoln as Scott 91; the catalog change is the grill. F is the production grill that followed E: about 9 × 13 mm, 11–12 × 15–17 points, points down — narrower, easier to separate than the experimental letters. Same 15¢ work: France, the North German Union, registered mail with a 3¢ companion for domestic postage. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $275. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · F grill area
3 · The same Lincoln die
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 113 · G grill
Lot 5
Scott 113 — 1869 2¢ brown Post Horse and Rider, G grill
National Bank Note pictorial · first U.S. stamps to show a scene, not only a statesman · G grill 9½ × 13 mm. The rider is the Pony Express in mid-leap — critics said the horse’s pose was impossible; the public kept the romance. Two cents paid a drop letter with carrier service and an unsealed circular, and made up higher rates in combination. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $80. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · G grill area
3 · The flying leap
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 117 · G grill · red Paid
Lot 6
Scott 117 — 1869 12¢ green S.S. Adriatic, G grill
National Bank Note pictorial of the Collins Line steamship Adriatic — built to take the New York–Liverpool mail contract from Cunard, fast and ruinously expensive to run. Solo use was the 12¢ half-ounce rate to England (January 1868 to January 1870). The red strike on this example is a Paid cancel, the exchange-office mark that the letter went fully prepaid. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $130. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · G grill area
3 · Red Paid cancel
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 119 · G grill · shifted frame
Lot 7
Scott 119 — 1869 15¢ brown & blue Landing of Columbus, Type II
National Bank Note · first U.S. bicolor postage: blue vignette and brown frame printed in two passes. This example shows a strongly shifted frame — the landing scene sits off-register in the oval, the usual consequence of that two-color process. Type II has a complete picture frame around the vignette (Type I, Scott 118, breaks at top). Fifteen cents paid the French treaty rate and the domestic registry fee. Scott U.S. Specialized 2023 used $190. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front & reverse
2 · Reverse · G grill area
3 · Shifted bicolor frame
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 190 · used
Lot 8
Scott 190 — 1879 30¢ full black Hamilton
American Bank Note Company · the 1870 Hamilton die on the soft, porous paper of 1879 (Scott 165 is the earlier hard-paper printing). Thirty cents was a Bank Note high value: registered and heavy letters, and foreign postage when the 5¢ UPU rate was not enough. Alexander Hamilton — first Secretary of the Treasury — in profile. Lot card: used, $90. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · Hamilton’s profile
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 211 · mint hinged
Lot 9
Scott 211 — 1883 4¢ blue green Jackson
American Bank Note Company · issued 1 October 1883, the day the domestic letter rate fell from 3¢ to 2¢. Four cents paid a double-weight letter — two ounces inland — and made up registered and foreign combinations. Andrew Jackson in the oval, a small color change from the earlier 4¢ green. Lot card: mint hinged, thin, $225. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · Jackson’s bust
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 237 · mint hinged
Lot 10
Scott 237 — 1893 10¢ Columbian, Columbus presenting natives
American Bank Note · World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago. The vignette is Columbus before Ferdinand and Isabella with the people of the New World — the court scene that sold the fair. Ten cents paid a double UPU letter (the UPU rate was 5¢) and the usual registered combination: 8¢ registry fee plus 2¢ domestic postage. Lot card: mint hinged, $95. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · The Spanish court
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 239 · mint hinged
Lot 11
Scott 239 — 1893 30¢ Columbian, Columbus at La Rábida
American Bank Note · the monastery of La Rábida, where Columbus waited on the Franciscans before Isabella backed the voyage. Thirty cents was a high value of the Columbian set — parcels, heavy foreign letters, and registered combinations well above the 5¢ UPU rate. Lot card: mint hinged, thin, $225. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · La Rábida
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 240 · mint hinged
Lot 12
Scott 240 — 1893 50¢ Columbian, Recall of Columbus
American Bank Note · Isabella’s messenger overtaking Columbus on the road from Granada, recalling him to receive the commission for the first voyage. Fifty cents is the top working high value most collectors meet in the Columbian set before the dollar denominations. Lot card: mint hinged, thin, $450. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · The recall
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 289 · mint
Lot 13
Scott 289 — 1898 8¢ Trans-Mississippi, Troops guarding train
Bureau of Engraving and Printing · Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha. The vignette is a cavalry escort with a wagon train on the plains — the Army’s job on the overland routes. Eight cents, from 1893, was the registry fee; this stamp paid that fee in one label. Lot card: mint, disturbed gum, $140. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · The escort
GHSS auction 19-20 September 2026 · Scott 290 · mint
Lot 14
Scott 290 — 1898 10¢ Trans-Mississippi, Hardships of emigration
Bureau of Engraving and Printing · Omaha 1898. A family and a covered wagon on the plains — the emigrant story the Exposition wanted next to the Army escort on the 8¢. Ten cents paid a double UPU letter and made up registered combinations above the 8¢ fee. Lot card: mint, disturbed gum, $140. Notes after The Swedish Tiger.
1 · Front
2 · Design
3 · The wagon