America’s Most Valuable Postage Stamp on Display

On May 30, 2024, America’s most valuable postage stamp will be on public display for the first time in 11 years.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 23, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On May 30, 2024, America’s most valuable postage stamp will be on public display for the first time in 11 years alongside other highlights from the William H. Gross Collection of United States Stamps. The 1868 One-Cent “Z” Grill is on track to smash all records when it hits the auction block on June 14, with presale estimates placing its value between $4 million and $5 million. This iconic stamp has been in the private collection of “Bond King” Bill Gross for nearly 20 years and has not been on display since a special exhibition at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in 2013.

Siegel Auctions will display highlights from the William H. Gross Collection on May 30 at the Collectors Club of New York in midtown Manhattan. From 12pm until 4pm members of the press are invited to view the collection and interview Scott Trepel, president of Siegel Auctions, and Charles Shreve, Mr. Gross’s philatelic advisor for over 30 years. From 5pm until 7pm the public is invited to view the collection and attend a special presentation by Mr. Trepel and Mr. Shreve.

Charles Shreve explains, “This is, without question, the most significant and most valuable collection of United States stamps formed this past half century. It is an extraordinary opportunity to view all the rarest and most sought-after stamps issued by the United States, including the iconic One-cent ‘Z’ Grill.”

The One-Cent “Z” Grill

The One-cent “Z” Grill has long been recognized as America’s most elusive and most valuable postage stamp. Produced in 1868 at a time when the government was experimenting with new technologies to curb the illegal reuse of postage stamps, the stamp exhibits unique characteristics that separate it from visually-similar stamps of the same period. These subtle but significant distinctions place it in a category all to itself and have led countless collectors over the decades to examine stamps in their own collections in the hopes of striking gold.

There are only two examples of the One-Cent “Z” Grill that have survived. The first has been in the collection of the New York Public Library for a century, while the second was discovered in 1916 and remains the only example that will ever be available to collectors. For anyone hoping to complete a collection of United States postage stamps, the One-Cent “Z” Grill presents the ultimate challenge. Having only appeared at auction four times since its discovery, the June 14 sale represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the most passionate and determined of collectors.

The coveted One-Cent “Z” Grill will be in in good company when it is on display the Collectors Club of New York on May 30, alongside other famous stamp rarities such as the Alexandria postmaster’s provisional, the St. Louis Bears, the 24¢ Continental Bank Note, and the Inverted Jenny.

The Sale

On June 14 and 15, 2024, Siegel Auction Galleries of New York City will offer the William H. Gross Collection of United States Stamps, the last in a series of auctions of what many consider to be the most complete and significant collection of American postage stamps ever assembled.

Built over the course of decades by the “Bond King” William “Bill” H. Gross, who co-founded PIMCO in 1971, this collection promises to set a new high-water mark for stamps collecting when it crosses the auction block. Siegel’s experts anticipate the entire collection will realize $15 to $20 million, with several individual stamps breaking the $1 million mark and the collection’s rarest stamp—the 1868 One-cent “Z” Grill—on track to become the most valuable American postage stamp with an estimate of $4 to $5 million.

The top 100 stamps from the collection will be auctioned at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan on Friday, June 14. This array of the rarest and most valuable stamps in the Gross collection is a veritable Hall of Fame of American stamp collecting. The star of the Friday night sale will be the famous 1868 One-cent “Z” Grill, which returns to the auction block for the first time in 26 years. The remaining stamps will be sold the next day at the premises of the Collectors Club of New York.

Alyssa Baumgardner
Siegel Auctions
+1 212-753-6421
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Don't Miss Your Chance — The One-cent "Z" Grill