Black Jack (stamp)

[2] The stamp was issued to fulfill a need for a reduced rate, 2-Cent denomination for newspaper, magazine, and local deliveries; and was often used to "make up" higher rates, or split in half to make up lower ones (a 1-Cent stamp) due to shortages at the local post office.

After the War was over, poverty inspired people to wash off the cancellation from the stamps and attempt to use them again.

This grill, which consisted of various rows of tiny indentations into the stamps, was supposed to make it impossible to wash off the cancellations without being detected; but people usually got around this by bisecting the stamp, and then reusing that portion that didn't have a cancellation on it.

Over the next few months, the Post Office successively employed three smaller grill patterns (D, E and F) in the production of this stamp.

He has revealed more details on the different dies used than those mentioned in the Scott Specialized Catalogue.