This 3c Washington stamp is the least expensive in this Civil War era series.

This particular stamp shows two strokes of a pen cancel.

This entire series was reissued in 1867 with “grills” added to each stamp. Grills are a physical grid of indentations in the paper designed to prevent misuse of the postage by washing off the cancellation.

Many stamps of this era are worth more depending on the cancellation found on them. Unfortunately, a simple pen cancel like the one shown does not command any such premium.

Cataloging the Washington 3c

Some catalogs award this stamp as many as nine different entries. Most of these differences have to do with the grill used, not the design of the stamp itself.

If you add in the subtypes due to color variations, paper types, and so on, there are dozens of possibilities. If you’re interested in stamp varieties and cancellations, this stamp may be just the one you’re looking for.

The Minimalist Catalog combines all these into one listing, calling it USC 13.

George Washington 3c Statistics
Date Used	Designer	Printing	Number
8/19/1861	James Macdonough	National Bank Note Company	2,000,000,000 (est.)