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ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 1867

n the heat of the Civil War, the US government annulled the existing stamps and adopted revamped designs. The ‘60s issue added two new political leaders – Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. These are actually the oldest US stamps that can still be used to send letters.
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th US president who took office in 1861, just one month before the Confederate forces went into the assault on Fort Sumter. Known as a strong and decisive governor, he led the nation through the bloodiest war in its history into a free and fair world. His political achievements include the abolition of slavery, economy modernization and consolidation of government. No wonder the 1897 stamp depicting Abraham Lincoln in black color was one of the most important and expensive in the country. It cost as much as 15 cents, five times the value of most other US stamps of that period.
What differentiated the ‘60s series from earlier samples was the process known as grilling. The use of grills made it harder to wash off cancellations, which prevented dishonest senders from reusing stamps. Depending on the number of points in the grill and the size of the covered area, grills were given Latin letters from A to Z. The 1867 Abraham Lincoln stamp features a very rare “Z” grill that has horizontal ridges rather than vertical ones used in other grill types.
Given the extreme rarity of the stamp and its significance during the Civil War period, it is now valued at $200,000.