Heritage is holding a rare stamp sale, which has recently opened online.

One of the top bids is a Type Ia blue 1 cent stamp depicting Benjamin Franklin. The stamp, from a cover marked 1857, is a forerunner to the briefly used 1 cent Z-grill, and looks quite similar to it.

Even for most determined rare stamp collectors, an example like this is probably the closest they'll come to owning one of the two known Z-grills (Bill Gross, whose collection we profiled in a newsletter, owns the only one in private hands).

1 cent blue 1857 stamp

The association with the more famous stamp probably makes it a stronger investment option than most collectible stamps, and that is likely to be why it is currently heading the auction, with one bidder already committed to paying at least $977.50.

This example is tied on the corner of the cover by a blue Cincinnati, O. town cancel, which does not obscure the full ball and scroll ornaments at the bottom, and it is graded nearly fine, with an attractive deep blue colour.

This are over two weeks of bidding left, so it is unlikely that the current bid will capture the prize.