‘Bond King’ Bill Gross Sells Rare ‘Z’ Grill Stamp for $4.4 Million – Most Valuable in the US

The United States’ most valuable postage stamp sold Friday for nearly $4.4 million.

The 1868 penny “Z” grill was sold as part of the collection owned by “Bond King” Bill Gross, co-founder of the asset management firm Pacific Investment Management Co., also known as PIMCO.

The successful bidder has chosen to remain anonymous.

This is the first time this stamp has been sold in 26 years, and among stamp enthusiasts it is considered the most coveted.

The Grill “Z” stamp completes the entire collection which includes one of every postage stamp issued by the United States Postal Service since 1847.

The “Z” Grill stamp comes in a custom-made Louis Vuitton “Z” Grill trunk, which contains the stamp in an acrylic frame.

“We call them Blue Chip Stamps,” said Scott Trepel, president of Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, the auction house behind the sale.

“They are not difficult to understand. They are very rare. And they fulfill a very basic need of a stamp collector, which is, “I have to have this one if I want to complete my collection.” »

The “Z” Grill stamp depicts Benjamin Franklin, and is one of two of its kind in existence.

The other stamp is owned by the New York Public Library, currently on loan to the Washington Smithsonian National Postal Museum, and may never be sold.

“It’s the holy grail of United States stamp collecting,” Charles Shreve, director of the Siegel Auction Galleries in the United States and Gross’ philatelic advisor.

A grill is a mark printed on a pad to prevent its reuse.

The toasting pad created a waffle-like emboss that released an ink that would spread into the fibers and prevent them from being cleaned.

The “Z” grill, named for its zigzag pattern, is considered the rarest variety of grill and was used for a short time.

In addition to Gross, other famous people have owned this stamp, including Jerry Buss, once majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers.

For Gross, stamp collecting is rooted in his childhood, after his mother bought stamps in the 1930s and 1940s in hopes of paying for his college education.

Gross’s interest in stamps was not only an investment, but also a passion and an outlet for pleasure and achievement.

“He likes to take chaos and turn it into something fixed, creating order out of disorder,” Shreve said.

“It gave him a sense of pride that he had accomplished something.”

That’s why Gross only answered calls from two people during the day: “Warren Buffett and me,” Shreve told FOX Business.

“To get away from the real world.”

Gross and Shreve would browse auction catalogs while watching football games and make late-night purchases.

“Although stamps are used less and less these days, stamps are pieces of Americana and people enjoy collecting items from the past,” Shreve said.

“When mail was sent in the 1860s, 70s and 80s, it was the Internet.”

Gross obtained the “Z” Grill stamp in 2005 as a final step to having all the necessary stamps in the collection, according to Shreve.

As a representative, Shreve negotiated with the Mystic Stamp Company for a plate block of Inverted Jennys worth nearly $3 million.

It is considered the “largest stamp exchange of all time”.

In recent years, Gross has sold more than $50 million worth of stamps.

Collecting stamps is also an alternative investment.

“Given the choice between investing money in the financial markets and getting a return on your investment or buying something tangible that you cash in your profits for when you go to sell it, it’s a game,” Trepel told FOX Business.

“For some people, it’s art, and they buy art from artists who they think will one day be worth a lot more. In real estate, it’s location. In stamps, coins and collectibles, these are usually the things that everyone wants or will want in the future.