I am having problems identifying variants of this design. I have a number of these and am wondering if anyone can explain to me what to look for in telling which I have. None of these have a grill so I know that eliminates one of the variants. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
It's very difficult to tell with stamps in a group picture like that. You really need to show good resolution scans of no more than 1-2 stamps at a time. The bottom 1/3 of the stamp (i.e., from Washington's neck downwards) is what is used to tell the different design varieties.
If you have a Scott US Specialized, use the Identifier of Definitive Issues in the introduction. It will give you the basics of what to look for AND what it looks like.
Online, you can check out the former 1847usa site that has now been ported over to a new host. Here is the relevant webpage: 1870 3¢ Washington identifier
