221JANAP_web

The Collector of Revenue
BY RON LESHER
PAYING A TAX
OR TAX EXEMPT
IN
the last column, I examined the first aspect
of the definition of revenues, governmental
authority. Let us begin the current exploration
with the first of the many purposes of revenue stamps,
namely to show that a tax has been paid or that something is
exempt from taxation.
Stamps that were intended to pay a tax on various kinds
of transactions that are recorded on paper are commonly
called documentary stamps. Most stamp collectors attracted
to revenues begin with the so-called First Issues Revenues,
the first issues that collectors encounter in the revenue
section of the Scott Specialized Catalogue of U.S. Stamps
& Covers listings (Scott R1-102). Most, but not all of these
are documentary stamps. That list of stamps is so lengthy
because all were inscribed with the kind of document on
which they were to be placed. In Figure 1, we see a stamp
inscribed Bank Check and placed on the intended type of
document, a bank check. The tax on bank checks, regardless
of the amount to be paid, was two cents, and is appropriately
covered by the documentary stamp.
The wide variety of variously inscribed documentary
stamps, often in multiple denominations, made equal distribution
to all parts of the country difficult. The requirement
for the tax stamp to match the usage proved impractical,
and was discontinued after a mere three months, at the end
of December 1862. Nonetheless, most collectors of the First
Issue relish finding these stamps on the intended type of
document, even after the matching usage requirement was
discontinued.
Figure 2 shows a certificate stamp on a marriage certificate,
another matching usage. Certificate stamps were
required on any certificate with legal implications or standing.
Interestingly, this marriage certificate is written in
German, reflecting the large German immigrant population
in the state of Pennsylvania, many of whom were still
speaking German, or a dialect, Pennsylvania Dutch, which
by the 1860s was no longer a written language. As a young
boy, well I remember Pennsylvania Dutch being spoken by
my grandparents when they did not wish me to understand
what was going on!
Most, but not all, of the First Issue revenue stamps
were intended to be used on documents. Stamps inscribed
Figure 1. Check drawn on the Bank of the Republic with a 2¢ stamp (Scott R6c) inscribed Bank Check.
52 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / JANUARY 2021