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Fgure 2. German language marriage certificate with a 10¢ stamp inscribed Certificate (Scott R33c).
“Proprietary” or “Playing Cards” were reserved for use on
certain consumer goods such as matches, medicines, perfumes,
or playing cards. Figure 3 shows an improper use
of a 2¢ stamp inscribed “Playing Cards,” used on a bank
check. This was in violation of the regulations. Since the tax
was paid and there was no attempt to evade the tax, these
improper uses appear to have been tolerated. Most collectors
of the First Issue revenues seek to add such improper
uses to their collections.
In spite of collectors dubbing these stamps the First
Issue revenue stamps, they were not the first adhesive revenue
stamps used in the United States. The state of California
used adhesive stamps as early as 1857 to collect taxes on bills
of exchange, bills of lading (receipt of cargo shipments), and
insurance policies. These adhesive stamps were validated
with a handstamp showing the initials of the state controller.
The example on a Second Bill of Exchange shown in
Figure 4 is stamped with S.H.B, the initials of Samuel H.
Brooks, who served from March 16, 1860, to November
20, 1861. Bills of Exchange functioned somewhat like bank
checks, and were sent from California and other western
states across the country for payment at a bank in New York
City. Because of the uncertainty of arrival in New York, the
normal practice was to send two Bills of Exchange by different
routes to the bank in New York and save a Third Bill
in the company records for the unusual case that neither
of the other two arrived safely. The Figure 4 example is a
Second Bill of Exchange, and includes wording that it was
to be paid, provided that the First Bill was unpaid. In other
words, the first that arrived would be paid and the second
that arrived would be ignored. There is no evidence that
this particular bill was actually paid, so we can assume that
the First Bill arrived and had already been paid. Nevertheless,
all three bills were subject to the tax. California’s tax in
this case was $1.00 for each of the bills over $400, up to and
including $500.
For the convenience of taxpayers, Internal Revenue
also contracted with printers to imprint stamps on checks
and other taxable documents during the Civil War era and
lasting until June 30, 1883. In this way, the taxpayer did
not have to worry about licking a stamp and pasting it on
their check (Figure 5). In the example illustrated here, the
contractor A. Trochsler of Boston used a design featuring
the USS Monitor in the right portion of the design. Almost
JANUARY 2021 / AMERICAN PHILATELIST 53