US revenue stamps have been around since the late 18th Century, however, they were actually colorless embossed impressions applied to the taxable paper document, as shown in the images directly below.
![]() Revenue Stamped Paper
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![]() Revenue Stamped Paper
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Taxation is something that has never been tremendously popular with Americans, and the new American government, in the late 18th Century, kept it to a minimum. After all, it was excessive taxation by the British government, without sufficient colonial representation in the British parliament, that triggered the American War of Independence.
Early in the history of the United States, there were no federal or state income taxes or sales taxes, but taxes were levied on various types of paper transactions, such as promissory notes, bills of exchange, bills of lading, insurance policies, powers of attorney, stock certificates, patent letters, conveyances, leases, mortgages, commissions, liquor licenses, etc.
During the American Civil War, and later, the Spanish American War, large sums of money were required to support the federal war effort. During 1862, the first government printed US revenue stamps were issued. These new revenue stamps, referred to by philatelists as the First Issue, were inscribed for use on every imaginable type of taxable paper transaction. Their denominations ranged from 1 Cent through 200 Dollars.
The First Issue of US revenue stamps was retired in 1871. The new revenue stamps were all inscribed U.S. INTER(NAL) REV(ENUE), so they could be used indiscriminately on all types of paper documents.
After 1898, all federally issued revenue stamps were inscribed DOCUMENTARY, and these types of stamps remained in use well past the middle of the 20th Century.
Classical US revenue stamps are very popular with stamp collectors Worldwide. The scope of just the federal internal revenue and documentary stamps issued since the American Civil War almost exceeds the number of US postage stamps issued to date. AND THERE'S MORE!
There are additional categories of federal revenue stamps that have been issued, with some of them continuing to modern times, such as Proprietary stamps, Stock Transfer stamps, Silver Tax stamps, Wine and Beer stamps, Playing Card stamps, Potato Tax stamps, Narcotic Tax stamps, Consular stamps, and Hunting Permit stamps.
To further extend the scope of revenue stamp collecting, each of the
states of the United States have also issued their own revenue stamps
for the collection of state and federal taxes.
During the 19th
Century, many manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies issued their
own ornate stamps to indicate the collection of taxes on their retail
products. These are called Private Die Proprietary, or sometimes Match
and Medicine, stamps.
Collecting or specializing in revenue stamps of the United States can truly be a lifetime endeavor.
Links
to future articles concerning the different types of US federal revenue
stamps will eventually be provided in the column at the right.
The American Stamp Dealers Association website has some exceptional articles on rare and elusive US revenue stamps, including the historical and philatelic background of many of these important issues. The Revenue Articles menu is located in the middle of the left-hand column.
Bob Hohertz has authored a very informative web page, featuring an Overview of the various categories of United States Scott-Listed Revenue Stamps, sorted by catalog number prefix.
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particular collecting subject they've just read about.
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Return to Home Page from US Revenue Stamps
First Issue 1862-1871
PART 1
PART 2
Second Issue 1871
Third Issue 1871-1881
Provisional Revenues 1898
(R) Documentary 1898-1902
(R) Documentary 1914-1940
(R) Documentary 1940-1963
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
(RB) Proprietary 1871-1881
(RB) Proprietary 1898-1919
(RC) Future Delivery Stamps
(RD) Stock Transfer 1918-1940
(RD) Stock Transfer 1940-1952
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
(RE) Wine Stamps 1914-1940
(RE) Wine Stamps 1942-1953
(RE) Beer Stamps 1866-1875
(RE) Beer Stamps 1878-1902
(RE) Beer Stamps 1909-1916
(RE) Beer Stamps 1917-1918
(RE) Beer Stamps 1933-1951
(RE) Fermented Fruit Juice 1933
(RF) Playing Cards Stamps
(RG) Silver Tax 1934-1940
(RG) Silver Tax 1941-1944
(RI) Potato Tax Stamps
(RJ) Tobacco Tax Stamps
(RJ) Marijuana Tax 1937-1971
(RK) Consular Service Fees
(RL) Customs Fee Stamps
(RV) Motor Vehicle Use Tax
(RV) Recreation Fee Stamps
(RW) Bird Hunting 1934-1953
(RW) Bird Hunting 1954-1973
(RW) Bird Hunting 1974-1993
(RW) Bird Hunting 1994_2015
(RX) Distilled Spirits Tax
(RY) Firearms Transfer Tax