Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax

another from last week's meeting





thanks
Richard

Does anyone know what these were used for? Thanks

I was actually wondering that myself, Veronica. Or if anybody collects them and if they're worth anything. I have some loose ones and then I have a complete book. In searching online I found a site that explains exactly what they were used for. He breaks it down so it makes sense, but basically it was a way for the government to start collecting sales tax when they first chose to do so.

http://t2buck.com/taxstamps.htm

If anybody is interested in mine or knows more info about them, please post a reply. Thanks!

Very interesting article. I was wondering how they were used also. It's funny that the state basically had to bribe the merchant to collect the tax and bribe the consumer to ensure that the merchant wasn't cheating the system.

This link says basically the same thing as shared by mmhoss13, but in an interesting perspective from the eyes of a school pupil who was encouraged to collect them for their school's movie projector:

http://www.clevelandwomen.com/times...taxstamp.htm

As for value, there's a few currently for sale on e-bay with a $5 estimate; only one bid though of $1.99 for a group of 17. If that bid holds true, it figures out to be about 11 cents a stamp, so they are likely worth about minimum catalog value as compared to a real postage stamp.

I believe that this is representative of the other half of the receipt posted by ziggy9.

Don't know anything about them... but I do have an envelope full.
I posted one of each type a while back, so I had the scans here
already. There are different color combos, printing companies,
and values... Here they are again, for your viewing pleasure:

I'm taking notice of all the different printing companies involved in producing these "stamps". I see Reserve Litho, American Bank Note Co. and Columbian Bank Note Co. from the samples presented above.

Anyone know if mulitple printers were involved in producing the same issue? If so, there are likely to be multiple varieties out there.

In any case, these are certainly a nice addition to a traditional stamp collection.

I have one book of 1 cent stamps unused in order and another of two cent stamps unused in otder. Does anyone know how much these are worth?

At first I thought these were state revenues stamps but, I was wrong. The State Revenue Society (SRS) has compiled a catalog of all known state revenue stamps. However, these appear to be receipts for tax paid. Not much help here I'm sorry to say.

Art

I can't help much either, other than to say that Ebay has multiple listings for these stamps/labels ranging in price from $0.99 to $106.00 ... and with no bids on any of them. That suggests to me that there is a limited collecting interest in them (at least at those prices) and since they were probably issued in the hundreds of thousands or even millions, I suspect that the value is minimal, unless of course, you can find an avid collector who is looking for the specific denomination stamps that you have.

As with most anything else in stamp collecting, value is all dependent on supply and demand.

And demand often comes from knowledge. There doesn't appear to be a lot of shared knowledge regarding these fellows.

They must be quite selective in their appeal.

This post is an interesting snapshot of SCF history and practice. ziggy started things off, and over the course of a few months off and on, here and there, information started to accrete. This thread, alone, is responsible for at least three one-post posters. (jsandine is the newest, and hopefully will add much more over time.)

Pretty sure I don't have one of these...if I ever stumble across one, looks like I'll have some digging to do.

I found these 3 in my US revenues.

Welcome Snowy,
Nice to have another Aussie in the family....
Hope you enjoy your stay.

snowy12,

to the forum, I know you'll enjoy it here. Everyone is willing to help where they can. If you want some information, this is the place to get it. I hope you join in on some discussions and a sense of humor will help too.

Art

These were not revenue stamps - they were a receipt to the consumer that you paid a consumer tax. In the mid-50's I worked in a Red and White grocery store. When we rang up purchases, we would ring up taxable items on the register by holding down the "taxable" key and then the amount. At the end you would get a sub-total for taxable and non-taxable. We then would look up the consumer tax you had to pay, ring that amount up and give you the above shown receipts in the amount of the tax you just paid. It was a real pain.