Match & Medicine

So I've decided to pursue some Match & Medicine collecting. I finally got my 2011 Scott Specialized, great resource and most informative. Particularly interesting is the bold note in the intro section..."outstanding examples of stamps in this section can bring many multiples of catalogue value".
Boy am I finding this out searching the available sellers. The main internet sellers specializing in these stamps want many times cat value for VF or better.
Time to save my pennies. Many of the less expensive versions on E-Bay etc have serious condition issues. Sigh.
On a positive note, I've sent off for a flatbed scanner so I can share some of my recent finds. Hope to post them soon.

A great area to collect. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Here's my only match stamp. Came in a collection of BOB from ebay. Pretty common I know, but uncommonly pretty, I think.





And welcome. You'll enjoy it here.

A nice RO172, thanks for sharing it James. And it is uncommonly beautiful. That's what draws me to this area. Detail and boldness of design, a true stamp of a bygone era.

M & M Stamps are a wounderful and facinating area to collect. I have collected these for many years. I personally have collected these with an eye on quality rather than completeness. I would recommend getting an Aldrich Album. http://www.aldrichstamps.com/modx92...dex.php?id=6
You might also want to get A CENSUS OF U.S. MATCH AND MEDICINE STAMPS: The analysis of condition on a stamp by stamp basis for the scarcer private die stamps. By Michael Aldrich

I've always marveled at the myriad of wonderful M&M designs... but I've successfully resisted the temptation thus far. The LAST thing I need is yet another collecting area.

Rodney:

During WWI there was a 2c War Tax on perfumes,
patent medicines and commercial paper. These
were paid with 2c war tax coil stamps similar to
your one cent coil stamp.

There was also a tax on imported matches.
(1c per box of 25 or 50)

This stamp was prepared in 1920, at the request
of the British match manufacturers McGuire,
Paterson and Palmer Incorporated.

This company was formed in 1919 through the
merger of four smaller companies. Early on ,
they decided to expand to Canada and in mid
October 1920, they registered their Canadian
subsidiary with its head office at Montreal.

While they were setting up their Canadian
factory , near Pembroke, Ontario, between
November 1920 and March 1921, they
imported a large quantity of matches from
the UK.

Note: In 1921, the company went into
partnership with Diamond Match Co (USA)
and some smaller local firms to form the
Canadian Match Company which commenced
Canadian production on 12 Dec 1921 and
began distribution on 01 Feb 1922.

As each imported box required a 1c war tax
stamp, two initial orders totaling ten million
stamps (in rolls of 500) were placed with the
printers before mid December 1920. Later,
an additional 8,905.000 stamps were
ordered.

In 1920, the tax on perfumes, patent medicines
etc. were abolished, so the only major use of
these stamps was on imported matches. Thus
the bulk of these stamps were used by McGuire,
Paterson and Palmer on their imported matches
in 1920-21.

Since the Head Office of the company was in
Montreal, the War Tax stamps were ordered
through the Inland Revenue office in that city.

Since regulations required the local Inland
Revenue officer to cancel the stamps, the one
cent coil were precancelled with DIV 17.
The Montreal Division of the Inland Revenue
was Division 17. There are several forms of
this cancel.

In 1921, Canada created the Dept of Customs
and Excise to replace the Inland Revenue.
With this the designation for Montreal changed
from DIV 17 to Port 10A

acknowledgement : blair rcsd.

I've already got the Aldrich Private Die pages, and now with my Specialized I'm assigning Scott numbers to all the pages. And I will look into a copy of that census, thanks Revstampman.

Wow Rod, a very detailed account of that stamp's background. Most appreciated.

Western1688
this is the canadian stamp it refers to

Imported boxes of matches



RO16 (not mine)