Fun Ebay Item, Lots Of High Denomination Tax Stamps On Documents

This is not mine, and I have no connection to seller.

It is cool seeing the original documents and the stamps as used. They certainly believed in the heavy cancelation theory, both ink stamps and brutal cuts.

Somewhere there must be boxes and boxes of this stuff. Too bad it is trying to sell for silly money (IMHO)

I will bite, how much is silly money?

Alas, there are probably not "boxes and boxes" of documents like these around at this point. And silly money means nothing without an actual number.

All of these have fairly high numbers on them. I don't have a catalog right now, but I doubt if any have great catalog values.

$899.00, OBO on ebay now. I'd pay $100 for the lot. I have an interest in railroads, so that is an enhancement.


The strip of 4 R510 (I believe) 1948 $1000 Red Revenue stamps is nice, but they have heavy cuts

Here is a R509, it looks like it might fall apart off paper.

Why on Earth would one soak the stamps off this document?

Cut cancels are common on these; as stated above, why would anyone soak these off the document? My personal opinion is that anyone who would does not deserve to own them.

I don't mean soak stamps off this. The vast majority of revenues are off paper. Even on paper, heavy ink cancels and cut cancels decrease desirability of the items.

Regarding value - where would you put this ?

At the risk of creating an unnecessary controversy, I respectfully disagree with the comment that anyone who soaks these revenue stamps off of this document "does not deserve to own them". As a retired commercial real estate attorney, I do think that most law firms have "boxes and boxes" of documents like this (subject, of course, to their document retention and shredding policies!). All used documentary stamps were, of course, initially attached to some form or real estate conveyance document, and all of the stamps in collectors albums were soaked off at some point. Although we don't see all of this document, we know that it related to a large transaction (thus the large denomination stamps), and that it involved a railroad and a trust company - but other than that I don't see the document as having any more historical significance than a typical deed for a home or commercial property. From my perspective, unless someone has a connection to the land affected by a document (e.g., it was the deed to grandpa and grandma's farm), or the property is historically significant, I think it would be fine to soak off the stamps and re-sell them or add them to a collection.
I don't have a problem with anyone disagreeing with me and electing NOT to soak the stamps off of this document; my point is simply that we shouldn't judge someone harshly if they decide to do so. It doesn't strike me as any worse than soaking a regular issue stamp from the late 1930s off of an envelope.
Hopefully my view on this doesn't cause outrage!

When you find one of those "boxes and boxes" of these with high values laying around somewhere, be sure to let us know. These stamps have not been required since 1967, which is rather a long time for most firms to have the slightest reason for having them around. Assuming that they even existed at the time, or earlier.

And I certainly agree that anyone who would soak these off just to put them in an album does not deserve them, and should just go to a dealer and buy those which have already been soaked off rather than desecrate even more documents.

The "boxes" would be client files, so not available to non-clients. And I agree that only firms that have been around for a hundred years or more would still have these materials in their client files (if they haven't shredded them already).
Again, I respectfully disagree that soaking the stamps off an old deed, lease, or mortgage is, by definition, a "desecration" of an important historical document. But I of course have no objection if you elect to leave the documentary stamps on the documents in your possession.
Cheers!

That's the point, they already have. and in any case, if they are not available to collectors, it does not matter if they are in client files or shredded; collectors cannot get them. So for all intents and purposes, they do not exist either way.
I wonder what exactly you would call a "desecration". These may not be "historically important", but they are important philatelic items that show proper usages, and there are few enough of those around already.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I do have a follow-up question. From your perspective, are there any documents (which as you point out would need to be from 1967 or earlier) where you think that it would be acceptable to soak off the documentary stamps? Or is your view essentially that there are already enough used revenue/documentary stamps in circulation (with dealers or in private collections) so we shouldn't damage or destroy ANY more old documents by removing the stamps? I am interested in understanding your views on this. Thank you.

I tend to be a purist when it comes to protecting original usages, whether covers or documents. If they are on there, that is where they belong, unless something is so damaged that it endangers the stamps.