Oleo Series Of 1886 80 Lb. 18__ Dateline

A newly found and previously unreported Oleomargarine stamp Series of 1886. This is the 80 pound with 18__ dateline. The Litchfield number is 18 die B (single line surrounding "Act of August 2, 1886" at the top center).

Okay, the stamp has some missing pieces from its removal from the firkin. As we know these stamps were required to be applied with five nails, so that is not so unusual.

Gotta love that new discoveries are possible after all these years. That appears to be more the case with the (neglected?) back of book areas more so than front of book.

That's the reason I always examine 19th century revenues and bulk lots closely, even minimum value stamps. You never know what you might find.

Very interesting item. This forum has drawn my attention to areas of 19th century revenues that I barely knew existed. Some of the items, like this one, are really attractive, and the notion that they might even be new discoveries only adds to the attraction.

What a beatiful print.
I think all those neglected BOB have a bright future ahead.

They are not so neglected. They have long been collected by serious revenue people. The Litchfield mentioned is the late great collector Carter Litchfield, who was the expert on oleo stamps and wrote the book. I was fortunate enough to have met him a few times back in the day. I still have an original 1898 edition Boston Book that I was lucky enough to obtain from him in a trade for a wholesale oleo dealer special tax stamp about 35 years ago. I'm sure he already had one for that year, but he wanted me to have the book "as long as I didn't want it to sell, but to use it". A great collector.

No, I did not know these stamps were applied with nails! And perhaps someone could describe a "firkin" for me.

Haha! A firkin is kind of a barrel.

As a unit of measurement a firkin is about 11 gallons.