Narcotic Stamp Registration Numbers

Looking for a consensus of opinion about something very esoteric.

At a particular point in time, manufacturers of products that contained narcotics were required to include their registration number in their cancel. This cancel was also to include their name or initials, and the date.

Later still, the registration number and the date alone was allowed.



So here is an example of the Eli Lilly and Company's cancel, with the registration number 4.



This is one with a much higher registration number of 113,363.

Some have thought that this is actually two numbers, 113 and 363, on the same stamp. Mostly because the number is just so high.



However, another manufacturer, the Parke, Davis and Company, has an even higher registration number: 149,834.

So I'm trying to see if the majority of people looking at this would think that the E. L. number is, in fact, 113,363, and it is not two separate numbers.

I believe that it is one number, because a) no other narcotic stamp has two (or more) registration numbers on it, b) you would think that if it was two numbers, then it would be written as "Nos 113 & 363," and c) see the Parke, Davis example.

What do you think?

Jim

My instinct tells me that you are correct about it being one number,

Peter

Seems to me that the way to settle Jim's questions is find some Eli Lilly's registration special tax stamps and see what registration number is on them. Yes, I believe that they had more than one registration number. Certainly one for their activity as a manufacturer and importer and at least one for wholesale dealer. We do know that McKesson & Robbins had registration numbers 213 and 1052 and 7069. And we know that Eli Lilly had registration number 4 in addition to 113 and 363 (or 113,363 if you prefer).

Asking for a vote of readers as to what they think is not necessarily the way to answer the questions.

Ron,

Special tax stamps for narcotics were in use from 1915 to 1971.

Yes, it would be great to find the "smoking gun" that shows the registration number for a particular firm, such as the one shown below.

However, the likelihood that one or more of only 56 possible pieces of paper still existing today is pretty small.

In its place, I think that some reasonable, logical deductions can be made, based on the evidence presented.

I believe that this is how the whole detective genre works?

Jim

I suspect that they are two numbers, I don't recall seeing registry numbers larger then 4 digits.

Bart,

In addition to the Parke, Davis example, The Upjohn Company had #11,576.

Jim

Those were in 1964, not 1919 as the EL stamp is. I can't imagine them needing a six digit number right after the law was passed.

Bart - The registration numbers began in 1914 (or fiscal year 1915) with the Harrison Narcotic Act (many of the pharmaceutical companies called it the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Act).

I understand that, but it was still only a relatively short time. I can't imagine a way for them to need a six figure number at that point.

Nor can I.

But then why is the number written the way it is? With a comma where it's supposed to be, and no semi-colon ";" between the numbers, to signify two separate numbers? And why is it "No." and not "Nos."?

Perhaps these particular numbers meant something to someone at the Lilly company, and, much like personalized license plates today, a request was made to have this particular number issued to them?

And then Parke, Davis saw this, and jumped in with their request of 149834 (birthday? address? measurements of their wife?)?

Even more confusing is this one:



This looks like a huge number, but the initial "11" is actually an "H."

I have three of these, and they all have different numbers.

So if it's not a registration number, I'm not sure what it is.

Jim

Total number of registrants (for registration numbers) in year ended June 30, 1920 was just shy of 240,000.

See below.

Jim



Source: Annual Report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1920, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1920, page 130.

Narcotic stamp cancelled "U. Co." (Upjohn Company).

Dated June 24, 1919.

Jim

But only class 1 or class 2 should wind up printed on stamps.

That's true.

Nonetheless, 240,000 unique registration numbers were issued, in just one year.

I am assuming sequentially?

But then how did Joe in the Arkansas IRS office know which registration number to give to the ABC Drug Company when they walked in?

It wasn't like there was email or the Internet back then...

Telegrams maybe?

Jim

I suspect that each office was given a range of numbers, and possibly each class was assigned a range as well so that the government would know who was doing what without having to look it up each time.

Possibly, but that doesn't account for how one manufacturer (Lilly) got numbers 4 and 113,363.

You'd kind of expect manufacturers to have registration numbers relatively close to each other, right? If there was a group?

Retail dealers would be within another group of numbers, and so on.

This confusion is why I wrote this post, but I'm more confused now than when I started...

Jim