Collections of 1898 series revenue stamps, especially the dollar value documentaries, may occasionally contain stamps that are punch cancelled with the initials of the cancelling user. Quite separate from perfin cancels or punch cancels that provide no encoded information like a circle or star punch, the letter punch cancels used by a limited number of firms that traded at New York Stock exchange (11 firms, 10 different punch cancels by my current count) are a distinct area for collecting for 1898 revenue specialists. Examples of punch cancels from the following brokers are provided below:
- Vernon C. Brown & Company
- Lathrop & Smith
- Eames & Moore
- Stewart Barr & Company
- Watson & Brown
- Rolston & Bass
- Rolston & Hooley
- DeCoppet & Doremus
- Whitehouse & Company
- Edmund & Charles Randolph
- Wasserman Brothers
An additional non-broker letter punch cancel from a shipping company and two railroads can also be found:
- Compagnie Generale Transatlantique
- Erie Railroad
- Hoboken Shore Road
Finally, there is one complex punch cancel that can be found that I've yet to identify:
At the beginning of the tax period there was no requirment to punch, cut, or mutilate documentary stamps in the cancelling process. This would become a requirement for stamps ten cents and above by December, 1899. But the punch cancels illustrated below would have helped comply with the requirement to cancel the stamp using initials, even though the law says the initials should be written or stamped. The initial punch cancel clearly complies with the spirit of this requirement.
In some cases, firms may have used the punched initials as a form of control; if punched precancelled, it would have been difficult for the stamps to have been stolen and sold as they had the equivalent of a brand pre-applied. In the memos of sale illustrated below, there is a mixed record of stamps that have been punched prior to document application and stamps that have been punch cancelled after application to the document.
Vernon C. Brown & Company
Punch cancel applied to both stamps prior to application to the memo
Lathrop & Smith
Eames & Moore
Stewart Barr & Company
Stewart Barr appears to have used his punch cancelling device only during the early part of the 1898 tax period. Multiple Stewart Barr memos of sale, dating through the tax period do not show the use of this device in 1900, 01 & 02. During those years he used a simple round punch cancel, roughly the same size as the holes on loose leaf binder paper.
Roulette Hyphen-hole
Watson & Brown
Rolston & Bass
In 1898, this firm's partners included William Rolston, Walter Bass, and Edwin Hooley. On January 31, 1901, Walter Bass left the firm and Rolston & Bass was dissolved. On February 1, 1901, Rolston & Hooley was organized. Both firms used the "R&B" punch cancel throughout the 1898-1902 tax period. The ink CDS cancels by name and date help determine the user of the punch cancel.
The stock memos of sale for both Rolston & Bass and Rolston & Hooley below show that the firms used their punch cancel devices after the stamps were applied to the memos.
Punch cancelling occured after application to memo
Rolston & Hooley
Punch cancelling occured after application to memo
DeCoppet and Doremus
DeCoppet & Doremus specialized in the brokering of odd lots of shares. In the analog and manual days of trading, shares were normally traded a) in prices of 1/8 of a dollar rather than in cents; and b) in round lots of 100 shares. This remained a standard for decades into the 20th century. Today, with computerized trading in fractions of a cent and with ready liquidity, odd lots of shares, even fractional shares, trade with speed and regularity. My guess is that many firms eschewed trading odd lots, and firms like D&D took on small lot trades as a specialty, and probably for a slightly higher commission. So we occasionally find battleship stamps with the D&D punch cancel, like those below, which were likely used to pay the tax on odd lot trades. The stock sale memo below for 5 shares of a preferred stock is an example; the transaction was taxed at ten cents.
DeCoppet & Doremus is the only broker I've found to date that used both letter punch cancels like these and perfin cancels.
All the stamps except for the 10 cent stamp above appear to have been punch-cancelled by the same device.
Punch cancelling occured before application to memo
Whitehouse & Company
Edmund & Charles Randolph
The Randolphs used punch cancels both before and after the stamps were applied to the sale memo, and appear to have used the same "R" cancelling device through the entire 1898 tax period. Notice below that the cancels are at the bottom of each of the stamps that have been removed from their original documents. The bottom sale memo below shows two stamps that were punch cancelled after being placed on the memo -- the R shows through the stamps and the memo. I believe that the off cover examples below were all placed near the bottom edge of their sale memos and punch cancelled once attached. The top memo includes two stamps clearly punch cancelled prior to the application of the stamps.
Punch cancelling occured before application to memo
Punch cancelling occured after application to memo
I have not been able to ascertain whether the Wasserman Brothers often dealt in odd lot trades. However, there is an example of an odd lot share memo of sale below. Both sale memos show that the firm punch cancelled the stamps prior to application to the documents.
Compagnie Generale Transatlantique
CGT ran passenger ships from and to Europe. The stamps below were used on passenger tickets.
Perhaps the T refers to Ticket or "Transatlantique"?
Hoboken Shore Road
Punch cancel applied after application to bill of lading. Scan courtesy of Frank Sente.
Erie Railroad
The Hoboken Shore Road was a terminal transfer road at the port in Hoboken, NJ. The HSR connected with the Erie Railroad in Hoboken.
Unknown
These aren't letters, but they are complex punch cancels.
Does anyone know who used this cancel? Half of what, exactly?
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