A $58 Steamboat Cancel on R154

NEW HAVEN

JUL

18

1898

Steamboat Co.

An auction on eBay concluded yesterday for a fine copy of R154, made special by a nearly perfect handstamp cancel by the New Haven Steamboat Company.  Seven bidders participated, with five willing to go above $20 in their bids for the stamp.  Documentary cancel collecting is alive!

1898 Revenue Exhibits at ARIPEX all Garner Gold Awards and Another Phoenix Check

1898 Revenue exhibits did well at ARIPEX!  All four of the 1898 revenue exhibits garnered Gold Medals! 

Additionally, Hermann Ivester's single frame exhibit, The Saint Louis Provisionals 1898, won the show's Single Frame GRAND AWARD, the ARA's award for the best revenue single frame exhibit, and the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitor's special award for the exhibit having the Best Title Page. 

Winning the ARIPEX single frame grand award, automatically qualifies Hermann's exhibit for the national single frame "Champion of Champions" competition at Ameristamp Expo in Little Rock Arkansas in February 2014!  Congratulations Hermann!! 

The ARIPEX multi-frame RESERVE GRAND award went to Frank Sente's 10 frame exhibit, Spanish American War Fiscal History: The US Documentary Taxes 1898-1902.  Sente's exhibit also was awarded the American Revenue Association Grand Award as the best overall revenue exhibit.       

Standing in front of Len McMaster's exhibit from left to right are:

Frank Sente, Len McMaster, Hermann Ivester, and Bob Hohertz

 

1898Revenue blog readers can enjoy much of the material in these four exhibits vicariously. 

 

Len McMaster's, "I. R." Overprinted 1898 1cent Franklin Postage Stamps, exhibit is available online here at 1898Revenues.

 

Many of the 1898 Saint Louis Provisional Issues in Hermann Ivester's exhibit and much more information about them can be found here on 1898Revenues.  And now that Hermann's wonderful material is in exhibit format, we'll be asking him to scan those 16 pages to put up on 1898Revenues.  

 

It was a thrill for me to view Hermann's exhibit as all I've ever been able to do is read about these stamps. Previous owners of the material never exhibited it, Hermann being the first ever to do so! 

 

Bob Hohertz  has blogged extensively about the revenue stamp paper of the 1898 tax era on 1898Revenues. Much of the material in his exhibit, Revenue Stamped Paper of the Spanish American War Tax Era, may be found in his blogs.

 

And finally, individual blogs about some of the items from my exhibit, Spanish American War Fiscal History: The Documentary Taxes 1898-1902, can be found among the On Document Uses blogs on 1898Revenues.    

 

Shows aren't just about exhibits and awards however; more importantly they provide a venue where collectors, exhibitors and dealers can meet, trade information, and discuss mutual interests.  The camaraderie and good fellowship developed from face to face meetings with others having similar interests far outweighs awards. 

 

I finally got to meet 1898 revenue contributor Sean Roberts.  Len McMaster and I discussed a joint article about bisect stamp usages from the 1898 tax era, and I attended the meetings of the American Revenue Association.  And I would be remiss if I didn't provide a link to the American Revenue Association website; it's their annual meeting that I'm attending at ARIPEX prompting these Phoenix-related blogs.

 

Here's an interesting bank check.  Other than being datelined Phoenix, Arizona, it's a generic printed form; essentially it could have been used at any bank!

 

Bank of Arizona check on generic check form

January 27, 1899

 

Drawn by John Lawler against the Bank of Arizona, Prescot, Aziz. (Note mis-spelling of Prescott) it was made payable to "Valley Bank" or bearer.  The pair of one-cent large I. R. overprint stamps paying the 2cent check tax apparently were applied at the bank as they bear a double ring cancel reading: "The Valley Bank"/ "Phoenix, Arizona"

 

John Lawler was a prominent Prescott businessman who had extensive cattle and mining interests.  His papers are available at the University of Arizona.  Perhaps he was on business in Phoenix and picked up this form check at the Valley Bank to secure $200 cash. 

 

As I now live in Prescott, Arizona it's a treasured item in my 1898 collection.

 

             

   

              

           

 

Ouch! Ouch! A Deed Taxed Twice!

I like documents that bear combination usages; the more stamps the better! This one came in a job lot of stamped deeds purchased on eBay and actually it wasn't the main reason I bought the lot.  Happily though, it was included as it demonstrates a fine point about the 1898 tax law.

$400 Deed for Property in Deer Lodge, Montana

May 8, 1899 



It wasn't until I was sorting through the lot that I noticed that this deed seemed to be taxed incorrectly.  As I've explained in prior blogs, the tax on conveyances was 50 cents for property valued from $100 to $500, and 50 cents for each additional $500 in value.  As this deed bore a total of $1.00 in tax stamps one would have expected the property being conveyed to have a value of between $500 and $1, 000, but instead the sale price was just $400.   At $400 it should only have been taxed 50 cents, not $1.00.

Hmmm!  That incongruity made me look more closely at both the deed and the stamps.  I noticed almost immediately that the upper two R169 25 cent battleships were a joined pair with the bottom single 25 cent stamp slightly overlapping them.  And the twelve R164 2 cent stamps plus the 1-cent I.R. overprint issue add up to another 25 cents.

$1.00 tax paid by

three 25-cent, twelve 2-cent, and one 1-cent stamps

all initialed 

8/99

K H

After reading the deed, it all began to make sense.  One Kate Hartlee is selling two lots in Deer Lodge Montana to C.G. Glass and J.H. Meyers.  I'll skip the boilerplate and go straight to the description:

    "Lots numbered nineteen (19) and twenty (20) in Block numbered twenty (20) of the original townsite of Deer Lodge Montana according to the official plat and survey on file in the office of Clerk and Recorder of said Deer Lodge County, Montana.

      It is understood by and between the parties to this instrument and deed, that the grantor hereby conveys unto each of said grantees an undivided one-half interest (my emphasis) in and to the said Lots 19 & 20 in Block 20 in the town and county of Deer Lodge Montana."

I can almost hear the justice of the peace before whom Kate Hartlee appeared to both sign and affirm the document: 

"...Ah, well, hmmm, you know Kate , the way you have written up this here deed you've got two separate transactions going on and...well...ah... I think to be completely legal we have to tax each of them as separate transactions"    

I may have unfairly put words in the mouth of the JP, but all of this does serve to illustrates the fine point that the documentary War Taxes were not levied against actual documents, but rather the transactions represented by or within those documents.  While there was but one deed, it represented two separate conveyances, each of which was subject to tax.  And the appropriate tax for two sales of property at $200 each would have been $1.00.

Back to the stamps.  I'm guessing the pair of 25-cent R169 battleships originally was affixed with the expectation that only 50 cents was going to be required, but when it instead was discovered that an additional 50 cents was required, and only one additional 25 cent stamp was at hand the parties scrounged up more commonly available 2 cent and 1 cent stamps to pay the remaining balance due.  Regardless of exactly how it all came about, it's an interesting document and a welcome addition to my collection.                  

DuBlois & Eldridge

DeBLOIS

DEC  14  1898

& ELDRIDGE

David Thompson scan

Advertisement, NY Evening Post, February 16, 1916

DeBlois & Eldridge was a real estate and insurance firm with offices in Rhode Island and New York City

Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska Lincolon Cancel on an R154

B. & M. R. R. R. IN NEB.

AUG  16  1898

LINCOLN,  XX

R154 with a small period after the I

David Thompson scan

David sends this scan of this very nice R154 with a B&MRRR cancel.  The stamp contains a small period after the I, which happens four times on every pane of 100 of R154 and R155.  

Ebay: 50 Copies of R154 Cancelled July 1, 1898 on a Bond

A spectacular example of 50 copies of R154 on document from the first day of use just sold on Ebay.  Listed by the seller without even a note that the document was cancelled on the first day, and indeed it appears as if each stamp has a July 1 handstamp cancel in blue, the item was clearly stalked by collectors that appreciated the fact.

The bid remained in the double digits for days; in the waning moments snipers came in to raise the final price to $787.  Obviously I watched this one, and figured it might go for a high price but this exceeded my estimate by about $200. 

Front cover of the bond from the Wisconsin Mutual Loan and Building Society in Milwaukee

This document would be a perfect addition to Len McMaster's one cent Franklin exhibit.

Bill of Lading - Illinois Central Railroad

Bills of lading and any other documents, such as manifests or express receipts, evidencing the shipment of goods were taxed a flat one cent according to the War Revenue Law. Neither the weight of, nor the quantity of items shipped mattered. As indicated by the Illinois Central Railroad Freight Contract illustrated below various items all sent to the same destination were considered as a single shipment. Essentially the 1-cent tax was levied on the shipping document, not the contents of the shipment.

The handwriting has faded, but clearly 1 box, 3 bundles, and 3 sacks, or a total of 6 items were shipped from Paducah, Kentucky to Bearden, Arkansas. As per the endosement in the lower left corner the shipment was routed via Memphis where it then had to be transferred to the Cottonbelt Railroad(St. Louis Southwestern Railway) for eventual delivery in Bearden. The transfer to another rail line was not subject to tax; the initial bill of lading, and the 1-cent tax thereon, covered the shipment from its origin in Paducah to its final destination in Bearden.

Illinois Central Railroad Bill of Lading

Paducah, Kentucky, August 23, 1898

RECEIVED BY THE
Illinois Central R. R. Co.
PADUCAH, KY.
IN APPARENT GOOD ORDER
AUG 23 1898
AND SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS NAMED
IN ITS BILL OF LADING.
Per (signed by J.F. Donovan)

Both John and I have blogged about the ICRR before. On July 8 it was the subject of the cancel of the day. On August 3, 2010 I wrote about the tax on an ICRR Parlor Car ticket. We both found the same ICRR route map online to then include in those blogs. Today's map comes from the back of the bill of lading. I had completely forgotten it was pictured there!

Route Map Illinois Central Railroad circa 1898

American Express Money Order

Yeah, I know, the remitter and the payee for this American Express Money Order are one in the same, it is made payable for just one cent, and it hasn't been cashed. That's three strikes against it being a normal, legitimate usage. But so what if it was likely just philatelicly inspired, or purchased as a souvenir, or for some other unknown reason?

How else would one obtain a usage example? Once cashed, money orders were returned to the company issuing them never to be seen again; not unlike the treasury bond interest check previously described here. I just wish F.W. Covel would have purchased it on July 1, 1898, the first day of the tax period, rather than 10 days later!

American Express Money Order for One Cent
Rockland, Maine July 11, 1898

Because it helps to "tell the story" of the usage of the 1898 revenue stamps (money orders were specifically taxed, like inland bills of exchange, at the rate of 2-cents per $100 in value or fraction thereof), I include it in my exhibit of taxed documents, acknowledging its likely nature as a philatelicly inspired souvenir.

Chapter 3 of the current 6th edition of

APS' Manual of Philatelic Judging, under Philatelic Importance, states, "...If the only existing material is philatelicly inspired or contrived, the exhibit should not be penalized for its inclusion."

I believe Covel's money order is a prime example of that situation. Can anyone otherwise show an example of a "cashed" money order from the 1898 tax period?

Can anyone show other philatelic items either addressed to, or created by, F. W. Covel?


UPDATE Tuesday October 5, 2010:

I'm reminded by Bob Hohertz, whose memory obviously is much better than mine, that he helped me secure this money order at a show some years ago. According to Bob he had found two of them in a dealer's stock and bought both and then offered me the one shown above, keeping the other one for himself. That one reportedly is dated July 5, 1898 and it bears a 2-cent I. R. overprint paying the tax.

But we still don't understand why Mr. Covel bought them!

Bob also suggested the purchaser's name was probably Covel, not Cavel. He was correct, as with that spelling I found reference to Mr. Covel on Google.

F. W. Covel was a manufacturer of fine sleigh trimmings and carriage name plates in Rockland, Maine. Mr. Covel took over the business in 1884 from his father, J. W. Covel, who founded it in 1875.

F. W. Covel is also credited as being the inventor " Covel's Electric Rheumatic Ring," for the prevention and cure of rheumatism in the wrist, arm and through the shoulders. The ring was composed of a coil of copper and zinc, and when placed upon one's finger it reportedly generated a current of electricity which passed through the affected parts giving immediate relief.

I wonder if the sale of those "Rheumatic Rings" were taxable under the proprietary tax laws as medicinal proprietary articles?

The more you learn, the more you wonder!

Len McMaster's One-Frame R153 and R154 Exhibit from BALPEX

I am happy to present Len McMaster's R154 exhibit from this year's BALPEX.  Len received a Vermeil for this exhibit. 

The images are oversized so that they are all readable, though they do reach into the next column on the right. 

Power of Attorney

Power of Attorney Josiah Focht to Mrs. Sarah E. O'Brien

Reading, PA December 9, 1898

closeup view of correction of the improper use

of four 1/4-cent proprietary stamps with a 1-cent R154

provisional I.R. overprint cancelled in a different hand

A power of attorney, whether for a specific transaction like a stock sale, or universal, as is the one pictured above, was taxed 25 cents according to the War Revenue Law.

This one is particularly interesting because of the number and variety of stamps used on it. Usually one finds a single R169, 25-cent battleship stamp affixed. Here, eleven 2-cent provisional R155 I.R. overprint issues, and one regular R164 2-cent battleship along with four 1/4-cent RB21 proprietary issues paid the 25 cent tax.

One can almost see the parties scrounging among themselves for the stamps. They came up with 25 cents, but the use of the four 1/4-cent proprietary was improper. The War Revenue Law specifically required that only documentary stamps be used to pay documentary taxes and only proprietary stamps be used for proprietary taxes. Clearly the Treasury Department wanted to track the specific amount of revenue generated by each of those two tax categories.

A single 1-cent R154 I.R. provisional overprint stamp was subsequently added over the strip of proprietary issues to correct the error. It too is dated 12/9/1898, but the handwriting is different. So a total of 26 cents ultimately was affixed to this document. Use of proprietary issues on a document is uncommon, and a correction even more so. Generally their use either went unnoticed or was tolerated.

Accident Insurance Policy with R161 Usage

Preferred Accident Insurance Company

Three month renewal policy

September 3, 1898 - December 3, 1898

stamps tied by a light double-ring handstamp cancel

Accident, fidelity, and guarantee insurance policies, including renewal policies, were taxed at the rate of 1/2-cent per dollar of premium paid or fraction thereof. The 2 1/2-cent tax on the $5 premium for the renewal of The Preferred Accident Insurance Company of New York personal accident policy shown above was properly paid by two 1-cent provisional I.R. overprints and a single R161, 1/2-cent orange documentary all tied by an indistinguishable light blue, double-ring hand stamp cancel.

Because its color closely resembled that of the 3/8-cent proprietary issue, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing discontinued printings of the 1/2-cent orange after just two days and changed its color to gray. The exact number printed and distributed is unknown.

Most of the copies available are badly off-center. Used copies in very-fine condition are uncommon and any examples used on-document are scarce. Because they are so scarce, we'd like to conduct a usage census. We'll show another example of on-document usage in a future blog and Bob Mustacich shows a nice single-copy usage on a travel insurance policy near the bottom of his homepage. I've also seen a block of four used on a check. That's four known usages. If you have, or know of, other on-document examples, please let us know. We'd like to show, and make a permanent record of them.

Scant information about The Preferred Accident Insurance Company appears online. Although the company may have been formed earlier, it did not incorporate until 1893. The firm apparently ran into financial difficulty in the late 1940s as it was voluntarily taken over by the Superintendent of Insurance of the State of New York in 1949. The company's remaining assets were liquidated as of April 30, 1951.

R154 Franklin Overprint Plate "Kiss" Variety

R154 plate strip with red "kiss" in margin

Another image courtesy of Dave Thompson in Nevada.  The I.R. overprint plate was the source of the red "kiss" in the margin.

kiss close up -

it almost looks like a screw head

The Revenue Stamps of the United States: The Surcharged Washington and Franklin Postage Stamps

Two days ago this book was first mentioned here as an essential reference for all US Scott-listed revenue collectors.  Here is a small sample of the research and work in this book, accompanied by images of stamps I provide.  The original book only has black and white images of some of the stamps referred to in the text. 

Chapter XXXVIII of the book concerns the initial 1898 revenues, the surcharged stamps.

R154 Surchaged in Roman Capitals

Cancelled by Wells Fargo

The 1c green postage stamp was first surchaged I.R. in block capitals [R153] 6 1/2 mm. high and 314,890 were issued, all in June, 1898.  After the overprinting had been going on for two days and one night [sic] the surcharge was changed to Roman capitals 9 mm. high [as above].  Both surcharges are in red and the latter one occurs inverted. 

R155A

The 2c carmine postage stamp was surchaged only with 9mm. Roman type and occurs both normal and inverted.  The surcharge is dark blue.

On both the 1c and 2c with the larger surcharge a small period after the "I" occurs four times on each pane of 100 stamps.  It is always the 41st, 46th, 91st, and 96th stamp on the pane--that is, the first stamp in the bottom row of each quarter pane.  It is thought that this is a secret or control mark placed there intentionally.

Small period after the I

The Boston Book states that 63,300,000 of the 1c and 62,000,000 of the 2c, all with the 9 mm. surcharge, were issued, all in June, 1898.  The Bureau reports differ somewhat from these figures, giving the total of 1c stamps with both surcharges delivered up to June 30, 1898 as 42,000,000 and 20,800,000 after June 30, 1898, or 62,800,000 of the 1c in all.  Their record of the surcharged 2c stamps delivered is 32,000,000 up to June 30, 1898, and 23,600,000 thereafter, which totals to 61,600,000.  Obviously the Internal Revenue office did not deliver more surcharged stamps than were printed and delivered to them by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

Express Cancels: American Express

American Express started as an express mail business in New York State in 1850, founded by the merger of the express companies owned by Henry Wells , William Fargo, and John Warren Butterfield. Wells and Fargo also started Wells Fargo in 1852 when their partner Butterfield objected to American Express extending its operations to California. Wells Fargo cancels on the one cent battelship can also be found on this site.

American Express extended its capacity by affiliating with other express companies nationwide, including Wells Fargo, railroads, and steamship companies.

American Express was such a powerful monopoly by the start of the Theodore Roosevelt Administration that Roosevelt had the Interstate Commerce Commission investigate the company. The ICC was concerned by its control of the railroad express business. Little was done about the situation until World War One, however.
Early Amex printed cancels on the 1898s were made with serif lettering like that above.

Amex moved to sans serif lettering like the printed cancels in the block above.

Amex hand stamp on the 5 cent documentary.

Receipt of goods for shipment by Amex with 1 cent Franklin postage stamp overprinted I.R. (Internal Revenue) to indicate its use as a revenue stamp.

Woodrow Wilson commandeered the railroads to move soldiers, their supplies and coal, in 1917. Eventually, all contracts between express companies and railroads were nullified by the government and all existing express companies were consolidated into a single company to serve the country's needs. The result was a new company called the American Railway Express Agency, formed in July 1918. The new entity took custody of all the equipment and property of existing express companies (the largest share of which, 40%, came from American Express, who had owned the rights to the express business over 71,280 miles (114,710 km) of railroad lines, and had 10,000 offices, with over 30,000 employees). As a result, American Express would become almost exclusively a financial services company, with little left of its express business.