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Scott Number: 705 Collection Reference No. for Communications: 5922

Estimated Retail Value: $ 150.00 What is this?

Cancel Method: Multiple Cancel Types

Cancel Date: August 04, 1932

Cancel or Company Type: Bank, Banker, or Broker

Company: First National Bank in St. Louis

City: St. Louis

State: Missouri

Two 1c stamps from the 1932 George Washington Bicentennial issue (Scott #705) used improperly as revenue stamps on an August 1932 bank check. What is most interesting is that revenue stamps were never required to begin with; with the 1932 bank check tax, the bank was responsible for withdrawing 2 cents per deposited/cashed check and remitting the funds to the government. I speculate that the writer of the check was an older person unfamiliar with the new tax mechanism. They were, however, familiar with the LAST check tax from the Spanish American War period, in which revenue stamps were affixed to pay the tax. So in their mind they should affix revenue stamps, but since none were readily available as no one was using revenue stamps in such a fashion during this period (there were revenue stamps being used for other purposes, but not for checks) they did the next best thing... and used postage stamps to pay the tax. This is an item that shouldn't exist, but it does. P.S. In all likelihood, the bank still probably took 2 cents out of the writer's bank account anyway, so they wasted 2 cents worth of postage.

If you have any information or comments about this cancel or stamp, please email me.