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Playing-Card Tax Stamps from the U.S.A.

The U.S.A. did not use stamps on a card, but adhesive stamps on the package, the 'Internal Revenue Stamps'. At some times there were different stamps used concurrently. Also revenue stamps not explicitly meant for playing-cards were used for them (and vice versa).

 
 

Above are some of the stamps in use from 1862 to 1883. The text is 'U. S. INTER. REV.' or 'U. S. INTER. REVENUE', 'PLAYING CARDS', and the value, e.g. 'FOUR - CENTS'. The value needed depended on the price of the cards. The stamp was hand-cancelled or stamp-cancelled.
Note the 'L.C. & Co.' on the 1¢ stamp, that is for Lawrence Cohen & Co., cancelled November 1863.
Note also that the text on the second (brown) 5¢ and on the 10¢ stamp is 'PROPRIETARY' instead of 'PLAYING CARDS', but the cancellation 'S. H. & Co.' is for the playing-card maker Samuel Hart & Co.; the stamps were cancelled in December 1865.
You can see more of those overprints on pages prepared by Kristin Patterson.

 
From 1864, playing-card manufacturers were allowed to have their own 'private die' tax stamps.

 
These four are from A. Dougherty, with the 2¢ stamp in use 1865/1866, the 5¢ stamp in use 1866 to 1877, a smaller version of it 1878 to 1883, and the other two 1864 to 1866.

These two are from Lawrence & Cohen, with the 2¢ stamp in use 1865/1866 and the 5¢ stamp 1865 to 1874.
 
This stamp is from Jno. J. Levy, in use 1867 to 1873.

 
This stamp is from the New York Consolidated Card Co., in use 1876 to 1883.

 
This stamp is from Paper Fabrique Co., in use 1873 to 1880.

 
This stamp is from Chas. Goodall, in use 1870 to 1875. Note the similarity to the following stamp; the initials in the middle are those of Victor E. Mauger.

 
This stamp is from Victor Mauger & Petrie, in use 1877 to 1880.

 
This stamp is from Russell, Morgan & Co., in use 1881 to 1883.

 
This stamp is from Eagle Card Co., in use 1880 to 1883.
 
This final shown private die stamp is from Samuel Hart & Co., in use 1866 to 1877.

 

This stamp was in use from 1894 to 1896. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS - ON HAND AUG. 1894 - TWO CENTS' and 'U.S. - I.R.'.

 

This stamp was in use from 1894 to 1917. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS - ACT OF AUG. 1894 - TWO CENTS' and 'U.S. - I.R.'. The stamp was cancelled by the U.S.P.C.CO. with the date 5-1-01.

 

These stamps are similar to one above, they were in use from 1917 to 1919. The overprint mentions 'Act of 1917', when taxes were increased, and on the second stamp also the new value '7 CENTS'.

 

These also were in use from 1917 to 1919, the Act of 1917 is referenced by the overprint '17'. They were cancelled by N.Y.C.C.CO.

 

This is another stamp in use from 1917 to 1919. The overprint is the new value '7'. It was cancelled by S.P.C.CO. (Standard).

 

These again were in use from 1917 to 1919, the centre row of the cancelling shows the new value '7 CTS.' (cancelled by R.P.C.Co. (Russell) and dated 10-4-'17) resp. '7 CENTS' (cancelled by S.P.C.Co. (Standard) dated 10-4-1917).

 

This is the last version in use from 1917 to 1919, the overprint shows the new value '7c'. Both stamps were cancelled by R.P.C.Co. (Russell) on '1-25-'18'.

 

These stamps were in use from 1918 to 1919. The text is 'U.S.INT.REV.', 'PLAYING CARDS', and 'CLASS A'. Both stamps have have '7 CENTS' in the centre row of the cancellation, and they were cancelled by the U.S.P.C.Co. with the date 3-4-1919.

 

These are three more of the 'CLASS A' stamps, they were in use from 1919 to 1924. The text is 'U.S.I.R.', 'PLAYING CARDS', and 'CLASS A'. The left stamp was cancelled by U.S.P.C.Co. dated 8-1-1922. The middle and right stamp have an '8c' overprint, and both were cancelled by the P.P.C.Co.

 

These stamps were in use from 1919 to 1924. Note the '8 Cts.' resp. '8c' overprint! The left stamp was cancelled by the AD (Dougherty), the right one by R.P.C.Co. (Russell), both with dated 4-1-19.

 

This stamp was in use from 1924 to 1929. The text is 'U.S.I.R.', 'PLAYING CARDS', and '10 CENTS'. The stamp was cancelled by W. P. L. CO.

 

This stamp is an 'olympic provisional' from 1932.
It was used for the 'Olympiad Playing Cards' made by P. J. Wenger.
(scanned by Eric Jackson)

 

This was a stamp in use from 1929 to 1940. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '10 CENTS', and 'U.S.INT.REV.'. The stamp was cancelled by K. P. Inc. in 1930.

 

This stamp was in use from 1940 to 1965. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '1 PACK', and 'U.S.I.R.'. It was cancelled by A.P.C.CO. (Arrco).

 

This is another stamp in use from 1940 to 1965. The text is 'PLAYING CARDS', '1 PACK', and 'U.S.INT.REV.'. It was cancelled by E.E.F. CORP. (Fairchild).

Taxes on playing-cards were abolished in the U.S.A. in 1965. Many manufacturers continued using stamps with their own design to seal the package.

For some time, there also was a stamp for free-of-tax cards.

If I date the cards in the corresponding pack correctly, this is a stamp that was in use c. 1946.

There existed sealing bands for multiple packs (presumably 12) of playing-cards.

This is part of such a band. You can see the complete band in reduced size.
These bands also existed with a similar text, but additionally with a version in German language on it, and with the red overprint with a value of 7 cents per pack.
From the tax value I think that the 7¢-bands were in use 1917 to 1919, and the 8¢-bands from 1919 to 1924.

I have also seen a band with a slightly different design, and with the red overprint without a value, just 'Internal Revenue Tax Paid'.

Some states raised an additional tax on playing-cards using stamps on the box. You can see examples on the 'State Taxes' page.


© Peter Endebrock, 27 July 2011