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By Daphne Martin
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Postage stamps are really revenue stamps, since the adhesive sticker denotes payment for a government service, in this case carriage of mail. Many other branches of government issue stamps to show payment of a fee, either for some process which is prepaid, or for permission to do something, such as convey goods (Italy) or to validate a transaction such as withdrawn money from a bank by cheque. Many legal fees require a revenue stamp to show they have been paid, either an adhesive or embossed on a document. In the early days of stamps, it was common to issue a separate series of revenue adhesives for each type of transaction. For instance, France issued specific ones for about twenty-five different uses from Affiches to Wagon-Lits, before simplifying the system to one ‘Timbre Fiscal’ somewhere around 1925. This was for metropolitan France alone; the colonies were given their own as well, as were some towns and regions. Italy was another country with a wealth of revenue stamps. Great Britain, where the adhesive stamp was invented for postal purposes, also excelled in using revenue stamps. Barefoot’s catalogues for revenues stamps of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth are both sizeable volumes. The embossed revenue markings on legal documents are especially diverse and interesting, since they were in use well before 1840. In fact, an Act of 1694 provided for the payment of various charges and fees to be recorded on the Lincoln’s Inn, London. This was in the reign of William and Mary, and was for the express purpose of helping pay for the war against France. Such a profitable source of revenue for the always cash-strapped crown, such as fans, chocolate, hackney coaches and wall paper. Few of these tax stamps survive today. Fortunately, this plethora of duties has been simplified, and many have been abolished. However, British postage stamps became legal for the payment of small sums of revenue in 1881, when the 1d Lilac was inscribed ‘Postage and Inland Revenue’. Later the 1889 issue was the first to have ‘Postage & Revenue’ and subsequent issues were regularly used on receipts. In the colonies, postage stamps could be overprinted for specific type of revenue, e.g. Judicial, in addition to specific revenue stamps for fees.
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