Puzzled???

I'm going to really stretch the topic issue here and ask a question about old bank checks. After all checks are accepted as money for transactions. So... Why do I find Internal Revenue Stamps on some older canceled checks? They are usually present when the check is written for a large amount. Was this a form of certification by the issuing bank? Your thoughts or a web site on this topic would be helpful.

 

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Hi Saltysam,
The first Revenue stamps were issued in 1862. not just checks, but all official documents were required to have a tax stamp. The program was started as a method of paying for the Civil war. Google "revenue stamp & civil war" and you will find many sites about the subject.

Richard

 

How old are these checks? The collection of taxes to pay the Civil War debts that was enacted by Lincoln was repealed 10 years later, and the Internal Revenue Service wasn't officially established by Constitutional Amendment until the 20th century.

http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=149200,00.html

Is it possible that the IRS stamp was used for verifying the purpose of the transaction? It used to be that banks had to report any single transaction that exceeded $10,000, and I believe that amount is now $5,000.

Chris

 

the first stamp labeled "internal rev." was released in 1862. You are confusing stamps designed to raise revenue with the internal revenue service.

Richard

 

Although I am not certain as to the exact amount that is required for reporting to IRS, I was told that my bank reported every transaction of $3,000 or more and Casinos here in Nevada now report winnings of $1,000 or more. But I believe that with the evolution of data transfer and memory storage that virtually every transaction will be tracked eventually. IMHO

But I also think that the stamp was probably used to verify that the check was reported

gary

 

Do people collect old checks? I imagine they do. I have a couple cancelled checks from celebrities I bought. One Lynda Day George and one Kathleen Quinlan.

 

I have added this photo of a check with the Revenue Stamp affixed,
for those who have not seen one.

 

That stamp appears to be a Scott #R135 with a value of 20 cents. Revenue stamps were extremely common in the lower denominations.

Richard

 

Here's a close up of just the 2C Revenue Stamp