Tax Stamp

A tax stamp is a revenue stamp placed on a package of playing cards as evidence that a government tax on the deck had been paid.

For collectors, that little piece of paper stretched across the top of an old tuck box can be much more than evidence of a long-gone tax. Its denomination, design, perforations, cancellation and even the direction in which it was applied can provide clues to when and sometimes where a deck was manufactured or sold.

In the United States, federal taxes on playing cards appeared during the Civil War and, after an interruption, returned in 1894. The federal playing-card tax remained part of American life until 1965.

Why Tax Playing Cards?

Playing cards were an easy target for an excise tax. They were a manufactured consumer product, relatively easy to identify and track, and were considered a nonessential or leisure item.

The first federal playing-card taxes appeared during the Civil War. The Revenue Act of 1862 taxed playing cards along with a wide variety of other goods as the federal government looked for new sources of revenue to finance the war.

That early system changed and eventually disappeared. In 1894, however, Congress again imposed a federal tax specifically on playing cards. Beginning August 1, 1894, a pack containing no more than 54 cards was subject to a two-cent tax. The law required an adhesive revenue stamp to show that the tax had been paid.

This 1894 law began the tax-stamp era most often encountered by collectors of antique and vintage American playing cards.

The Changing Tax Rates

The amount of tax changed several times. Those changes are particularly useful today because a denomination printed on a stamp can provide a date range for a deck.

Period	Federal tax
1862–1864	1¢–5¢, depending on the retail price of the pack
1872–1883	5¢
1883–1894	No federal playing-card tax
1894–1917	2¢
1917–1919	7¢
1919–1924	8¢
1924–1940	10¢
1940–1941	11¢
1941–1965	13¢

The table is a tax-rate chronology, not necessarily a list of denominations that will appear literally on every stamp. This distinction becomes important in the later years.

When the Tax Changed Faster Than the Stamps

One of the more interesting periods came during World War I.

When the playing-card tax increased from two cents to seven cents in 1917, existing two-cent stamps didn’t simply become useless overnight. Some were surcharged or overprinted to indicate the new seven-cent rate.

Different manufacturers used different overprints and cancellations. Examples include markings such as “7,” “7 CTS.,” “7 CENTS,” and “7 C.” Colors and arrangements could also vary by manufacturer. These transitional stamps have created a surprisingly large number of collectible varieties.

For a playing-card historian, an odd-looking overprint isn’t necessarily damage or somebody altering a stamp later. It may be evidence of a tax-rate change.

The “Class A” Stamps

During the period surrounding the 8-cent tax, another interesting design appeared: stamps marked “PLAYING CARDS — CLASS A.”

Unlike many earlier stamps, these did not necessarily display their monetary value prominently. A Class A stamp could represent payment of the playing-card tax even though the collector doesn’t see “8 CENTS” printed across it.

This is a useful reminder that the words printed on the stamp and the actual tax rate in force are not always the same thing.

The 10-Cent Era

Beginning in 1924, the tax became ten cents per pack.

Ten-cent stamps are particularly useful for dating because there were identifiable design changes during their period of use. Examples from the later portion of the period carry wording such as:

PLAYING CARDS — 10 CENTS — U.S. INT. REV.

The long-format 10-cent stamp used approximately 1929–1940 is an especially recognizable marker on decks from the period.

The “1 PACK” Stamp

In 1940 the appearance of playing-card revenue stamps changed substantially.

Instead of printing the monetary denomination on the stamp, the government issued stamps marked:

PLAYING CARDS — 1 PACK

These stamps continued through the remainder of the federal playing-card-tax era.

That means a “1 PACK” stamp by itself generally gives us a broad 1940–1965 window rather than telling us whether the tax was 11 or 13 cents.

This is why a “1 PACK” stamp should be combined with other evidence—Ace of Spades date codes, manufacturer information, box design, jokers and the particular variety of the tax stamp—to date a deck more closely.

Perforations Matter

The tiny holes around a tax stamp aren’t merely decorative.

Perforations allowed stamps to be separated from a sheet or roll. Different printing and production methods produced different perforation arrangements and gauges.

This becomes particularly interesting with the “1 PACK” stamps.

Some were produced as coils, intended for manufacturers that applied stamps by machine. Others were produced in sheets, which could be separated and applied by hand.

One “1 PACK” variety, known to revenue-stamp collectors as RF26, was produced as a horizontal coil and was perforated 10 at the sides.

Another, RF28, was a flat-plate sheet stamp perforated 11 on all four sides.

The unusual RF29 was created during an early production need in 1940. Material intended for rotary-press coils was converted into sheets. It was already perforated in one direction and was then perforated in the other direction, producing a 10 × 11 combination.

So when examining an intact tax stamp, don’t just ask:

Does it have perforations?

Look at which sides are perforated, which sides are straight, and the gauge of those perforations.

A stamp with perforations only on two opposite sides may have come from a coil. A stamp perforated on all four sides is more likely to have come from a sheet. Those differences can help identify the specific revenue-stamp issue.

What Is a Cancellation?

A cancellation, or cancel, is a mark deliberately placed on a revenue stamp so the stamp cannot be removed and reused to pay the tax on another deck.

This wasn’t merely customary. The 1894 law specifically required cancellation. Initially, the person applying the stamp was instructed to place identifying initials and the date on it. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue was also authorized to prescribe other cancellation methods for playing-card manufacturers.

Manufacturers eventually used recognizable printed cancellations and precancels.

For collectors, these can be extremely useful because the cancellation may identify the company that used the stamp. Examples include markings associated with the United States Playing Card Company, Arrco, Russell, Standard, Andrew Dougherty and other manufacturers.

Some later stamps were even precanceled before reaching the playing-card manufacturer.

A cancellation therefore isn’t graffiti on the stamp. It is part of the stamp’s history.

Don’t Confuse the Cancellation With the Tax Stamp

When looking at an old deck, it helps to separate three different things:

The tax stamp is the government revenue stamp showing that the tax was paid.

The cancellation is the marking that prevents that tax stamp from being reused.

The deck seal is packaging used to show that the box has not been opened.

Sometimes these functions visually overlap, which is why an old deck can be confusing at first glance.

Why Was the Stamp Placed Over the Opening?

The location was useful for more than one reason. Placing the stamp across the opening of the package made it difficult to open the deck without damaging the stamp.

Today, that gives collectors another benefit: an intact stamp crossing the opening can be evidence that a deck has remained unopened since the stamp was applied.

However, an intact stamp should not automatically be treated as absolute proof. Boxes and stamps can be altered, and the rest of the package should agree with the evidence provided by the stamp.

Tax-Free Decks Existed Too

Not every American deck produced during the tax-stamp era was taxed in the normal way.

Tax-exempt decks existed, including decks supplied for certain U.S. government and military uses. Examples survive with distinctive tax-free labels rather than the ordinary revenue stamp.

Exported decks can also create interesting exceptions. A deck manufactured in the United States but intended for another market might not carry the normal U.S. tax stamp—or might eventually acquire a foreign tax stamp instead.

Examples are known of American decks carrying foreign revenue stamps, including Japanese tax stamps.

The End of the Federal Playing-Card Tax

Congress repealed the federal playing-card excise tax in 1965 as part of Public Law 89-44.

The repeal became effective June 22, 1965. From that date forward, manufacturers no longer needed a federal playing-card revenue stamp.

That did not mean the familiar seal across the top of a deck disappeared.

Manufacturers continued using their own seals to close packages. Those later seals can look remarkably similar in location and purpose to the old revenue stamps, but they are manufacturer seals, not federal tax stamps.

State and foreign taxes can complicate matters further, so the presence of a stamp on a post-1965 deck does not automatically mean something is wrong with the deck’s date.

A Tax Stamp Is a Clue, Not a Date

For collectors, tax stamps are wonderful dating tools—but they shouldn’t normally be used alone.

Suppose a deck carries a “1 PACK” federal stamp. We know it falls somewhere within the 1940–1965 tax-stamp period. We can then look at:

• the stamp design and wording
• perforation gauge and which edges are perforated
• coil versus sheet production
• manufacturer cancellation or precancel
• Ace of Spades date code
• manufacturer’s name and address
• jokers
• box construction and artwork
• card-back design
• accompanying advertising or historical information

When several independent clues agree, the date becomes much more convincing.

There is also a practical complication: manufacturers could use existing stamp inventory, so the introduction of a new stamp doesn’t necessarily mean every manufacturer instantly stopped using the previous variety.

A Tiny Piece of a Much Bigger Story

Playing-card tax stamps began as evidence that somebody had paid a few cents to the federal government. Nobody applying one in 1905 or 1952 was thinking about how useful it might be to a collector generations later.

Today, those torn, canceled and sometimes barely readable pieces of paper preserve information that the cards themselves may not.

A tax stamp can tell us about changing tax laws, wartime revenue needs, printing technology, manufacturing methods and the company that handled the deck. In the right circumstances, it can turn an unidentified “old deck of cards” into a deck belonging to a surprisingly narrow period of American history.

And unlike the cards, the tax stamp was supposed to be destroyed when the deck was opened.

The fact that so many survived is part of what makes them interesting.