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LAWRENCE & MARTIN - Private Die Proprietary Tax Stamp - 1880
Stamp ID: 303

Submitted by: StampLover
Title: LAWRENCE & MARTIN - Private Die Proprietary Tax Stamp - 1880
Year on stamp(or production): 1880
Price of stamp: 0.04 USD
Search Tags: train stamp
Web Reference: http://alphabetilately.com/US-trains-02.html
Category: Cars/Auto

StampLover wrote about this stamp:

This stamp is listed with the Medicine series (all begin "RS"), but the stamp itself says nothing about the product it accompanied, nor do any of the references at my disposal. The size and shape - about 3/4" x 7-1/2" - suggest that it went on a bottle, jar or tin - it is certainly a magnificent example of the engraver's art. Note the words "FOUR CENTS" repeated throughout the background of the central area. The ATA Handbook describes it thus:

4¢ black - Steam locomotive, railway workers and passengers at station on "Medicine" stamp (Lawrence & Martin)

The engraving is detailed enough that you can see the locomotive quite clearly on the high-res scan, and I feel quite comfortable saying it is a 4-4-0 "American". This is the only "Medicine" stamp that shows a train.

Here's some very entertaining information about the company that produced the stamp (courtesy of Norm Wright, ATA Handbook editor):

"Henry C. Lawrence and Morris T. Martin joined in partnership in 1877 as Chicago wholesalers of wine and liquor, producing Lawrence & Martin's Tolu Rock and Rye in 1879. While they sold large quantities of the product, it was short-lived when it was decided by the Internal Revenue Service in 1881 that Tolu Rock and Rye more closely resembled a liquor even though the product contained tolu balsam in rye whickey. (Holcombe, Henry W., 'Stamp and Cover Collectors Review,' 3: 201-202, October, 1939)

The die was approved in May, 1880 and first issued that year; last issued Feb. 6, 1881. Issued in sheets of 30 stamps per sheet; total number issued (watermarked paper) = 445,900."

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