For sale is an original 1870 FIRST NATIONAL BANK of GERMANTOWN HANDWRITTEN CHECK. This bank was located in Germantown, Ohio. The check is made out in the sum of $50.00 and is dated January 29, 1870. The check includes a two Cent George Washington Internal Revenue Tax Stamp, an #R15 type stamp which was printed between 1862 and 1871. A great ephemera collectible.
The Revenue Act of 1862 established new taxes on many everyday items and called for specific stamps for each taxable item. Butler and Carpenter of Philadelphia was awarded the printing contract scarcely two months before the law was to go into effect. Each First Issue Revenue stamp features the same portrait of George Washington, which is based on a work by Gilbert Stuart. Between 1862 and 1869, Butler and Carpenter printed Revenue stamps on “old paper.” A catch-all phrase, “old paper” is actually a number of different papers that share certain characteristics: they’re grayish-white, thin, unwatermarked, and brittle. These traits were intentionally chosen as they allowed the paper to hold ink well. “Old paper” was in use until 1869.
