# REA124c - 1917 $1.50 Beer Tax Stamp - on #REA116, type C
Beer StampsÂ
While duties, tariffs, and state taxes on beer had been instituted decades earlier, the first large-scale federal tax on beer was created on September 1, 1862. The tax was created to help fund the Union Army for the Civil War. During those four years, officials would collect the $1 per barrel tax in cash.
When the war came to an end, the government decided to keep the tax but also decided to start producing stamps to help account for paid taxes. The tax of $1 per barrel remained the same. The new stamps were produced for various barrel sizes between 1/8th of a barrel up to 1 hogshead. A hogshead was a 63-gallon container, equal to two 31.5 gallon barrels. These first stamps were issued on September 1, 1866, making them the first stamps issued for use on alcoholic beverages, though they didnât appear in Scott Catalogue until 1994.
Brewers received Beer Tax Revenue stamps in imperforate sheets and were required to attach the stamps to the spigot of the beer barrel before it left the brewery. In most cases, this meant the stamps were destroyed when the barrels were opened. However, some people carefully removed the stamps and preserved them.
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Beer StampsÂ
While duties, tariffs, and state taxes on beer had been instituted decades earlier, the first large-scale federal tax on beer was created on September 1, 1862. The tax was created to help fund the Union Army for the Civil War. During those four years, officials would collect the $1 per barrel tax in cash.
When the war came to an end, the government decided to keep the tax but also decided to start producing stamps to help account for paid taxes. The tax of $1 per barrel remained the same. The new stamps were produced for various barrel sizes between 1/8th of a barrel up to 1 hogshead. A hogshead was a 63-gallon container, equal to two 31.5 gallon barrels. These first stamps were issued on September 1, 1866, making them the first stamps issued for use on alcoholic beverages, though they didnât appear in Scott Catalogue until 1994.
Brewers received Beer Tax Revenue stamps in imperforate sheets and were required to attach the stamps to the spigot of the beer barrel before it left the brewery. In most cases, this meant the stamps were destroyed when the barrels were opened. However, some people carefully removed the stamps and preserved them.
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