About Revenues

Revenue exhibits were first accepted for FIP competition, on an experimental basis, at INDIA 89. Since that date revenue exhibits have become a fully accepted competitive display class at international exhibitions. It is worthy of note that in Australia, revenues had been accepted at State and National exhibitions, as a component of a broader `Cinderella class’ long before they gained FIP approval.

A simple definition of revenue stamps is they indicate payment of a government charge, often some form of duty or tax. To the pedantic, `stamp’ can be a misleading term as receipts for payment go far beyond the adhesive labels normally associated with postage `stamps’. Revenue payment can be indicated by embossed devices (coloured or colourless), and a variety of other imprints on a bewildering array of documents. However, for simplicity `stamp’ will be used here for all indicators of payment of government charges.

The use of revenue stamps pre-dates by a very long period their postal equivalents. Indeed, the origin of the style and size of the Penny Black can be traced back to cypher labels used on documents with embossed revenues that were first issued in Great Britain in 1701.

A further feature of revenue stamps, certainly with the adhesive types, is that they were widely collected until about the beginning of the twentieth century. The catalogue of those times listed both postage and revenue adhesives. The decline and near demise came about when the catalogues omitted revenue material. This lead to a Dark Age for revenue information on which light is only recently beginning to appear.

The Australian colonies, and in a more specialised way for the Commonwelath period, provide a fascinating field for collecting and research. Each Colony did its own thing as regards taxes and this has continued until modern time with issues for all the States and Territories.

It is a collecting field that provides a number of challenges. The first is to obtain the material, the second is to find examples of use on documents and the third is the excitement of making a new find. This can be a single stamp or, in some cases a whole series of stamps that have escaped earlier description.

Exhibiting Revenues

The Special Regulations for the Evaluation of Revenue Exhibits at FIP Exhibitions (SREV) were first formulated at Tokyo in late 1991. The mark distribution is:

Treatment & Importance 30
Knowledge & Research  35
Condition & Rarity          30
Presentation                   5

This follows the pattern that is common to several other FIP classes, notably those for Traditional and Postal History. Indeed, revenue exhibits can be regarded as combining the main aspects of traditional display, eg. details of production, perforations, watermarks and the like, with information that is comparable to the `routes and rates’ that are the keys to Postal history exhibits.

These comparisons acknowledge that in many cases the production and associated security devices have much in common with postage stamps. This is not surprising as there were often produced by the same printers, with the need for comparable security. The similarities to Postal History confirm the need to illustrate the purpose of the revenue stamps and devices together with their use on documents.

While the SREVs define the types of material that con be included in a revenue exhibit there is much additional information in the accompanying Guidelines. The importance of the plan is stressed with the additional comments that ` complete revenues collections do not exist from the majority of countries, and therefore Exhibits of Revenue stamps should be judged more according to their relative philatelic significance than for their completeness’.

The lack of detailed research information and often, of even comprehensive catalogue listings poses a difficult problem for revenue judges. This is specifically acknowledged in the Guidelines and emphasis is given to the presentation of information in the exhibit. Thus, ` the Exhibit shall be evaluated on the write-up of each page by reference to what is know and available in the existent literature and what, if any, new information is given. This translates to a willingness to accept slightly longer write-up of the material than is normally accepted in other FIP classes.

As with Traditional or Postal History, exhibits need not be confined to the issues of a single country but can include exhibits that cut across jurisdictions, say the Beer Duty stamps of the Australian colonies. However exhibitors are warned against extending such an approach to the areas more normally covered in thematic displays.

Within the context of the SREVs for other classes, those for revenue exhibiting acknowledge that the class is still relatively new and there is undoubtedly room for experimentation. So far the style and content of exhibits has not become in any way stilted or subject to established tradition.

So if you are looking for a new field for collecting and exhibiting, Revenues have much to offer. The research challenges are many and while there is no reason why Australian collectors should restrict themselves to Australian material, the Australian Commonwealth and Colonies offer a wide range of opportunity. This is not only limited to collecting material for single jurisdictions but offers scope for comparisons between States. The recent publication of a listing of the revenue stamps for Victoria was a milestone in that there are now listings for all Australian States and for the Commonwealth.

Nevertheless, there are more finds to be made and much more research to be undertaken. The inclusion of material on documents is essential but there is future scope for more information on what rates applied to those documents – the revenue equivalent of change in postage rates over time.

Where to find out more about Revenues

Collecting & displaying of revenue stamps (1995), Clive Akerman, The Revenue Society of Great Britain, gives invaluable background.

The Cinderella Stamp Club of Australasia, is the main Australia society concerned with revenue stamps. It publishes a journal, Cinderellas Australasia. The contact is The Secretary, PO Box 889, Chatswood, NSW 2057.