“Things that make you go hmmmm…”
Greetings readers….
As I was writing checks to mail some bills to be paid (yes I still write checks AND use the USPS to pay bills🤣), I saw, what I’ve seen since I’ve been paying bills, on the back of this envelope below…
For some reason, for the first time, I was like…”Why have I seen this on bills and bill envelopes all my life….who in their right mind would try to pay a debt with stamps?”
Enter our friend, Google Search. Turns out, it appears stamps were considered legal tender in the US, according to the Stamp Payment Act is 1862:
Postage stamps have served as money in areas as diverse as America, Europe, and the Far East. During the American Civil War merchants, struggling with a shortage of small coins, began the practice of making small change with postage stamps. Daily purchases of stamps increased fivefold in New York City alone, and individual stamps circulated until they became too dirty and tattered for recognition. John Gault, a Boston sewing-machine salesman, proposed the encasement of stamps in circular metal discs with transparent mica on one side showing the face of the stamp. Soon the metal side of the discs was bearing inscriptions of advertisements; one series of encased stamps bore the slogan, “Ayer’s Sarsaparilla to Purify the Blood.†Denominations of encased stamp money ranged from 1 cent to 90 cents, and one rectangular encasement had three 3-cent stamps, making a 9-cent coin. The government took up the idea of postage money and begin issuing postage currency in denominations of 5-, 10-, 15-, and 50-cent stamps, and some of the postage currency was even perforated around the edges to resemble stamps. The postage currency soon dropped any association with postage stamps and became simple fractional currency in denominations of 3 cents to 50 cents and bearing the inscription “Receivable for all U.S. stamps.â€
It appears that this act has never been repealed, such that now, creditors must dictate that cash or stamps can’t be sent as payment for a debt.
Interesting….
Enjoy your day/night
Doug
That is so cool. 🙂 This is so much better than just scrolling through my FB and IG page. :-D. This is another reason why I love technology. We have knowledge at our fingertips. Cool post and image Brother.