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#RJM1a-3a
1937 $1, $5 & $10 Marihuana Tax, Imperf. Pairs with Free Pages
$6,950.00
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Scott #RJM1a–3a is the complete set of all three Marihuana Tax imperforate pairs — the $1 yellow green, $5 blue, and $10 yellow orange — accompanied by three collector album pages, one for each denomination. Each stamp was created by overprinting an existing Series of 1914 Documentary revenue stamp with "Marihuana / Tax Act / of 1937" in black, and the three colors make a visually arresting set when displayed together. The album pages include historical text and illustrations describing the stamps and the law that created them. These imperforate pairs were held by the government for decades before being deaccessioned from the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in 2005.
The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on August 2, 1937. Drafted by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the act imposed a tiered registration and tax structure on all commercial dealings in marijuana — from producers and physicians at $1, to dealers at $3, to importers and manufacturers at $24. Because the federal government lacked direct constitutional authority to ban marijuana outright, the tax structure served as a practical substitute, making legal commerce in the drug extremely difficult to navigate. Anyone outside the registration system faced a $100 per ounce tax so prohibitive — and so self-incriminating — that in 33 years of the act's existence, not a single application for that stamp was ever submitted.
The act took an unexpected wartime turn when the government needed hemp fiber for naval rope after Japanese forces cut off Philippine supplies in 1942. Between that year and 1945, approximately 400,000 acres of hemp were planted across the country under the act's provisions. The act remained in force until 1969, when the Supreme Court struck down part of it in the Leary case as a violation of the Fifth Amendment, and Congress replaced it with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Marihuana Tax stamps were not listed in the Scott Catalogue until 2006, meaning most collectors were unaware they existed for nearly seven decades.
Scott #RJM1a–3a is the complete set of all three Marihuana Tax imperforate pairs — the $1 yellow green, $5 blue, and $10 yellow orange — accompanied by three collector album pages, one for each denomination. Each stamp was created by overprinting an existing Series of 1914 Documentary revenue stamp with "Marihuana / Tax Act / of 1937" in black, and the three colors make a visually arresting set when displayed together. The album pages include historical text and illustrations describing the stamps and the law that created them. These imperforate pairs were held by the government for decades before being deaccessioned from the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in 2005.
The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt on August 2, 1937. Drafted by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the act imposed a tiered registration and tax structure on all commercial dealings in marijuana — from producers and physicians at $1, to dealers at $3, to importers and manufacturers at $24. Because the federal government lacked direct constitutional authority to ban marijuana outright, the tax structure served as a practical substitute, making legal commerce in the drug extremely difficult to navigate. Anyone outside the registration system faced a $100 per ounce tax so prohibitive — and so self-incriminating — that in 33 years of the act's existence, not a single application for that stamp was ever submitted.
The act took an unexpected wartime turn when the government needed hemp fiber for naval rope after Japanese forces cut off Philippine supplies in 1942. Between that year and 1945, approximately 400,000 acres of hemp were planted across the country under the act's provisions. The act remained in force until 1969, when the Supreme Court struck down part of it in the Leary case as a violation of the Fifth Amendment, and Congress replaced it with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The Marihuana Tax stamps were not listed in the Scott Catalogue until 2006, meaning most collectors were unaware they existed for nearly seven decades.
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