These apparently were offered by the same seller on eBay over several months. All on document fragments from the same company, the Northern Assurance Co. of London, all used in July of 1898.

From Frank Sente:

… I’m not sure how much help I can be with these. I’m not familiar with the Northern Assurance Co of London and haven’t seen usages on any of their insurance documents. However, 1/2c is a VALID 1898 insurance rate. Accident, Fire, Liability, and Fidelity policies all were taxed at the rate of 1/2c/$1.00 of premium paid. See the attached scan for examples of 1/2c usages on 1 day travel policies the premium for which usually ran about 25c so well under a dollar. If Northern Assurance sold travel policies or any other applicable insurance for which the premium was less than $1.00 then the 1/2c rate would be applicable. I note these are all dated in July 1898, the first month of the tax. As such 1/2c stamps might not have been available when Northern Assurance bought their supplies; hence these bisects.

Based upon the numbering to the right of each stamp, it’s quite possible that there were many of these bisected revenue documents created. Does anyone have an example of one on a complete document or larger fragment so we can get the full context?

Thanks.