These are always fun discussions.

So, this revenue document lot came up for auction on eBay, and I set a snipe and waited. It’s now on its way (confirmed via tracking progress), so it’s safe to discuss it.

The total cost of this lot including shipping and sales tax was $88.

1. What do you think I saw that captured my interest?
2. What is the max you would pay for said lot and why? (Could be higher or lower than what I paid; not everyone perceives value or scarcity the same way.)

Everything I used to make a decision is shown below, which are the actual eBay listing images, other than the screenshot I took of the description. There was no interaction with the seller prior to auction close.

Images are numbered for easy reference.

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Spoiler space… any guesses?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The items of particular interest are not one, but two pawn tickets, extremely scarce document types. My (unpublished) census is less than 20 total reported documents from the Civil War tax period.

Typically $150-350 each depending on retailer if/when they turn up on the market.

This particular design/company is pictured in Mike’s book and it’s one I didn’t already have.

Unlike financial transaction documents which tended to be retained in at least the medium term, if not long-term, pawn tickets along with baggage tickets, railway passes, and steamship passes, weren’t kept past the immediate task/need. There was no reason to keep them… hence their scarcity.

Once a pawn loan was repaid or walked away from, the pawn ticket served no purpose. The pawnbroker had their own ledgers/records for the transactions, so even if turned in by the pawnor upon repayment of the loan, the ticket would be discarded.

 

UPDATE 1: Well, I get to wear the Idiot Hat today, not for making a mistake on the lot (still in transit), but for missing a third pawn ticket in the group.

I’m working on a pawn ticket census, and going through the images I have accumulated of known examples, I have an image of this item, from R. Rich, 45 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY.

Now compare this to the item at the right in last cropped out image I posted. I bet that once the lot arrives, I’ll find there’s a canceled 5-cent revenue stamp on the reverse.

Captain Oblivious, that’s my name! 😉

 

UPDATE 2: Lot arrived about a half hour ago, exactly as expected. The 3 pawn tickets and a few other documents of interest:

1. Several holograhic checks
2. An 1868 promissory note taxed 5 cents, with a protest on reverse with 25-cent revenue affixed.
3. An 1898 sight draft featuring a cancel from the “Columbia Folding Bed Company”.
4. Two 1901 receipts with battleship documentaries affixed, from the “Travis Lodge” in Sherman, Texas, a constituent lodge of the Grand Lodge of Texas (Freemasons).
5. A beat up 1866 small billhead from “W.G. Metzerott & Co.” in Washington D.C., dealer for Steinway & Sons for the purchase of a piano, with tied 2-cent bank check, and on the reverse is a handritten five-year warranty policy for said piano, taxed 5 cents, presumably as an agreement. Really neat!

 

UPDATE 3: I’ve now published an online census of the (currently) 19 known Civil War-era stamped pawn tickets:

https://revenue-collector.com/pawn/