Chile Tax Stamp

[kacyds]

Here is a stamp that I came across yesterday and couldnt find it in my Scott Catalog.  After digging awhile, I took out my Stanley Gibbons South America Catalog and found it.




Chile Obligatory Tax Stamp,  Stanley Gibbons# T338 Bicentenary of Talca

Issued July 2, 1942
Unwatermarked
Perf. 14

This stamp was on sale at Talca only.  Its use was obligatory on all correspondence from Talca to Chilean addresses, to provide funds for the celebration of the bicentenary.

After looking at the Scott Catalog again, I found this....



Okay, my question is this, If Scott acknowledges this stamp and gives it a value (20cents) why not give it a number?

[Butterfly]

I guess a broader question might be "Has Scott ever given a number to any local issue?"

[kacyds]

Not sure Butterfly

[SWH]

Some pure speculation: Scott discovered the stamp after 1970. The first listing for postal tax stamps they have is from 1970 and has number RA1. Now squeezing a new number in between two existing numbers is one thing, but what would they have to do in this case? Give it number RA0? Easy to check in a catalog issued before 1970, which I do not have....

[khj]

Aug 10, 2015 15:18:38 GMT -5 kacyds said:

Okay, my question is this, If Scott acknowledges this stamp and gives it a value (20cents) why not give it a number?

Although there are exceptions, in general Scott does not assign catalog numbers to postal tax stamps that are only required for a specific period of time, regardless of whether they are locals or not. For example, there exist postal tax stamps that were only required during a certain day/week each year. In fact, most of the time Scott doesn't even bother to mention them -- congratulations, you have found one of the exceptions.

In general, Scott has not placed high priority on postal tax stamps, and you will find that for many European and Central/South American countries, the postal tax stamp listings are not complete. Turkey is often cited as the classic example where you will likely run into a postal tax stamp that is not Scott listed.

Aug 10, 2015 15:50:54 GMT -5 Butterfly said:

I guess a broader question might be "Has Scott ever given a number to any local issue?"

Yes. They are designated by the L prefix. If more than one local as issuing entity, the format is #L. More easily found in the Specialized and Classic catalogs, but they do occur in the general WW catalogs as well -- see Nicaragua and Yugoslavia for examples.

Aug 11, 2015 1:08:54 GMT -5 SWH said:

Some pure speculation: Scott discovered the stamp after 1970. The first listing for postal tax stamps they have is from 1970 and has number RA1. Now squeezing a new number in between two existing numbers is one thing, but what would they have to do in this case? Give it number RA0? Easy to check in a catalog issued before 1970, which I do not have....

They would simply assign them as RA1A, RA1B... Scott has never had the requirement that the Scott catalog numbers represent chronological order, although they do try to make that as a general trend. Examples can be found in Scott where #1 was NOT actually the first stamp issued chronologically.

In this case, because the stamp is actually a local postal tax stamp, they would start a new section and list the stamp as LRA1. If there are many other local postal tax stamps issued by other areas, then this stamp would be 1LRA1.

There is actually some method to Scott's madness.

But it's still mostly madness.

[khj]

I might add, that if you are going to collect non-US locals, Scott is a TERRIBLE resource.

[Gordon Lee]

Greetings Fellow SB Boarders
.
In recent years Scott has slowed down on changing assigned stamp numbers. I dreaded looking at the back of a Scott Catalogue when the number changes, especially when there is a page and a half of number changes.
.
I reckon in this case the Scott editors flipped a coin and decided not to change the RA1 to RA1A and re-assign RA1 to SG T338. Of course, Scott places a lot of decision making on their regional experts (and not many of them, it seems, use the same guide). Just my thought on the subject.
.
Respectfully,

Gordon Lee

[samb]

So it doesn't have a number.... just throw it in your album and enjoy it!!! 4030434416

[khj]

Now it does.  You can put it in your album with satisfaction and rest easy.

[fxpro65]

Philatelic Society of Chile
Stamp of beneficence of compulsory use for every postal piece sent from Talca for the national correspondence. The purpose of this issue was to raise funds to pay a loan (D.L: 7.002 / 18-08-1941) that was used in various works undertaken to commemorate the bicentennial of the city. On September 21, 1951, the use was suspended because the loan had been totally canceled. The use of this seal was penalized with a fine of 20 cts. There are SPECIMEN perforated tests of the seal without watermark.
and does not actually appear in the Scott catalog as you said.
but, There are many varieties of this stamp to collect.

and the 20 cts. Were a fine, for their non-use.