British Commonwealth Revenues

Plot

INTRODUCTION
WHY COLLECT REVENUES?
Philatelists study the history of the Post Office, Revenue collectors all
areas of Society— from the Hut Taxes of Africa to the Hunting Taxes of Australia, Commerce (Bills of Exchange, Contract Note), Foreign Relations
(Consular), and Social Welfare (National Insurance etc.).
The Revenue collector shares with the Philatelist the beauty of the delicately produced Victorian issues of De La Rue and Waterlow, but these stamps
are still available for pence, not pounds. These and later issues give ample
scope for serious study of shades, cancellations and entire documents, while
new discoveries of basic stamps are made each year.
SCOPE OF THE CATALOGUE
This catalogue aims to present, in simplified form, a listing of all adhesive revenue stamps of the British Commonwealth, Ireland, Pakistan, and
South Africa. Directly embossed issues are not included. Postage stamps used for revenue purposes are not listed, except in this case of certain high values, which, although listed in catalogues of postage stamps, were intended primarily as revenues. We have also omitted Tobacco issues, as often these are vary numerous, and information sketchy. The Revenues of Great Britain are covered in our 'Great Britain Revenues' Catalogue, and these are thus not repeated here. The issues of the Indian States, which could fill a volume several times the size of this one, are also omitted.
Issues thought to exist, but not yet seen by us, are enclosed in (brackets).
No catalogue achieves completion, as there are always new discoveries to be made. This is particularly the case with revenues, where often no listing has been made since 1915. We ask readers to bear in mind that the present work must, therefore, contain errors and omissions. We sincerely hope that readers will write to us of new discoveries, so that future editions can be more complete. It is intended to issue regular supplements or a second edition, to keep collectors up to date with the latest information.