125 Years of the National Philatelic Collection

Marijuana Tax Stamps

Beginning in 1954, the U.S. Treasury Department transferred nearly 7.8 million obsolete revenue stamps—used to collect taxes on merchandise, legal documents, and financial transactions—to the National Philatelic Collection.

In 1937, Congress imposed drastic new regulations and taxes on marijuana, which was then legal, in an attempt to restrict its use. To prove payment of the tax, three values of documentary tax stamps were overprinted with the words “Marihuana / Tax Act / of 1937.” Few copies of the stamps were sold.

$1 Marihuana Tax Act imperforate blocks of ten revenue stamps, United States, 1937

$5 Marihuana Tax Act imperforate blocks of ten revenue stamps, United States, 1937

$10 Marihuana Tax Act imperforate blocks of ten revenue stamps, United States, 1937