1884 Wm. H. Seward & Co., Bankers Check – Auburn, New York – Imprinted 2¢ Orange Diamond Revenue Stamp (Scott # RN-G1) – Very Fine (VF 20–25)

Item Overview

• Financial Institution / Issuer: Wm. H. Seward & Co., Bankers (Auburn, New York)

• Location: Auburn, N.Y.

• Date: Feb 1st, 1884 (overprinted/written in iron-gall ink)

• Check Number: No. 78

• Payee: John Mager (or Order)

• Amount: $111.00 ("One hundred & Eleven 00/100 Dollars")

• Drawer / Signature: Signed by Daniel M. Tabor (signed "Daniel M. Tabor / Per E. C. Tabor")

• Reverse Endorsement: Period brown iron-gall ink endorsement: John Mager

• Printer / Stationer: J. H. Warner, 81 John St., N.Y. (imprinted lower right margin)

• Paper & Edge: Fine cream laid security paper with pin-perforated rouletted left stub margin.

The Imprinted Revenue Stamp (Scott # RN-G1)

• Stamp Classification: United States Revenue Stamped Paper (RN)

• Scott Catalog #: Scott RN-G1 (Orange Diamond Type G)

• Design & Inscription:

  • Bold orange diamond-shaped security tint centered behind the payee and dollar lines.

  • Central circular portrait of Liberty facing right in an oval frame.

  • Text reads: "UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE – TWO CENTS" with denomination numerals "2".

• Historical Tax Law Context:

  • To finance Civil War debt, the federal government placed a 2-cent stamp tax on bank checks, drafts, and receipts.

  • While early 1860s checks required adhesive stamps (like the perforated George Washington or "Bank Check" revenues), by the mid-1870s banks ordered pre-printed Revenue Stamped Paper (RN) where the 2¢ stamp was lithographed or typographed directly onto the check face.

  • Late Usage: The federal 2-cent check tax was repealed by Congress effective March 3, 1883. Checks drawn in early 1884 on pre-stamped stock (like this one) represent post-repeal remainder/exhaustion usage, where banks continued exhausting their pre-printed check blanks without wasting the paper.

Historical Significance: The Seward Dynasty

• The Seward Family Banking Firm: Wm. H. Seward & Co., Bankers was established in Auburn, NY in 1860 by William H. Seward Jr. (Union Brigadier General) and Clinton D. MacDougall, backed by his father, William H. Seward Sr.

• Historic Ties: William H. Seward Sr. was the renowned U.S. Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, surviving the Lincoln assassination conspiracy attack on the night of April 14, 1865, and orchestrating the 1867 purchase of Alaska ("Seward's Folly").

• The Seward family banking house in Auburn operated continuously well into the 20th century as one of the most prominent private banking houses in central New York.

Condition & Visual Grade

• Assigned Technical Grade: Very Fine (VF 20 – VF 25)

• Preservation Highlights:

  • Crisp, sound paper fabric with completely intact edges, clear borders, and sharp rouletting along the left edge.

  • Free of heavy pocket folds, tears, or paper chunk loss.

  • Retains its original spindle/spike bank cancellation hole in the center of the orange RN-G1 imprint (a standard 19th-century bank teller cancellation method).

  • Dark, unfaded black letterpress typography and bright orange revenue imprint.

  • Clear, authentic period penmanship and payee endorsement.