50c Documentary Second Issue revenue stamp invert strip of five

Morton Dean Joyce · 1871-1872

In 1871, the government issued a new series of documentary revenue stamps to replace the 1862 "first issue" revenue stamps. Concerns over counterfeiting as well as reuse after chemically removing the cancellation prompted the decision. With these concerns in mind, Joseph R. Carpenter, the security printer who held the contract for printing revenue stamps, prepared the second revenue issue, including a number of anti-counterfeiting modifications. The company produced the stamps using a more complex two-color process. In addition, it used "chameleon" paper with colored security threads, which reacted with chemicals used to remove cancellations.