Maryland State Embossed Revenue Stamped Paper
(1819-1819)
Pursuant to the Act of February 11, 1818, the State of Maryland imposed a tax upon banknotes of any bank within the state that was not chartered by the state legislature. The only bank operating in Maryland subject to the tax was the Second Bank of the United States, which was established by the United States Congress in 1816, and which opened a branch in Baltimore in 1817. Effective May 1, 1818, The Act purported to tax banknotes as follows:
$5 banknote | 10¢ |
$10 banknote | 20¢ |
$20 banknote | 30¢ |
$50 banknote | 50¢ |
$100 banknote | $1.00 |
$500 banknote | $10.00 |
$1,000 banknote | $20.00 |
The act also provided that an out-of-state bank could also pay an annual tax of $15,000 in lieu of the taxes on individual banknotes. The 30¢ stamp is known unused. The other denominations are not known to have survived.
James McCulloch, the head of the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States, refused to pay the tax. The State of Maryland brought suit against McCulloch in the Maryland courts, which ruled in favor of the state. In a landmark decision issued March 6, 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for a unanimous court, held in McCulloch v. Maryland that the Constitution granted implied powers to Congress such as establishing a national bank, and that the states could not impede the Federal Government's lawful exercise of power.
 | 30¢ Maryland Revenue Stamp (RM362) |
 | 50¢ Maryland Revenue Stamp (discovery copy to be listed as RM363) |
Unused 30¢ Maryland embossed revenue stamped paper (RM362) intended for use on $20 banknote issued by the Second Bank of the United States.
Unused 50¢ Maryland embossed revenue stamped paper (discovery copy to be listed as RM363) intended for use on $50 banknote issued by the Second Bank of the United States.