Lock Seal Stamps?

There were a lot of strange revenue stamps and unlisted items in the boxes of stamps I got recently.   Here is something I have never seen before: lock seal stamps.


It looks like these stamps would be attached to a lock by the small hole at top and would be officially "used" by pushing a key through the seal into the lock.

I looked online for more information.  Eric Jackson, the big revenues dealer, had some Google search hits, but none of these items currently in stock.  Over on stampcommunity.org:  "You can find more on the lock Seals in United States Internal Revenue Stamps Hydrometers, Lock Seals by J. Delano Bartlett and Walter W. Norton published in 1912, reprinted 1982."  And "Springer also lists lock seals".

By Springer, they mean this one: "Springer's handbook of North American Cinderella stamps, including taxpaid revenues":

An interesting post about the history and future of that catalog.

It looks like these date back to 1875.  A few sold ebay items went for $10-15 in the last few months.  They are definitely uncommon.

Again I can trust my gut: if I haven't seen a stamp before,  after seeing over a million stamps, then maybe it's one in a million...


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