Cedula Certificates (Philippines)

A lot of non-stamp items will turn up in boxes of stamps: postcards, paper money, coins, revenues, cinderellas, sometimes entire mortgage documents.  In the latest boxes, I came across something I had never seen before: a "Cedula Certificate" from the Philippines, from 1925.  Actually it was a batch of five of them from the same person, 1925 to 1937.  The ones I found all had a sort of ledger on the flip side, but those were all blank.

Some research showed that these are community tax documents or residence tax forms that are actually used as a type of identification.

That article has a good description of what the document could be used for: "When used as a primary form of identification, community tax certificates are used when someone acknowledges a document before a notary public, takes an oath of office or is appointed to a government position, receives a license or permit from a government authority, pays government taxes or fees, receives money from a public fund, transacts official business (such as business registration) or receives salaries and wages.

In certain instances, community tax certificates are used as a secondary form of identification, rather than a primary one. Instances where this is the case include applying for a passport."

Mine had no revenue stamps or markings on them.

I don't have any insider information on these, or the value of these as collectibles.  But whenever I find something that's new to me, I figure it's probably new to a lot of other collectors, and I enjoy researching them and sharing the info.

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