Opium (Domestic), 1879 Issue. Complete sheet of ten, plate no. 1 at bottom, "Bug B." imprint and guideline at top, manuscript "Cancelled" in red at right, light vertical crease at left and few minor bends

VERY FINE APPEARANCE. AN EXTREMELY RARE COMPLETE PANE OF TEN OF THE 1879 DOMESTIC OPIUM ISSUE.

According to the Index to the Executive Documents of the House of Representatives from 1879-80, available at http://books.google.com/books?id=jlhHAQAAIAAJ: "Large quantities of Opium prepared for smoking are brought into the United States, and this article, being of small bulk and great value, is easily smuggled. A similar article is manufactured in the United States from the crude opium, and in endeavoring to ascertain whether, in any given case, the article has been smuggled, it has been found difficult to determine whether it is of domestic or foreign manufacture." The document continues with a recommendation for both external and internal taxes upon opium and that "opium prepared for smoking, imported into the United States or manufactured in the United States, found without proper stamps, be made liable to seizure and forfeiture." The recommendation was that tax for internal production be equal to that imported, which was $6.00 per pound.

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