Second issue.
Excise stamps, or excise banderoles, are a type of fiscal stamp used to pay excise duty on certain categories of goods, such as wine and tobacco. The use of excise stamps enables the state to promptly identify goods on which excise duty has not been paid, and guarantees the buyer the quality and quantity of the purchased product.
When excise banderoles are used, the package can be opened only by tearing the banderole. The very term "banderole" comes from the French word banderole, meaning a strap or strip of paper, cloth, tin, etc., with which crates, packages, or other containers of goods are sealed.
The purpose of sealing goods with a banderole is twofold: it is done either to guarantee against counterfeiting or substitution of products of a well-known manufacturer, or to ensure that the customs duty or excise due for the item has been paid to the government.
In the first case, the banderole was formerly called private (protective), and both its design and the text of the inscription placed on it depended entirely on the manufacturer, who could submit them to the competent authorities for approval on the same basis as so-called labels and factory marks.
In the second case, banderoles were called state, or government, and their design, color, and the symbols and inscriptions placed on them were established by an official empowered by law or by a government institution.
The system of collecting duties or excise by affixing banderoles to goods was called the banderole system and greatly facilitated supervision of the payment of the required charges on goods. At the same time, a system of subscriptions (Fr. abonnement, Ger. Abfindung) was often used, under which each producer of excise-taxed goods was obliged to purchase a specified number of banderoles annually. The sale and purchase of goods subject to sealing with a banderole, without banderoles or with torn banderoles, subjected those at fault to penalties specified by law.
At the same time, banderoles were mandatory for vodka, tobacco, and match manufacturers in an amount set by law; installment payment was allowed, and banderoles could be issued on credit, subject to the conditions specified by law. At the request of excise administrations, when necessary, banderoles could be issued to administrative offices, institutions, and officials either as whole sheets or as individual strips in the quantity required each time.
Excise stamp of fruit and grape vodka production 1 Kopeck 1892.
Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire.
