Tax tokens of Missouri, USA

Missouri tax tokens, like other states, were used to pay sales tax on small purchases where the tax was less than a penny.
The first of them were sometimes called "milk caps" because of their resemblance to milk bottle caps.

 

 

5 mill (1/2 cent)
22.5 mm., zinc
1937-1942
5 / 5 / MISSOURI RECIEPT / SALES TAX / State map around the center hole
5 / 5 / MISSOURI RECIEPT / SALES TAX / State map around the center hole

 

 

 

5 mill (1/2 cent)
23 mm., grey plastic
1943-1954
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center

 

 

 

5 mill (1/2 cent)
23 mm., grey plastic
1943-1954
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center

 

 

 

5 mill (1/2 cent)
23 mm., green plastic
1943-1954
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center
5 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center

 

 

 

1 mill (1/10 cent) "milk cap"
38 mm., cardboard
1935
1 ONE MILL / MISSOURI  RETAILERS / SALES TAX RECIEPT
THIS RECEIPT SHOWS THAT YOU  ARE HELPING TO PAY FOR OLD AGE PENSIONS SUPPORT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS CARE OF POOR INSANE AND TUBERCULAR PATIENTS IN STATE HOSPITALS AND RELIEF OF NEEDY UNEMPLOYED IN THE STATE OF MISSOURI

 

 

1 mill (1/10 cent)
22.5 mm., zinc
1937-1942
1 on the State map / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX RECIEPT / Two stars
1 on the State map / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX RECIEPT / Two stars

 

 

 

1 mill (1/10 cent)
23 mm., red plastic
1947-1948
1 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center
1 / MISSOURI  / SALES TAX TOKEN / two concentric circles around a digit in the center

 

 

Missouri Tax tokens value

The first Missouri-issued cardboard sales tax tokens resembled milk bottle caps, with a seal and denomination on the front and a blank back. This blank space was sometimes used informally for its own purposes, such as political campaigning or advertising. Tokens without a counterstamp on the back can be easily found for a dollar or less. Those with a counterstamp are rarer and can cost anywhere from a few dollars to a hundred dollars or more.
There are cardboard tokens that are white instead of brown, and they are much more expensive. There are two types - with a "watermark" on the back showing the original patent date, and with designs. They can cost from thirty to several hundred dollars.
To eliminate the problem of counterstamping, Missouri added its own seal to the back. These tokens are also very common and are worth less than a dollar.

The cardboard tokens were replaced by zinc ones in 1 and 5 mil. There are several varieties of these, but this does not affect the cost - they are all cheap.

The final release of Missouri sales tax tags are plastic tokens, red 1 mill and green 5 mil. Since they were produced in huge quantities for many years, the actual color can vary from orange to maroon and from green to gray, respectively. These are the most common sales tax tokens in Missouri and some of them can cost literally a few cents.