Vintage Louisiana Tax Tokens, Lot of Three, Circa 1930s

Description

Louisiana Sales Tax Tokens were used to collect sales taxes of fractions of a cent. The first tax tokens issued by the state of Louisiana were in conjunction with the Luxury Tax Act of 1936. This was a tax of 2% on selected items. It was termed “Luxury Tax” because of the numerous exemptions. The Public Welfare Revenue Act of 1938 replaced this Luxury Tax. Although the law specifically exempted about seventy-five items from the tax, the state released an expanded list of exemptions. This list included such items as alcoholic beverages, bottle openers, cigars, lawn mowers, maple syrup, and plum pudding. Merchants and consumers claimed it was confusing because it taxed articles that were necessities while exempting some classed as luxuries.
The tokens were issued starting on October 1, 1936 and within ten days more than four million tokens were in circulation in the New Orleans area alone. No records are available concerning the total number of Luxury Tax tokens struck. The Luxury Tax Act of 1936 was repealed by the Public Welfare Revenue Act of 1938. All Luxury Tax tokens were to be withdrawn with a deadline for redemption of December 31, 1938. The 1 Mill tokens were demonetized in 1938; the 5 Mill tokens were demonetized in 1941.
While the Public Welfare Revenue Act reduced the tax rate to 1% and contained fewer exemptions than its predecessor, it was no more popular. One of the campaign issues in the 1939 Governor’s race was abolition of the Public Welfare tax. As a result, Governor Sam Jones approved repeal of the act on July 9, 1940, effective December 31, 1940. Eight million five mill tokens were issued for this tax. Final redemption of the tokens took place March 31, 1941, and fewer than seven million tokens were returned.
The obverses of each of the three tokens are identical to the reverses, but the obverses and reverses are not aligned with each other. All three tokens are about 22mm in diameter. They all have triangular holes in the center; and they are equilateral triangles at 5mm for each side. The two 1 Mill tokens are made of aluminum, and they are Luxury Tax tokens. The one 5 Mill token is made of brass and is a Welfare Tax token.
The Luxury Tax tokens have "Luxury Tax" by the top perimeter, and "Token Louisiana" by the bottom perimeter. At both sides, in the center by the perimeter, are the numerals "1". The triangular center hole is in an octagon.
The Welfare Tax token has "Public Welfare Tax" by the top perimeter, and "Token Louisiana" by the bottom perimeter. At both sides, in the center by the perimeter, are the numerals "5". The triangular center hole is in an octagon.
One of the 1 Mill tokens appears to be almost uncirculated, without tarnish, scratches or other blemishes. The other 1 Mill token has some tarnishing due to age and use, and it has some light scratches. The 5 Mill token has the toning due to age that's commonly found on brass. The 5 Mill token also has what appears to be a die crack line that extends from between the "U" and "B' of "Public" at the upper left, down in a curve to the octagon; and then from the right side of the octagon in a curve to just below the space between the letters "R" and "E" of the word "Welfare". Please see the photos.