1 Cent - Cigarette Tax Maine

Maine introduced a cigarette tax stamp system in the early 1940s to capture revenue from tobacco sales at the retail level. These small paper stamps were affixed directly to cigarette packages, functioning as proof of tax payment rather than as circulating currency — though they are legitimately collected within notaphily given their official government issuance and denominated face value.

The 1941 date places this squarely in the period before federal wartime tax increases complicated state-level tobacco revenue accounting. At 1 cent, it reflects Maine's modest initial rate before successive mid-decade hikes.