1 Cent - Cigarette Tax West Virginia

West Virginia began taxing cigarettes at the retail level in the 1940s, and these fractional tax stamps — issued by the State Tax Department rather than any banking authority — were used to document prepayment of the levy on individual cigarette purchases. At 18 by 14 mm they are among the smallest fiscal instruments produced by any American state government, closer in size to a postage stamp than anything a cashier would handle, which makes surviving examples in collectible condition genuinely uncommon.