The scarcest of fully-perforated stamps used during the tax period, its use on a photograph is unusual because there was no 4¢ rate for photographs. Traces of paper above the stamp suggest that it had been used along with a 1¢ stamp that has fallen off, making up the 5¢ rate typical of many framed tintypes. The September 20, 1864 datestamp is that of a Washington, D.C. studio.