penny per whole newspaper sheet, a halfpenny for a half sheet, and one shilling per advertisement contained within. Other than newspapers, it required that all pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers be issued the tax. The act was increased in 1797 with greater taxes and wider spectrum of materials affected, reached its height around 1815 during the "taxes on knowledge" struggle, reduced in 1836, and repealed in 1855. The stamp tax was a tax on each newspaper and thus hit cheaper papers and popular readership harder than wealthy consumers, because it formed a higher proportion of the purchase price. The act had a chilling effect on publishers; the tax is blamed for the decline of English literature critical of the government during the period, notably with The Spectator ending the same year of the tax's enactment. Its repeal in 1855 allowed a cheap press again. Stamp Duties Management Act 1891 and Stamp Act 1891 All the above Acts were superseded by the Stamp Duties Management Act 1891 and the Stamp Act 1891, which still constitute the bulk of UK law on stamp duties today. The modern UK Stamp Act From 1914 to 1928, the Director of Stamping at the Stamp Office oversaw the production of Treasury Notes (a type of banknote, not to be confused with US Treasury notes). These were issued for denominations of £1 and 10's to enable coins to be removed from circulation and were not convertible to gold. Existing Bank of England banknotes in higher denominations continued to circulate alongside the Treasury Notes. In 1963 production of postage stamps passed to the General Post Office. The Finance Act 1986 introduced Stamp Duty Reserve Tax. From October 27, 1986, the charge was imposed on 'closing' transactions at the London Stock Exchange which until then had been transactions where no document was used and therefore exempt from Stamp Duty. A public display of Stamp Office artifacts and records was held at the Courtauld Institute in 1994 to commemorate the three hundredth anniversary of the introduction of UK Stamp Duty. The Stamp Office was also awarded the Charter Mark by John Major's Advisory Committee as a reward for its public service. Stamp duties are the oldest taxes still raised by the HM Revenue and Customs. Israel Israel used to have a stamp duty on signed documents, which was regulated by the 1961 "Stamp Tax on Documents"