A mystery "cheque" found beneath the floorboards of an old house at Studholme College is more likely to be an old-fashioned version of a hire purchase agreement, a Dunedin man believes.
The document signed in February 1930 promised to pay Mawhinney and Geddes 31 and 18 shillings, 12 months after the date.
George Rolton, who has an interest in postal history and old receipts, said he believed it was a document for a loan or services rendered and had to be repaid within one year.
"It could be for goods paid for or be an old form of hire purchase."
When this was done a postage stamp was affixed and signed by the recipient of the sum involved, he said.
The policy of affixing postage stamps to receipts probably continued well into the 1940s.
