Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately

ROSSICA

No. 118 April 1992

00

The Journal of the

Rossica Society of Russian Philately

NORMAN D. EPSTEIN 1918-1991

Rossica lost one of its stalwarts early on the Norman's knowledge was gathered from over
morning of November 21, when cancer claimed six decades of buying and selling to augment his
him after a long battle. Mr. Norman D. Epstein collection and from reading extensively on sub-
was born on December 18, 1918 and lived jects of the period. He had travelled the world
almost his entire life in Brooklyn, New York. to attend shows and exhibit items from his
He leaves behind no immediate family, but a collection. For those of us that knew him
number of cousins. personally, we can say that
Many members knew it wasn't a matter of what
him only as the Society's he did know about philat-
Treasurer. He held this ely, but a matter of what
office longer than any he did not know. Those
other in Rossica's items were few and far
history. Together with between. Norman's opin-
Gordon Torrey, he was ion was respected around
also the longest-serving the world and highly
officer, surpassing even sought after by collectors.
Eugene Arkhangel'skii, An expertization form
the founder. Norman as- with his name on it was a
sumed the treasurer's good item to have with
post in the turmoil some of Russian philat-
following Gregory ely's rarest items.
Salisbury's death in early What most members
1968, and the resignation didn't know of was
of then-Secretary-and- Norman's colorful back-
Treasurer A.N. Lavrov. From then until his ground, beginning in WWII. He was qualified
illness became serious in 1991, Norman oversaw both as a navigator and a bombardier in the
the Society's finances, and presided over a Army Air Corps, and there were not many such.
steady buildup from approximately $740 Norman was one of the lead navigators who
received in the 1968 transfer to slightly over guided the massive Allied air raid against Ber-
$16,000 at the time he passed the books on to lin and Hitler's bunker in the waning days of the
Gary Combs. He was the Society's Chairman war. He survived more than his share of bom-
of the Expertization Committee for many years bing missions, and had a considerable fund of
and our interface with Scott Publishing Co.. war stories to tell.
In addition to his length of service to the Much of his adult life was spent as co-owner
Society, Norman was a well-known philatelist of Eldon Hardware in Newark, New Jersey, a
and exhibitor in the Russian field. He amassed commercial wholesale outfit that became well
one of the world's greatest collections of Impe- known on the East Coast.
rial Russian stamps, Soviet airmails, a huge The Rossica Society offers its sincere condo-
number of "dot cancels," and a strong showing lences to his relatives and friends. He gave a lot
in early Soviet material. The heart of his to us and this Society, and we'll miss him very
collection was an incredible array of Romanov much. Rest in peace, old friend. D.S., G.T.,
Jubilee proofs and essays, Tsar Nicholas II's G.C., et. al.
own. And he neither spoke nor read Russian.

THE JOURNAL OF THE
ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY

Journal No. 118 for April 1992

Editor: Gary A. Combs
Editorial Board: George Shaw, David M. Skipton, Howard Weinert
Bulletin: Robert B. Bain

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Article Page

Life of the Society-Dr. G. Adolph Ackerman 4
Secretary's Report-George Shaw 5
Treasurer's Report-Gary A. Combs 8
Editorial-Gary A. Combs 9
Zemstvo Stamp Forgeries: Summary of Articles and New Data- 10
George G. Werbizky
Vremennoe Once More-Gary A. Combs 22
Russian Deltiology (Part IV) Ol'ga, Tat'yana, Mariya, Anastasiya- 23
Dr. William Nickle
Beyond Bryansk-Dave Skipton 33
Puzzle Solved Blagoveshchensk 30-Ruble Sheet-George G. Werbizky 34
R.S.F.S.R.- Unlisted varieties of the May 1923 Issue-Tom Chastang 35
The Elephant (SLON) Mail-V. G. Boiko, translated by George G. Werbizky 36
Fake China Overprints Another View-Dr. Robert F. Minkus 39
Early Field Post Markings from the "Great Patriotic War"- 40
Dr. Peter A. Michalove
Soviet Censormarks-David M. Skipton 45
The Crimea in Philately-Ivo Steyn 53
"C HOBbIM TFOLOM!" Dr. G. Adolph Ackerman 58
1952 Olympic Village Card-Sherwin D. Podolsky 62
Scott 1992 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue-George Shaw 63
Khronika-translated by Dave Skipton 63,64
Interesting Items-George Shaw and Mel Kessler 65
Reviews of Literature 68
New Members 74
Adlets 75
Society Publications For Sale 76
Advertisements 78

In the Back Room

We have a limited number of back issues of the journal for sale, both in English and Russian
language editions. Russian editions available are numbers 44-69; English editions available are
numbers 68-117. Unfortunately, there are many holes, and of some issues have less than 5 in stock.
Prices listed for back issues are in US dollars.

Single issue:

Member 7.50 Non-Member 10.00

Single issues currently available are:
44-45, 48, 54-59, 61-75, 78-82, 84-85, 88-89, 92-93, 110-112, 115-117

Double issue:

Member 15.00 Non-Member 20.00

Double issues currently available are:
46-47, 76-77, 86-87, 94-95, 96-97, 98-99, 100-101, 102-103, 104-105, 106-107, 108-109, 113-
114.

Back issues may be obtained from:

Gary A. Combs
8241 Chalet Court
Millersville, MD 21108
USA

Payment must be made in $US. Payment by check is acceptable only if the check is made payable
in US dollars drawn on an American bank. If payment is made by check drawn on a non-American
bank, please enclose an additional US $10 to handle bank fees. Make checks payable to ROSSICA
and include them with your order. If normal book-rate (surface-rate for outside US) delivery is not
desired, please indicate so, and include the added cost in your payment.

HONORED MEMBER
Joseph Chudoba

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

President: Dr. G. Adolph Ackerman, 629 Sanbridge Circle E., Worthington, OH 43085
Vice President: Dr. Peter A. Michalove, 307 S. McKinley, Champaign, IL 61821
Secretary: Robert B. Bain, 3132 Baysworth Ct., Fairfax, VA 22031
Treasurer: Gary A. Combs, 8241 Chalet Ct., Millersville, MD 21108
Librarian: David Skipton, 50 D Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Auditor: Leon Finik, P.O. Box 521, Rego Park, NY 11374

Board of Directors:

Dr. Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duval Dr., Bethesda, MD 20816
Dr. James Mazepa, P.O. Box 1217, Oak Park, IL 60304
Mike Renfro, Box 2268, Santa Clara, CA 95055

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SOCIETY

Washington-Baltimore Chapter: Dr. Gordon Torrey
Northern California Chapter: Mike Renfro
Midwest Chapter: Dr. James Mazepa
Great Britain: Dr. Raymond Ceresa

All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means without permission in writing from the journal editor. The views expressed by the authors
in this journal are their own and the editor disclaims all responsibility.

The membership dues are $18.00 annually if paid before 1 January and $20.00 if paid thereafter. The
postmark is the determining factor. Application forms are available upon request from the President,
Secretary, Treasurer, or Librarian. Membership lists will be sent annually. Payment must be made
in $US. Payment by check is acceptable only if the check is made payable in US dollars drawn on
an American bank or an additional US $10 is included to cover bank fees. Please make all checks
payable to:

ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY
c/o Gary A. Combs, 8241 Chalet Ct.,
Millersville, MD 21108
USA

Copyright 1992
The Rossica Society
ISSN 0035-8363

Life of the Society

by Dr. G. Adolph Ackerman

Iam honored to have been selected to provide the focus for an article. I urge our
represent your Society as President for the next 3 membership to expand their horizons and take
years. I write this column as President-elect and pen or keyboard in hand. If you have never
with only a vague understanding of what the job attempted this type of endeavor, give it a shot.
actually will entail. As a relatively new member The journal editor and officers would be pleased
of the society, I have come to respect the knowl- to help in any way possible. Don't be hesitant,
edge and efforts of our past officers and that thinking you are not an expert. Most of us know
nucleus of individuals who have kept the society only a bit about our own limited collecting areas.
vital for each of us-an organization in which we I hope during my tenure as President we can
can be proud. From my perspective as a viewer operate the society's business as a rather loose
from afar, we have much to thank for the efforts confederation and that decisions can be made
of Gordon Torrey, the late Norman Epstein, after input from its officers and members alike.
David Skipton, George Shaw, George Shalimoff We, as officers, serve at your bidding and deci-
and Gary Combs. I hope our new officers and sions should be made in the best interests of the
directors will be able to keep the high standards membership at large. It is to be presumed we are
and ideals of the past and begin to project some members of the Society to have fun and further
new ideas into the mainstream of the society. our knowledge of various aspects of Russian
We need to increase the number of our mem- philately. This should be the focus of both our
bership who are involved in our society's ac- annual and regional meetings.
tivities. The epicenter of the governing body of With our membership scattered throughout
Rossica has shifted and now includes both the the world and from coast to coast in the United
East Coast and Midwest. Our new board of di- States, it is impossible to interact easily with each
rectors has a representative from the three major other, except through our Journal and Bulletin.
segments of the country. This will add new Few of us have ever attended the annual Rossica
perspectives for our future activities. We invite meetings. The regional chapters fare better in
your ideas, comments and views. A proposal to this regard and should be encouraged to grow and
revise the Rossica Constitution has been sug- expand their activities. In looking over our
gested. We need to ensure the constitution is membership distribution throughout the United
truly reflective of our society, especially as we States, it would seem that new local chapters of
prepare to enter the 21stcentury. Our able Board Rossica could be established in New York and in
of Directors will be reviewing this document Southern California. Members in these areas
over the next few months and report back to the should consider such an effort. Philatelic presen-
society at large. stations by our members have been the hallmark
The Rossica Journal continues to grow in of chapter meetings, but sporadic at the annual
stature and quality. It is truly the "Life of the meetings. Our future annual meetings will make
Society." I don't think we can thank the editors every effort to incorporate philatelic presenta-
enough for their efforts past and present. How- tions. We will try to schedule these meetings so
ever, we must get more of our membership in- they are held in conjunction with outstanding
volved in writing up their studies, whether it be philatelic events in order to attract more of our
an interesting cover, a stamp oddity, a rate study, membership. Therefore, our 1992 annual meet-
postal history or modern aspects of Soviet philat- ing will be held at the World Columbian Exposi-
ely. Even stories about people and events shown tion on 24 May 1992. Come meet your officers
on "modern" stamps, postmarks or cachets can and writers and browse through the great exhibi-
4 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

tions and bourse dealers' wares at this world- Rossica Society of Russian Philately
class exhibition. Annual Meeting, November 2, 1991,
The Pan-Slavic meetings and exhibition held Secretary's Report
this past November at CHICAGOPEX was a
great idea and proved a huge success. A signif-
icant number of Rossica members, as well as by George Shaw
members of the Canadian and Ukrainian groups, r
were in attendance and exhibiting. The Pan- Ihe annual meeting of the Rossica Society
Slavic exhibits were outstanding and garnered a of Russian Philately was held at the Convention
number of top awards. For viewers and judges Center in Chicago on November 2, 1991, in
alike, the philatelic material presented empha- conjunction with the Pan-Slavic Stamp Show at
sized the high quality, diversity and unique char- CHICAGOPEX.
acter of Pan-Slavic philately. I would like to
thank all of the members of the societies who Roll Call of Officers:
participated in the exhibition's organization and
success. President Gorden Torrey present
Proposal: I would like to propose a new type of Vice President and Secretary (Acting)
Russian or Pan-Slavic event for 1993 or 1994, George Shaw present
which might be of interest to a large segment of Treasurer(Acting)
our membership-a symposium with guest speak- Gary Combs present
ers that are knowledgeable in various aspects of Journal Editor Gary Combs present
Russian or Pan-Slavic philately. The possibili- Librarian Dave Skipton present
ties are enormous-from formal presentations of Audit Chairman Leon Finik excused
philatelic material to workshops and small ex- Board of Directors
hibits. Perhaps discussions dealing with how to Raymond Ceresa excused
write a philatelic article, how to prepare an ex- Alex Sadovnikov excused
hibit, etc. could be conducted. Dealers in Rus-
sian or Pan-Slavic material would be invited to Members present: Adolph Ackerman, Michael
participate in discussions, as well as bring their Carson, Tom Chastang, Glenn Cucinello, Martin
wears. At this nebulous stage, I am suggesting Evans, George Keller, Melvin Kessler, Al Kugel,
the symposium be held at the American Phila- Jim Mazepa, Peter Michalove, John Otten, Ray-
telic Headquarters at State College, PA. There mond Pietruszka, Philip Robinson, Ged Seiflow,
we would have access to APS meeting facilities George Shalimoff, Ivo Steyn, Greg Strowig, Joe
and to the philatelic library. If the symposium Taylor, Greg Whitt.
were to precede or follow one of the APS summer
seminar series, a larger audience might be at- The president, Mt. Torrey, called the meeting
tracted. Presentations could be compiled in book to order and asked each of the attendants to
form or even as video tapes for our membership. identify themselves and their collecting interests.
Such a philatelic event could attract a large vari- In addition, he noted the encouraging state of
ety of individuals, if appropriately advertised, Russian philately, both at the local level as well
and the presentations were suitably diverse. Please as seen in the rising membership for Rossica. He
let me know what you think of this proposal, if also encouraged members to send photocopies of
you would attend, and if you would consider their exhibits to the library. Current and recently
actively participating. elected officers were introduced.

Rossica Journal Number 118 5
April 1992

Treasurer's Report. Librarian Dave Skipton 77
Sam Robbins 1
A summary of the Treasurer's report was
given. The report is covered elsewhere in this Auditing Leon Finik 70
Journal. In addition, the Treasurer covered the
process undertaken to relocate the records from Board of Directors(3)
New York to Maryland, as well as steps taken to Gordon Torrey 52
streamline and automate the record keeping. The Jim Mazepa 35
number of members paying 1992 dues in ad- Mike Renfro 35
vance was 87.
Paul Spiwak 29
Librarian's Report. Alex Sadovnikov 28
Ray Ceresa 25
The Librarian's Report was also given. Al- Ray Casey 23
though the number of members requesting mate- Norman Epstein 2
rials increased only from 29 to 30, the total David Vigor 1
number of titles asked for more than doubled George Werbizky 1
from 111 to 237 in 1991. Rossica now exchanges
publications with seven organizations. The cata- Rossica Journal Editor's Report.
loging of the Rossica Library continues on an
IBM PC using a software package called Book- The Editor presented a report on the Rossica
Ends. 7502 entries have been made out of the Journal. Because of increasing membership, the
estimated total of 20,000 to 30,000. With only 10 number printed for each journal has been in-
to 15 entries possible to be added each day, three creased form 400 to 450. There has also been a
to four years are expected for completion. Sales clarification of which journal applied to which
of Bazilevich now exceed total costs. A plea was year. The backlog of articles for Rossica 118 is
made for photocopies of exhibits, both because low; a strong plea was made for articles, espe-
they are the most requested item from the library cially in the Soviet period.
and since they provide a superb insurance record.
Reception.
1991 Election of Officers.
A reception was held on the evening of No-
President Adolph Ackerman 39 vember 1, 1991, at the Radisson Hotel for Ros-
Howard Weinert 38 sica members. The following attended: Adolph
Gordon Torrey 1 Ackerman, Mike Carson, Tom Chastang, Gary
Combs, Martin Evans, Mel Kessler, Peter Micha-
Vice President Peter Michalove 73 love, John Otten, Philip Robinson, George Shali-
Leon Finik 1 moff, George Shaw, Dave Skipton, Ivo Steyn,
Jim Mazepa 1 Webster Stickney, Greg Strowig, Joe Taylor, and
Greg Whitt.
Secretary Bruce Bain 69
Michael Ann Gutter 1 Other Subjects.
George Shaw 1
In April, Mike Renfro was elected Chairman
Treasurer Gary Combs 73 of the Northern California Chapter, replacing
Robert Taylor 1 Michael Ann Gutter.

6 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

What Really Happened at the Social Affair?

Skipton attempts to explain postal treaties and

me and certified to be free from overprints by
The "Stick" explains the various philosophies George. Interested?
of pricing to an enthusiastic crowd. P.E. is
obviously impressed and glad he crossed the

Gee, when I grow up, maybe I can graduate
Sa .. from overprints to the real thing in Siberia. I
wonder if I can get any advice from my buddy
Sphere?
(However, everyone is not awed by the
"Stick.") I think he is bluffing. I'll raise him (Ed. Note: Anonymous insert. Photos provided by John
"Stick" s I hi Otten.)
two covers and call his hand.
Rossica Journal Number 118 7
Aoril 1992

Question was raised concerning the meaning The following is a breakdown of the soci-
of the February 1, 1992, date mentioned in the ety's financial status as we approach the
dues announcement in relation to Article 2, annual meeting in May, 1992.
Section 3 of the Rossica Constitution, which
gives March 31 as the cut-off date for members Starting Balance 12/31/90 $16,305.98
who have not paid their dues.
Income
A plea was made for all officers to be used to Dues 9,312.00
aid and advise the society. Donations 227.00
Sales:
Finally, a motion was made and accepted to Journals 985.00
thank the officers for a job well done over their Prigara 280.00
terms of office. Bazilevich 331.25
Reverse Sort 163.00
Respectfully Submitted, Ads 1,049.50
George Shaw Library Income 212.34
Acting Secretary Misc. Income 1,060.65
Bank interest 564.72
SExpertization 5.00
Treasurer's Report TOTAL INCOME $14,190.46

by Gary A. Combs Expenses

W e continue to improve our capabilities Library Insurance 36.00
and still "break even" for another year. This is Legal & Professional fees 757.14
especially good news considering that every- Repairs/Upgrades 5,261.00
thing costs more today than it did just a year ago. (Equipment & Software)
I am pleased to see our membership is increasing Supplies & Postage
(what treasurer would not be?). Yet I did not General 1,937.58
expect to see so many members take advantage of Journal 4,375.60
the $2 discount. We had approximately 250 Bulletin 430.63
members pay the early fee (and I lost $500!). Secretary 287.70
Although the figures look good "on paper," Library 537.36
we do not have an excess of funds. Briefly, I keep TOTAL EXPENSES 13,623.01
between $10,000 and $12,000 in reserve for the
next Rossica publication. Our previous items, Balance as of March 1, 1992 $16,873.43
Prigara, Bazilevich, etc., cost that much or more General Budget
1992 General Budget
to initially publish. Printing establishments do
not work on credit. Even if they did, it would not Repairs/Upgrades $5,500.00
be for 0% interest. Whenever an officer or Exp
Expenses
another member has this "fantastic" idea about General $2,000.00
General $2,000.00
how to spend money, I must always be the Journal $4,500.00
conservative member-usually this means that I Bulletin $500.00
have to say NO! If we are prudent in our goals, Secretary $300.00
we can accomplish them without increasing Library $500.00
membership dues. Total Budget $13,300.00

8 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Editorial

by Gary A. Combs

Rossica welcomes the newly-elected officers The average age of the membership contin-
aboard. They represent the choices that you the ues to decline. This is not an unusual phenome-
membership made to lead the society for the next non since the older members pass on to the great
three years. Although relatively inexperienced stamp auction in the sky. Yet we should not
in society matters and operating procedures, they forget our heritage, our history, traditions and
are rapidly digesting the volumes of information, status. We remain the premier society in the
Fortunately, the new officers are conservative Western world dedicated exclusively to our
and do not subscribe to the policy of "fix it, then hobby. This reputation took many years (and
see if it was broken." I shall enjoy working with many tears) to develop. We are members of a
them. society that is very well respected around the
Aswe enter 1992, we are faced with a number world. Although we do not receive any respect
of issues that in the past have been rather spo- from the former Soviet literature, trust me when
radic. Some of these issues include: I say they were slightly envious.
When a member of Rossica recommends
"* What will the Scott catalog reflect as the another individual for membership, the recom-
true Russia No.1 since they have called mended individual should feel that acceptance
the Soviet Union Russia for eons? How into our society means they are something spe-
will they handle the independent states? cial-not simply that they have $20 to spend.
More importantly, how do we interact Therefore, I implore all of us to be sure when we
with them to ensure the catalogs are ac- recommend someone for membership that the
curate. individual has impeccable credentials. One scan-
"* With the Iron Curtain officially rising dal can bring the entire society down.
and the end of the communist state, will Another issue that perhaps needs some dis-
we be inundated with "bogus" material in cussion is "What are we and where are we go-
proportions unheard of as the former ing." In the past we represented philatelic inter-
Soviets attempt to get much needed hard ests in the Russian Empire and its successor state
currency? the Soviet Union. Do we also now include all the
independent republics? If not, what do we repre-
sent? Please let us know what your thoughts are.

XVI 3MMHME QSP.
OJ1IHMniFICKHE HmrPbl
AAbb ..AM "92

POCCMaS*ROSSIJA

Will the real Scott Russia Number 1 please stand up!
Rossica Journal Number 118 9
April 1992

Zemstvo Stamp Forgeries: Summary of Articles and New Data

by George G. Werbizky

Introduction USTSYSOL'SK No. 1

Collecting zemstvo (Russian rural issues) The illustration of this stamp is well known to
stamps can be both rewarding and frustrating. zemstvo collectors. J. Barefoot, Ltd. did all
Since this is a very narrow spe- zemstvo collectors a favor by reprinting the
ciality field, and the prices for Chuchin catalog, a rarity by itself, in a larger
individual items can get rather format with improved illustrations. Perhaps the
expensive, most collectors do best illustration of USTSYSOL'SK No. 1 is the
notcollectzemstvostamps. For one that appears on the front cover of this
those that do collect zemstvo reproduction. That illustration, however, shows
stamps, the challenge of au- a forgery!
thenticity is a common prob- The June 1986 issue of"Filateliya SSSR," car-
lem. Zemstvo administrations early on did not ried an article entitled "Forgeries of Zemstvo
use state printing facilities, but had the stamps Stamps," written by M. Minskii from Sverdlovsk.
produced locally. The first issues of many zemst- In the article Mr. Minskii describes both this
vos are simple in design and frequently rare. forgery as well as the genuine stamp. The article
Thus, an environment was created for forgers to begins with a brief discussion about the origin of
begin their work. some of the forgeries-zemstvo catalogs of the
It is not surprising that rare zemstvo stamps last century. Printing techniques for illustrations
have been forged, since, as a general rule, no at that time did not use photography, but were
genuine examples are available for timely com- based on hand-carved wooden illustrations cop-
parison. Illustrations in zemstvo catalogs, in- ied from an original with all its associated imper-
cluding those in Moens and Chuchin, are not fections. Once the illustration with deviations
always accurate. The situation is further compli- was published, it was reproduced by Koprovskii
cated by the fact that little has been written on (1875), Moens (1893), Gibbons (1898) and oth-
zemstvo forgeries and little is known concerning ers in their catalogs. Only Wm. Herrick's "Cata-
which stamps have been forged. When purchas- log ofRussian RuralStamps," published by Scott
ing zemstvo stamps, one should exercise great Stamp & Coin Co. in 1896, illustrated actual
care and should know the seller's reputation and stamps (instead of illustrations made from of the
the history of the stamp. originals). However, even Herrick in some cases
Over the last 10 years several articles on used illustrations from contemporary magazines.
zemstvo stamps have appeared in "Filateliya Among those are Arzamas No. 1, Ryazan' No. 8,
SSSR" a Soviet monthly philatelic magazine. In Rzhev No. 2, and Tambov No. 1.
this article I include either extractions from these In 1907, A. Faberg6 and C. Schmidt began a
articles or complete translations plus other sources monograph on zemstvo stamps. They used a new
and new material. The articles will be discussed printing method which combined photography
in chronological order. The numbers used to and microscopic dots to produce excellent illus-
identify individual stamps are according to the trations. This new method, zinc raster and pho-
Chuchin catalog unless otherwise specified. tography, is characterized by the accuracy of the

10 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

pictures even though the figures come out a bit BOBROV, 1st issue of 1879
unclear. This technique was too complex and
This issue consists of 3 distinct stamps:
expensive and is apparently the reason the pub- hi issue cnsts instinct stps
Chuchin 5-C: Rectangular in design, error
lished catalog (1910) reverted to the reproduc- Cuin 5-: Re in desin, error
in spelling: "B" instead of "B" in the first
tion process used in Gibbons' catalog. (The samer
letter in "505POBCKAFI"
process was used by Chuchin in the production of l in "BO POBCK
Chuchin 5-B: Oval design, large letters
his catalog in 1925.) This process could not use Cui ,
Chuchin 5: Oval design, small letters
the illustrations from the monograph and again
Moens' illustrations were used. Thus, the stan- Mr. Minskii discusses only the forgeries asso-
dard for a genuine stamp became incorrect yet ciated with Chuchin numbers 5-C and 5-B and
served as an example of a genuine item. Occa- states that forgeries of Chuchin number 5 are not
sionally, one will read about the discovery of known nor is the stamp illustrated in Moens'
forgeries; yet, the catalog illustrations used as the catalog! Figure 3 shows a forged (from my
source are not listed. Later, when the source of collection) and a genuine (from the article)
the forgery would be clearly identified, a remark Chuchin 5-C.
would be made to treat catalog information with
caution. -.
Figure 1 (from my collection) shows the forgery BOBPOBCKAI .POS
as well as the genuine stamp. Figure 2, taken 3EMCKAJ 5 O
from the Minskii article, is an excellent repro- 3 on,
duction of forged vs. genuine letters. iJQJ a" "

RUSSIA
Figure 3. Forged stamp on the left, genuine stamp on
ZEMSTVOS the right, Chuchin 5-C.

BY EG.CHUCHIN Letter comparisons are presented in Table I.
C *-^ ," Q Figure 4 shows forged and genuine stamps,
-', Chuchin 5-B. Table 2 compares the stamps
"-- rr1 rIFt illustrated in figure 4.

V/BOPO

Figure 1. Forgery on left, genuine stamp on right. 3 NOn.
Figure 2. Upper wording as it appears on a forged f 0 I T A
stamp; lower wording genuine.

y TI JI H 3 .AH
Ila noAnHHoU uapxe I ICK

By examining the letters "Y," "Tb," "JI,"and \ 3 HOo.
"5" in "YCTbCblCOJIbCKA5I," "3" in "3EM- \ O '0 T A
CKA," and "q" in "nOqTOBA1," one can readily L --/ r, -
see the differences between a fake and a genuine Figure 4. Forged stamp on top, genuine stamp on
item. bottom, Chuchin 5-B.
Rossica Journal Number 118 11
April 1992

Word Letter Forgery Genuine
First Horizontal lines, top and bottom, Horizontal lines have no extensions.
B have extensions at left beyond Lower line of oval is broken.
(error) vertical line. Lower left oval whole

BOBPOBCKA.I Second Left extension of top horizontal Vertical line on the left side,
B line is longer than the bottom one. top and bottom, has "corners."

Second Left side of oval is thicker. Both sides are of equal thickness.
0
3 Top and bottom halves are equal. The top half begins with a vertical line.
The bottom half forms a circle.
c Bottom is lower than the rest Bottom half is in line with the rest
3EMCKA5I of the letters of the letters.
K The vertical stroke does not Vertical stroke rests on the extension
have a horizontal base. of the base to the right.

A Below the letter" 1 that On the same level as letter "
follows, that follows.

3 KOn. Numeral Horizontal stroke is short, Horizontal stroke is long, bottom
"3" bottom half has a break, half is complete.

K Lower diagonal stroke ends Lower diagonal stroke continues
straight. beyond the level of the rest of the
letters and has an upward bend.

IIOqTA A Horizontal line does not have Horizontal line has the "shadow."
the "shadow."

Table 1. Chuchin 5-C stamp.

Word Letter Forgery Genuine
Second Horizontal strokes at left, top and Horizontal strokes have no
B bottom have extensions, extensions.

BOBPOBCKA5I
I Upper horizontal stroke does Upper horizontal stroke projects
not project beyond the vertical, beyond the vertical at right.
3 Upper half is thinner than the Both halves are equal in thickness.
3EMCKA3I bottom one, and its beginning
is cut.

KOn. n Right shoulder is rounded. Both shoulders have sharp angles.

q Left vertical stroke is tied to the Left vertical stroke is tied to the
horizontal at a right angle. horizontal with a curve.
nOrTA
A The upper part of the letter The upper part of the letter
(two diagonal lines) does not (two diagonal lines) has
have a horizontal mark. a horizontal stroke.

Table 2. Chuchin 5-B stamp.

12 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Over the years I have acquired two Chuchin Of the 28 issues mentioned by Chuchin, he
number 5-C forgeries: one through ignorance rates only one stamp, No. 8-a, as "R." No. 8-a is
and one knowingly. Recently, I was offered a printed on vertically laid paper and is the stamp
third copy with a high price tag. It is also illus- that was forged. Collectors of zemstvo stamps
treated as genuine in the latest zemstvo catalog come across this stamp more frequently than the
being compiled by A. Artuchov of Canada. The other stamps of this issue which do not have the
illustration of 5-B also appears to be a forgery in "R" rating. [tr. note: This comment must apply to stamps
this catalog, circulating in the Soviet Union. GGW]. Some forged
examples have, in addition to vertical lines,
ARZAMAS 8-a portions of an unknown watermark that is com-
posed of double lines. One also finds tete-beche
The forgery of this stamp is described by M. pairs of this stamp. The stamps are 13 mm apart
Minskii in the May, 1987 issue of "Filateliya and are printed on compact paper similar to that
SSSR." C. Schmidt rates this stamp "RR." Stamp used for single stamps. The gum is colorless and
No. 8 and its companion No. 8-a were issued in there are no watermarks. No current catalog lists
1886. The printing method used produced a a t8te-beche pair configuration for this stamp.
hectogram. Hectograms are characterized by When one compares the t8te-beche pair with
poor reproduction of detail, especially as more the single copies, it is clear that the origin of both
copies are printed from the master. Normally no is the same hectographic drawing. Direct com-
more than 100 copies can be printed from a prison with genuine illustrations in the tables of
master and only the first 30-50 copies are rela- C. Schmidt and A. Faberg6 shows that the stamps
tively clear. Each sheet consists of 30 stamps in are fakes. Not a single type on vertically laid
a 5x6 arrangement. In the first two issues the paper has the same shape of the oval wording
stamps were arranged in two rows of five stamps "3EMCKA5I InOqTA," especially the letter "3"
each repeated three times. Later issues have 6 where the upper part of the numeral stretches up
horizontal rows of 5 stamps each. Chuchin states to and touches the black background that sur-
that there were 28 issues. Cancelled stamps are rounds the center oval. Except for that, the shape
found with the letters "A.3" in black or light blue. of the letters is not observed on any other stamps
Less frequently found is a black circular cancel- of a similar design.
lation created by a non-postal canceller which If one draws a straight line connecting the
reads "3eMCKOii YnpaBbl: AP3AMACK. Y3Maa" upper and lower stars, the corners of the rafters
with a coat of arms in the middle. Stamps where they come together (the lower portion of
cancelled with black ink by hand are very rarely the coat of arms) will be to the left of that line on
found. fake stamps. On genuine stamps produced on
Stamps were printed on several kinds of pa- vertically laid paper, the junction is to the right.
per: white and yellowish in color; smooth, thin, The majority of stamps on laid paper offered
dense, thick rough, wavy surface; and vertically for sale are forgeries. Therefore, similarity of
laid. Stamps are imperforate; not all sheets were stamps offered to those shown in fig. 5 is a
coated with white or yellowish gum. The color sufficiently convincing warning to seek careful
varied from black-violet, sometimes red-violet expertization. Otherforgeriesareknowntoexist.
to light violet. This is consistent with the use of About one of them, a hectographically produced
the hectographic ink. It should be noted that only stamp on cover, C. Schmidt wrote: "Covers with
one other stamp, that of LOKHVITsA No. 11, such stamps (No. 8-M.M.) are forgeries." Offi-
was printed in three colors with this process, cial documentation states that in the Arzamas
district stamped covers were not used.

Rossica Journal Number 118 13
April 1992

nHceMb 5k." (for letters 5-k(opeks)). The stamps
SMo are divided by thin lines. They are lithographi-
cally printed in black on white paper 0.08 mm
thick (without gum); with white gum 0.09 mm;
a with yellowish gum, applied in a thick layer
S*which is broken up, occurring up to 12 mm thick
(see fig.6).
SA t the turn of the century stam p, N o. 1
(Chuchin) was considered a rarity and catalogs
SI rated it RRR. In the 1930s, C. Schmidt lowered
the rating to RR stating that there are 9 known
copies in existence. During the last 50 years, this
stamp would occasionally appear at large inter-
national auctions. Auction catalogs show photo-
graphs of two stamps with identical diagonal pen
cancellations from the lower left-hand corner
toward the upper right.4 The second, the numeral
1 "7," is from the Robert W. Baughman collec-
4 tion.5 The similarity of the handscript and the
presence of numerals in sequence suggests that
the cancellation occurred at the same place-
Figure 5. Forged tete-beche pair on top, single in namely the post office of the Zemstvo Council.
middle, genuine (from my collection) enlarged on bot-
to. "Line through stars" test effective. Early on, when Zemstvo Councils were being
tom. "Line through stars" test effective.
formed, the petitions for permission to carry
private correspondence addressed to postal au-
The First Stamps of Dneprovsk thoritieswere accompanied with proposed stamps.
and Their Forgeries These samples would be turned over to the Postal
Museum (now the A.S. Popov Central Museum
This article written by M. Minskii from of Communication). As a result of this activity,
Sverdlovsk appeared in the December 1989 issue a unique collection of rare stamps was formed.
of "Filateliya SSSR. It is a fascinating story The collection contains one of the two mint
and, therefore, I am translating it in full. examples of Dneprovsk No.1.
"The first stamps of the Dnepropetrovsk Dis- C. Schmidt, at the turn of the century, pointed
trict, Taurida Province, are dated according to C. out the existence of a forgery of the first stamp as
Schmidt1 and F. Chuchin2 in their catalogs as well as its source-the illustration in Moens'
1866. In 1879, the magazine "Le Timbre-Poste" catalog.6 Later on, it was discovered that in the
No. 195 published a description of this stamp. 1880s the forger was a certain teacher of the
The size of the stamp is 27.25 x 22.25 mm. The Odessa Real School.7 Forgeries were printed in
design consists of a double frame with text in- small sheets (2x4) by lithographic process with-
side. The outer frame consists of thin and thick out separating lines. Two kinds of paper were
lines, and the inside frame consists of two thin used: compact porous, yellowish paper 0.11 mm
lines. At the top are the words "3eMcKas MapKa" thick with carelessly applied dirty-gray-brownish
(zemstvo stamp); at the bottom "iHJbnpoBc. gum; and white, smooth paper with yellowish-
YJb3aa" (of Dneprovs(k) Uezd). On the left and white gum. The size of the design is slightly
right side are pretty ornamental decorations. In smaller at 26 x 21.25 mm and is illustrated by the
the middle, in three lines, is the text: "JInH middle stamp shown in fig. 6.

14 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

zine, which the forger changed somewhat. "The
I rarity of the genuine stamp, then known in the
quantity of 2-3, did not give the opportunity for
S. y comparison to collectors. While I was in Moscow
no*..... in 1890-91, the members of the Moscow (Stamp)
,CMmi Society knew only of the existence of the forgery.
i The illustration of the forgery in Wm. Herrick's
catalog opened the way for its acceptance into
6 -, ....c..... many collections" commented C. Schmidt.7 The

.A n i, tables of the C. Schmidt and A. Faberg6 mono-
5 Y_ graph.3 Thus, it never appeared in catalogs.
A mn-,..Ym. In 1972, the French firm of Bourdi-Chassout
in Lyon published the "Catalog des Timbres de
Figure 6. Top to bottom: genuine stamp, forgery, Poste Locale Russe zemstvos," where, listed as
Moens' catalog illustration. No. 514, is supposedly Dneprovsk No.1. In
actuality, it is again Moens' illustration. Prestig-
Forgeries are found on covers mailed in 1881 ious philatelic auction houses reference this cata-
from the district center town ofAleshki to Odessa. log when offering the forgery of the Dneprovsk
The same forger was responsible for these crea- firstling. Therefore, it is appropriate to point out
tions. "The forgeries with gum on stamps were some characteristics of the forgery that will help
produced very naively: contemporary covers were one recognize it without the need for comparison
used and forged stamps were cancelled with a with an original or its facsimile reproduction.
state canceller through the cooperation of a postal
employee. The date used was almost 20 years 1. The letter "3" in the word "3EMCKA5I"
after the issue of the stamp. The addressee, i.e., at its upper, smaller oval, has a drop-
the forger himself, had his name significantly like period. The genuine stamp has a
changed on all covers. Through a collaborator vertical stroke, and the upper and lower
(known to collectors at that time) the forgeries ovals are equal.
were sold abroad. In a few years, several covers 2. In the word "MAPKA," the right and left
were also sold to Russian collectors in order to diagonals of the first "A" are connected
uphold the reputation of great rarity and to keep with its neighbors "M" and "P." Also
the price high" wrote C. Schmidt.7 there is a connection at the base of the
However, the forged Dneprovsk No.1 stamp second "A." On the genuine stamp,
differs from Moens' catalog illustration (No. there is no connection between the let-
4313) in side ornaments and horizontal stroke of ters.
the figure "5" it is more upwardly pointed. 3. In the word "YJb3j1A," the lower por-
Also the letter "1" in the word "nMCEMb" (let- tion of the letter "3" is significantly
ter) has the top horizontal stroke complete on the smaller than its upper half; the lower
forgery, while it has a break in Moens' illustra- portion does not reach the baseline of
tion. Gibbons catalog", as well as the catalogs of the other letters. Above the letter, the
C. Schmidt and F. Chuchin, reprinted Moens' two thinlinesareconnectedbyaslightly
version which differs from both the forgery and curved "link."
the original. The American catalog of Wm.
Herrick showed the forgery. Therefore, it is most In July 1871, "The Stamp Collectors' Maga-
likely that the forgery of No.1 was made accord- zine" Volume IX, carried the description of the
ing to the drawing of "Le Timbre-Poste" maga- second issue (Nos. 2-3), while the magazine "Le
Rossica Journal Number 118 15
April 1992

TimbrePoste" No. 133, January 1874, illustrated S. Koprovskii, the great authority on zemstvo
them. The March issue of the same magazine, stamps and author of the zemstvo section of the
No. 135, gave the description and the April issue Moens' catalog, declared the discovered stamp a
showed the stamp of the third issue, No. 4. forgery.6
The designs are very similar: typographically The stamp is distinguished by an entirely
printed; same approximate size as stamp No. 1- different design of arabesques and a closer spac-
26 x 20.75 mm. (see fig. 7) ing of the text "3EMCKA5I MAPKA" to the sides
of the frame lines. There are seven instead of
3EMCKnA MAPHA eleven lines horizontal lines per cm. S. Kap-
nfl HCE L rovskii, who placed a drawing of the stamp in the
S9 1893 issue of Moens' catalog (as No. 4312),
.AHMni. yt3AA. called the stamp "Odessa Speculation Issue" (see
fig. 8). Later collectors called these stamps
3EMCKAN MAPKA phantasiess." On this subject, C. Schmidt com-
11 H C b i mented: "Gradual discovery of new issues and
51 U. inadequate knowledge of zemstvo stamps by
Y3-.AA. ) collectors inspired some individuals to create
phantasy zemstvo stamps. Such phantasies
Figure 7. Top stamp is No. 2 and the bottom stamp is were sold abroad at high prices."7

The outside frame consists of a thick and a thin 1AM
line. The inside frame consists of two thin lines I HCEM
K w.
only. The text occupies all of the available space j[ne. rua.I
within the inner square. Typographic impres-
sions are set on a lithographic stone, which is
used to print 30 stamps per sheet (6x5) in black. 3XTMK MAPKAII
Stamp No. 2 is printed on smooth paper, 0.07 mm i A"cS
thick; Nos. 3 and 4 on compact paper, horizon- in
tally laid. There are 11 lines per cm vertically, H.
every 8th line is twice as thick as the other ones. Figure 8. Top stamp is the "speculative issue," bottom
stamp is a forgery of No. 2.
The gum is white. On covers with genuine copies
of Nos. 2 and 3, the stamps are crossed out with Comparing when the "speculative issue"
no date recorded to indicate cancellation. Can- appeared (February 1881) with the date stamp on
cellations on No. 4 are unknown. The designs known fabricated covers (1881), it can be as-
differ only in ornamentation. Stamps Nos. 2 and sumed that both were simultaneously prepared in
3 have narrow arabesques while stamp No. 4 has Odessa A forgery of the stamp of the second
them wider and the letters of "AiHlnP YWb3A" issue is shown in fig. 8, lower stamp. The
are slightly thicker. Stamp No. 2 can be identi- description and design are discussed only in the
fied by examining the paper-there are no hori- C. Schmidt and A. Faberg6 monograph.3 The
zontal stripes, size of the design is 25 x 20.75 mm; printing is
In February 1881, the magazine "Le Timbre- lithography; color is black. There are no prelimi-
Poste" No. 218 published the description along nary typographic prints mounted on printing
with an illustration of another "twin." Character- stones similar to the manufacture of genuine
istics of the twin are: 27 x 21 mm in size; black stamps. The paper is smooth, yellowish-white in
lithographic print on yellowish, horizontally- color; has a thickness of 0.9 mm; color of gum
laid paper; 0.12 mm thick; white gum. In 1882, yellow-white. The letters in the words"3EMCKAFI
in the May issue of "Le Timbre Poste" No. 233,
16 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

MAPKA" at the top and "IHtflP. Yt3JIA" at the DUKHOVSHCHINA District,
bottom are significantly thinner. Smolensk Province
The forgery is easy to recognize since it lacks
spaces at the corners and in the middle of the According to the C. Schmidt catalog, there are
outer thick frame lines, which occur on genuine only 5 copies of Nos. 1-la in existence. How-
stamps as a result of a typesetting matrix. The ever, no forgeries have been reported in phila-
exact printing date for this issue is unknown. telic literature. The first doubts about the authen-
ticity of Nos. 1-la occurred at an international
References: exhibition with collectors N. Mandrovskii and B.
1. C. Schmidt, "Catalog of Russian Zemstvo Stenshinskii. The magazine "Le Timbre Poste"
Postal Tokens," St. Petersburg, 1910. No. 143, November 1874, reported on the first
2. F. Chuchin, "Catalog of Zemstvo Postal issues of DUKHOVSHCHINA district. The
Stamps," Moscow, 1925. note carried an illustration of the stamp shown
3. C. Schmidt and A. Faberg6, "Die here in fig. 9.
Postwertzeichen Der Russischen Land- Later, all catalogs invariably reproduced this
schaftsimter," St. Petersburg, 1907-1916. design of stamp No. 1, which differs from subse-
4. Catalog of the "Agathon Faberge" collec- quent issues by:
tion, H.R. Harmer Auction, London 1940. a small letter "n" in the word "HnOlTA,"
5. The Robert W. Baughman Collection, Robert and the absence of a period after this word.
A. Siegel Auction, New York, NY, 1971.
6. J.B.Moens,"LesTimbresdeRussie,"N4313, The stamps of DUKHOVSHCHINA district
Bruxelles, 1893. were typographically printed from a cliche con-
7. C. Schmidt, "The Stamp No. 1 of Dneprovsk sisting of letters and lines forming the stamp
District," Rossica No. 23, 1936. p. 219. frame. It is to be expected that displacement of
8. Stanley Gibbons Ltd., "Paired Catalog of the lines is always evident at corners (butt points),
Local Postage Stamps of the World," Lon- etc. In magazine and catalog illustrations of No.
don, 1899. 1, there is no displacement at the corners (butt
9. Wm. Herrick, "Catalog of the Russian Rural points)-the frame lines are continuous. The
Stamps," New York, 1896, Scott Stamp and nine stamps and photocopies previously exam-
Coin Co. ined from both domestic and foreign collections
are mirror images of the magazine illustration of
The last article comes from the November stamp No. 1. Frame lines on stamps examined
1982 issue of "Filateliya SSSR." It is translated have no breaks. In addition, all stamps have the
in its entirety. The article is by D. Kuznetzov same defect in the word "3EMCKOR." The left leg
from Tula and discusses the first issues of of the letter "M" has a dash going downward, and
DUKHOVSHCHINA and NOLINSK districts, there is a dash between the letters "0" and "l"
that goes upward to the frame line, fig. 10.
Introduction These defects could have occurred when the
illustration of the stamp was transferred onto the
"The great rarity of some zemstvo stamps has led stone used to print all nine forgeries of No. 1.
to their forgery. The simplicity of the design has Collectors apparently had no doubts since the
significantly simplified the task. The forgeries of stamps copied faithfully the drawings in the
the first DUKHOVSHCHINA and NOLINSK journal and catalogs. In the C. Schmidt and A.
districts' stamps have led to disagreements among Faberg6 monograph, photocopies of genuine Nos.
collectors and doubt among judges at interna- 1-la are given for the first time. All stamps show
tional philatelic exhibitions, clearly the butting of lines and corresponding
gaps as the frame is formed, fig. 11.
Rossica Journal Number 118 17
April 1992

Comparing the illustration in figure 9 with stamps were considered genuine and were suc-
photocopies of genuine stamps (fig. 11) the op- cessfully shown at the largest philatelic exhibi-
portunity exists to establish differences in the tions?
outline of the letter "t" in the word "UItHA" It is our opinion everyone was concentrating
(price), fig. 12. on the characteristics of stamp No. 1-small letter
The location of the genuine stamps right now "n" in "nOMITA" and the lack of a period after the
is unknown. They also are missing from the A.S. word-and completely overlooked the other
Popov Communications Museum. characteristics-lack of gaps where frame lines
_____ "come together [in the corners-GGW] that occurs
imx -Se ~with the typographic method-well, no one
thought about that.

_A_ __ NOLINSK District,
Vyatka Province

I K There are 15 known copies of stamp No. 1 (C.
Schmidt catalog), of which only one is mint.
.a a x. Information about the stamp was first printed in
the magazine "Le Timbre Poste" No. 127, 1873.
xexAa* 3Mi The article carried an illustration of the genuine
Fi1 4t^#4, stamp shown here in fig. 13.
/y... a] Similar to the stamps of the DUKHOVSHCH-
H K.. INA District, the first stamps of NOLINSK were
Figure 9. Top stamp illustration from "Le Timbre typographically printed from a cliche composed
Poste" No. 143, November 1874. of letters and lines forming the frame. The C.
Figure 10. Middle stamp is a forgery. Schmidt catalog has photocopies of five types of
Figure 11. Bottom stamp is genuine. NOLINSK No.1. All the stamps show a charac-
osaG6ea" teristic absence of the period after the word
"an1Wa "MAP" (upper line "110. MAP"), as well as the
I,HA 3 K.
A 3 upper corner numeral not being centered in the
/nojnumHar middle of the square. The numerals are shifted
towards the outer frame lines. Only types Nos. 4
A and 5 have the numerals centered in the square on
the lower half of the stamp. The other three types
Figure 12. Note differences in the word "LUBHA."
have the numerals shifted toward the sides of the
outer frame.
Forgeries similar to the genuine stamp exist on1 r
The January 1881 issue of "Le Timbre Poste"
blue paper as well as on paper of other colors. he Jana 1 ss "Le Timbre Poste
stated that stamp No.l was printed in sheets
Forgeries of the 6-kop. postage due stamps are stated that stamp No.1 was printed in sheets
nown printed on voletrose c red paper consisting of three horizontal rows of two stamps
known printed on violet-rose colored paper. ,
In su ar, forgeries difer crom gen e each. The author states that these typographi-
In summary, forgeries differ from genuine hv d
cally produced stamps have different outlines of
stamps in several basic characteristics: lack of y pr p r
small twos, whereby the bottom portion does not
gaps where the lines butt [i.e., in corners]; lack of small ts, hee te tm rn s not
frame lines displacement; outline of the letter have a vertical ending, and surmises that this is a
frame lines displacement; outline of the letter speculative issue. The stamp is illustrated, but
,, speculative issue. The stamp is illustrated, but
"t" in "LUbHA." Stamps printed using the stone
method have defects in the word "MCKO." the characteristic points of typographic printing
method have defects in the word "3EMCKOM."
are missing: absence of gaps in the frame where
How does one explain that for many years forged
18 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

lines meet and the lack of displacement of lines, produce photo-illustrations for the "Schmidt &
(see fig. 14). Fabergd: Die Postwertzeichen der Russischen
Landschaftamter" catalog, which due to WWI
2 -*'W* map was not completed beyond the letter "K."
SfUi. Every item was crudely stamped with the
letter "n" or word "nPOBA" (proof). Illustrations
I 3CIWe.i jI of stamps and hand cancels are shown in the
S. 2 referenced article. According to Mr. Faberg6,
f-- f- these "proofs" originated in the Soviet Union.
25 I Now similar "proofs" have surfaced again:
Example "A" is a highly bleached Byelo-
i .2ca.t Z zersk stamp from the 1889 issue. The de-
Figure 13. Top stamp is genuine. sign is barely visible and on the back is
Figure 14. Bottom stamp is illustration from magazine, stamped the letter "n" in a square. (see fig.
15) It appears to be the same stamp as the
This illustration (fig. 14) is probably respon- one shown in the upper right-hand corner
sible for the appearance of forged copies of of figure 1 in Mr. Faberg6's article.
NOLINSK No. 1. Lithographic forgeries are
seen printed on white paper. Typographic for- Figure 15. Fraudulent proof mark
series are pieced out of cliche and printed on applied to the back of a Byelozersk
light-brown paper. Both lithographic and ty- stamp.
pographic forgeries have two common charac-
teristics: there is a "period" after "MAP" and the
corner numerals are always in the middle of the
square. (see fig. 14) Example "B" is BELEBEI No. 3, which
Stamps Nos. 3 and 4 of NOLINSK also have has been color-enhanced by hand. The first
been forged. Genuine stamps were printed ty- two letters of the word "nIPOBA" are stam-
pographically on grayish-white paper and cov- ped on the back. This handwritten form of
ered on the face side with a shiny green film. "Proof Mark" was not reported in the
Forgeries were printed on regular green paper, Rossica article by Mr. Faberg6. Figure 16
which was colored on both sides, shows this forgery.
Collectors should remember that stamps
printed typographically from a cliche are com-
posed of letters and lines which form the stamp '
frame. Particular characteristics include: .
"* must have gaps where lines meet as well as
where lines cross;
"* line displacement at meeting and crossing
points." Figure 16. Fraudulent proof mark applied to the back
ofa Belebei stamp.
Forgeries of "Proof" Stamps
It should be noted that two genuine and inex-
In "Rossica" No. 64, 1963, Mr. O.A. Faberg6 pensive stamps were altered to create these
described forged proof stamps of many zem- "Proof"stamps. Undoubtedly, onewillseesimilar
stvos. In examining material he came across the offerings in the future. Both of these items were
previous year, Mr. Faberg6 concluded that forg- examined by Mr. Faberg6 who concluded they
ers had used the same cliches that served to were forgeries.

Rossica Journal Number 118 19
April 1992

Additional Forgeries of Zemstvo The paper of the forgery is unlike any paper
Stamps listed in Chuchin catalog: thin, dark-cream card-
board.
Zemstvo stamp forgeries are rare. One comes MALOARK
MALOARKHANGEL'SK
across them at about the same frequency as
stamps rated "R." For those not familiar with the Chuchin No.4is the only stamp of the Maloark-
"R" rating method, it is as follows: hangel'sk zemstvo rated "R." The catalog warns
that counterfeits exist. They are distinguished
RRRR 1-3 known from the genuine stamp because they have no
oRRR 4-8 known stop after "KOn." The printing method is lithog-
*RR 9-15 known raphy. Figure 18 shows the forgery which is from
R 16-25 known the C. Schmidt 1934 catalog. The reproduction
is poor in detail, but general features are present.
Elets

The issue of 1875-1876 consists of several O A
stamps of the same design, handstamped on
various kinds of paper. The design is simple and W
may have influenced the forger in his selection.
The forged and genuine stamps are shown in fig. ..
17.
Figure 18. Forgery on left, reproduction from the C.
S.Schmidt catalog on right.

It would not be prudent to attempt a compari-
son between these stamps, except to note the
presence of a period after the numeral "5" and the
2 difference in the form of the "5" itself. When one
compares a forgery to illustration No. 4477 in the
1893 J.B. Moens' "Les Timbres de Russie" cata-
log, the two look remarkably similar: the same
Figure 17. Forged stamp on left, genuine on right, shape of "5" and no stop after "KOn." In all
probability, the design for the forgery came from
When one compares a forgery to the genuine this illustration.
stamp, the following differences are noted:
POLTAVA
Forgery Genuine
Period after "M" Period after "T" The stamp under discussion is Poltava No. 7,
Stag has no shading Stag shaded 3-kop. on 10-kop. If one looks only at the Chu-
Stag has no shading Stag shaded
chin catalog, one has to wonder why this stamp
"5" narrow, form unlike "5" wide, especially was forged since both the unsurcharged and
that of genuine bottom portion surcharged stamp are equal in value. C. Schmidt
"n" in "EJIELK" wide "n" in "EJIEUK" narrow provides us with the clue:

Table 3. Comparison of Elets stamps, unsurcharged stamp: 2,140 issued
surcharged stamp: 400 issued.

20 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

C. Schmidt also values the rarer stamp 5 times transparent. From the illustration shown in fig.
over the original stamp. Figure 19 shows the 20, it can be easily recognized as coming from the
stamp with forged overprint (the basic stamp is Moens' catalog: Russian letters are inaccurately
genuine) as well as two stamps with genuine "3" transcribed, just as they exist in illustration No.
overprint. Two are shown because one of the 4613.
genuine "3" overprints (on the 10-Kop. stamp) is
not very clear and there is a smudge in its lower
portion.

Figure 20. First Ryazan' issue copied with all the errors
from the Moens' 1893 catalog on top; less expensive
stamp of the same design on the bottom.
In the word "PSI3AHCKOH," the "51" and the
KDRE REEKb "3" are backward; in "YJb341HOl" the first four
letters only approximate cyrillic ones. There are
other differences, but these will suffice to tell the
Figure 19. Forgery on top, genuine stamps on bottom. "good from the bad."
The stamps of the last issue, 1877-1879, with
Upon closer examination, the difference be- "four stars in the corners of the inner frame,"
comes clear. The forged surcharge is black and were also forged in at least 3 colors: yellow,
the genuine surcharge is handstamped in violet, silver, and gold. Figure 21 shows a forgery and
The identical surcharge was applied to three a genuine stamp.
values: 1-, 6-, and 10-Kop. The surcharged The characteristics of the forged stamp are:
illustrated in Chuchin catalog is accurate. The 1. All letters and stars are less distinct;
same "3" was used later on to surcharge four 2. There is a colored dot in the lower right-
stamps of the ARDATOV design: 1-, 6-, 10-, and hand corner within the inner frame. This
15-Kop (Chuchin Nos. 15-24). dot is present on all three copies in my
RYAZAN' collection.
3. The genuine stamps were typographi-
The first two issues of Ryazan' are rare. Some cally printed. Note absence of gaps at
of the stamps have a rating of "RRRR." The corners for both inner and outer frame;
stamp shown in fig. 20 attempts to pass as one of gaps are clearly visible on the genuine
those rare stamps. The color approximates dark stamp.
blue; the paper is white, the gum is smooth and
Rossica Journal Number 118 21
April 1992

4. The paper used to make the forgeries is Reprints "novodely"
slightly darker; the gum is transparent
and very smooth. The gum on genuine The last two items appear to be reprints and are
stamps is less smooth. mentioned here with the hope that other readers
will respond with more information. In both
cases the stamps were produced by hand-stamp-
ing the design. Careful comparison of the de-
signs suggests that the impressions are genuine,
although the paper is different.

A) DEMYANSK No. 1

The impression is on rose-colored gummed
paper. It is very clear and distinct. The gum is
smooth and transparent. The stamp was issued
Pacnc imperforate. C. Schmidt mentions reprints that
Fir are on white paper and imperforate.

B) VASIL' No. 2

"y= The impression is on white, smooth paper with
no gum or dividing lines and is violet in color. C.
Schmidt mentions reprints: blue on 5 different
Figure 21. Forgery on the top, genuine stamp on the kinds of colored paper and black or blue on
bottom. different kinds of white paper.
BOGUCHARY

The forgery of Boguchary No. 1 (Chuchin) Vremennoe Once More
stamp is an exact reproduction of the Moens'
catalog illustration. The original stamps were by Gary Combs
made with a handstamp -the design is very
In Rossica Nos. 106-107, Dave Skipton dis-
simple. The letters of the impression are some-
what indistinct so that when copied mistakes played a new entry for the Shuvalovo TPO. I can
what indistinct so that when copied mistakes
were made. The letter "K" in FOFYLAPCK and in offer an extension to the date range back to 21
KO. was perceived to be an "H" in both cases. May 1899. The cancellation is light-violet, there-
KOn. was perceived to be an "H" in both cases.
fore slightly difficult to photocopy.
The forgery, Moens catalog illustration, and the fore y difficult to photocopy.

|no 5orY4APCHi o.ns .ryA H

"genuine, bottom stamp is Moens' illustration.

22 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Russian Deltiology (Part IV)
Ol'ga, Tat'yana, Mariya and Anastasiya

by William Nickle

Nicholas and Alexandra, "Papa and Mama," in regal garb, circa 1903.

The four unspoiled Grand Duchesses were and the depth of her private feelings. Ol'ga had
brought up simply, in a manner befitting grand- a good mind and was quick to grasp ideas. Talk-
daughters of the spartan Alexander III. They ing to someone she knew well, she spoke rapidly
slept on hard camp beds without pillows and took and with frankness and wit. She read widely,
cold baths every morning. Their nurses, both both fiction and poetry, often borrowing books
Russian and English, were strict, although not from her mother's tables before the Empress had
without their own weaknesses. The passage of read them.
time and the shortness of their lives have blurred If Ol'ga was closest to her father, Tat'yana,
the qualities of the four daughters of the Tsar. eighteen months younger than Ol'ga, was closest
Only Anastasiya, the youngest, stands out dis- to Alexandra. The tallest, most slender and most
tinctly, not for what she was as a child, but elegant of the sisters, Tat'yana had rich auburn
because of the extraordinary, often fascinating hair and deep gray eyes. She was organized,
claims made on her behalf in the years after the energetic and purposeful, and held strong opin-
massacre at Ekaterinburg. Yet the four girls were ions. "You felt that she was the daughter of an
quite different, and as they became young women, Emperor," declared an officer of the Imperial
the difference between them became more dis- Guard.
tinct. In public, Grand Duchess Tat'yana regularly
Ol'ga, the eldest, was most like her father. Shy outshone her older sister. Her piano technique
and subdued, she had long chestnut-blond hair was better than Ol'ga's although she practiced
and blue eyes set in a wide Russian face. She less and cared less. With her good looks and self-
impressed people by her kindness, her innocence assurance, she was far more anxious than Ol'ga
Rossica Journal Number 118 23
April 1992

to go out into society. Among the five children, alongside their maids in making their own beds
it was Tat'yana who made the decisions: her and straightening their rooms. Often, they vis-
younger sisters and brother called her "the Gov- ited the maids in their quarters and played with
erness." If a favor was needed, all the children their children. When they gave instructions, it
agreed that "Tat'yana must ask Papa to grant it." was never as a command. Instead, the Grand
Surprisingly, Ol'ga did not mind being managed Duchesses said, "If it isn't too difficult for you,
by Tat'yana: the two, in fact, were devoted to my mother asks you to come." Within the house-
each other. hold, they were addressed in simple Russian
Mariya, the third daughter, was the prettiest of fashion, using their names and patronymics: Ol'ga
the four. She had red cheeks, thick, light brown Nikolaevna, Tat'yana Nikolaevna. When they
hair and dark blue eyes so large that they were were addressed in public by their full ceremonial
known in the family as "Mariya's saucers." As a titles, the girls were embarrassed.
small child, she was chubby and glowing with As children they each had an allowance of
health. In adolescence, she was merry and flirta- only nine dollars a month to spend on notepaper
tious. Mariya liked to paint, but she was too lazy and perfume. When they gave a present, it meant
and gay to apply herself seriously. What Mariya, sacrificing something they wanted for themselves.
whom everyone called "Mashka," liked most In the palace, the two oldest girls shared a
was to talk about marriage and children, bedroom and were known generally as "The Big
Anastasiya, the youngest daughter, destined Pair." Mariya and Anastasiya shared another
to become the most famous of the children of bedroom and were called "The Little Pair." When
Nicholas II, was a short, dumpy blue-eyed child they were children, the Empress dressed them in
renowned in her family chiefly as a wag. Witty pairs, the two oldest and the two youngest wear-
and vivacious, Anastasiya also had a streak of ing matching dresses.
stubbornness, mischief, and impertinence. The As they grew up, the sisters gradually made
same gift of ear and tongue that made her quick- changes in the sparse surroundings arranged for
est to pick up a perfect accent in foreign lan- them by their parents. The camp beds remained,
guages also equipped her admirably as a mimic, but icons, paintings, and photographs went up
Comically, sometimes cuttingly, the little girl along the walls. Frilly dressing tables and couches
aped precisely the speech and mannerisms of with green and white embroidered cushions were
those about her. Anastasiya, the enfant terrible, installed. A large room, divided by a curtain, was
was also a tomboy. She climbed trees to dizzying used by all four as a combination and dressing
heights, refusing to come down until specifically room. Half the room was filled with wardrobes;
commanded by her father. She rarely cried, behind the curtain stood a large bath of solid
As daughters of the Tsar, cloistered at Tsar- silver. In their teens, girls stopped taking cold
skoe Selo without a normal range of friends and baths in the morning and began taking warm
acquaintances, the four young Grand Duchesses baths at night with perfumed bath water. All four
were even closer to each other than most sisters, girls used Coty perfume. Ol'ga preferred "Rose
Ol'ga, the eldest, was only six years older than The," Tat'yana favored "Jasmin de Corse,"
Anastasiya, the youngest. In adolescence, the Anastasiya stayed faithfully with "Violette" and
fourproclaimedtheirunitybychoosingforthem- Mariya, who tried many scents, always came
selves a single autograph, OTMA, derived from back to "Lilas."
the first letter of each of their names. As OTMA, As Ol'ga and Tat'yana grew older, they played
they jointly gave gifts and signed letters. They a more serious role at public functions. Although
shared dresses and jewels. "We sisters always in private they still referred to their parents as
borrow from each otherwhenwe think thejewels "Mama and Papa," in public they referred to
of one will suit the dress of the other," she said. them as "the Empress" and "the Emperor."
Rank meant little to the girls. They worked
24 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Each of the girls was colonel-in-chief of an gentry. Perhaps the nicest series (figs. 1-4) were
elite regiment. Wearing its uniform with a broad produced in color by Richard, whose offices
skirt and boots, they attended military reviews were on Nevsky prospek in St. Petersburg. Fig-
sitting side saddle on their horses, riding behind ure 5 shows all four daughters reading (from a
the Tsar. photo by Boisonnes and Eggler (B&E) of St. Pe-
Escorted by their father, they began attending tersburg and printed and sold by the London
theaters and concerts. Carefully chaperoned, based J. Beagles & Co.). The photo of Ol'ga
they were allowed to play tennis, ride and dance shown in fig. 6 was printed in Germany and
with eligible young officers, produced from a photo by B&E. Figure 7 shows
At twenty, Ol'ga obtained the use of part of her Mariya and Anastasiya from a photo by B&E and
large fortune and began to respond to appeals for printed by London's J. Beagles & Co. Ol'ga and
charity. Seeing a child on crutches when she was Tat'yana are shown in formal dress in fig. 8,
out for a drive, Ol'ga inquired and found that the printed by Rotary Photographic Studios in Great
parents were too poor to afford treatment. Qui- Britain. A completely Russian real photo of
etly, Ol'ga began putting aside a monthly allow- Ol'ga and Tat'yana is shown in fig. 9. Levitsky
ance to pay the bills. photographed the three Grand Duchesses Ol'ga,
Nicholas and Alexandra intended that both Tat'yana, and Mariya in August, 1901, shown in
their older daughters should make their official fig. 10. It was printed in Paris. The five children
debuts in 1914 when Ol'ga was nineteen and of the Tsar, shown in fig. 11, was produced by the
Tat'yana seventeen. But the war intervened and Rotary Photographic Studio of London. Another
the plans were cancelled. The girls remained real photo by B&E and produced by Beagles is
secluded with the family at Tsarskoe Selo. By shown in fig. 12, as is another of Ol'ga by this
1917, the four daughters of Nicholas II had company shown in fig. 13. A rare used postcard
blossomed into young women whose talents and of Tat'yana as Colonel of the Voznesensk Lanc-
personalities were, as fate decreed, never to be ers made in Russia is shown in fig. 14. A splendid
unfolded and revealed, smiling Tat'yana in her military uniform with
The thought that Nicholas would one day have Ol'ga in her Colonel of the Elisavetgrad Hussars
to succeed his Herculean father all but over- is shown on a Rotary Photographic Co. postcard,
whelmed him. Nicky would probably have been fig. 15. Figures 16-17 show young Mariya on
happy to just be a figurehead tsar and let the German postcards produced in Munich. Figure
Duma handle the problems of running the coun- 18 is a Rotary postcard of Tat'yana in her Red
try. He liked to dress up in his various uniforms Cross uniform. Figures 19-20 show the young
and have his picture taken. Unfortunately, the daughters on Russian postcards produced in St.
puppet tsar idea was not shared by the tsarina and Petersburg in 1902 and 1903. The three Grand
history took its course. Other European coun- Duchesses are shown on a French postcard
tries e.g., Great Britain kept their royalty and I postally used in 1901, fig. 21. The Tsarina and
think this has added stability and class to their her four daughters are shown in fig. 22 on a
existence even to this day. With the turbulence in Rotary postcard. Beagles printed the formal
mother Russia today, perhaps a touch of a Ro- postcard shown in fig. 23, which has all the
manoff would be useful, but Lenin would not children posing for a photograph. The postcard
have any of this. Perhaps Lenin did not have faith was postally used in 1912. Figure 24 is a Russian
in communism and had to brutally destroy the postcard showing the children camping out.
whole Romanofffamily including the children. I
have three teenage daughters and find this action Much of the information on the private lives of
very sad indeed, the daughters was taken from the 1972 classic

Postcards showing the Tsar's daughters were book "Nicholas andAlexandra" by R.K. Massie.
well received and collected by tourists and local
Rossica Journal Number 118 25
April 1992

XE HMne-rTopoKaO BuooomO Ezs MuleDaTopcxoe BUacqoecr
BD O maa Bea.Uam Kmn.MHa
MAPIR RHHKOJUSRBA. ACTACIA HOhAEIBA.

Figure 1. Figure 2.

Z9 IXMnebml!opa=oG BbuoDoWM Ell Aue;6ep0FQt;'^ puecrBo
Bmux Kjummua Bi. Kiw
OJMbMA aHKOJ1AXw TATIbHHA EiO.jIAEVKA. 5

26 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Orofl/Jrain Olga
von Ru'I.ad
..,o DAUrW1ERK OF 1 I H CZAR A CZAH11a OF RU55lA .S

Figure 5. Figure 6.

S^.S *"<" ':.Y';':*,. ."."".. ^*"''"0 ** -
W IET.I.4 T4_ OAO CtJO ts OQ 2. C IIama OF *RUUSfS
Figure 7. Figure 8.
I x

V

Rossica Journal Number 118 27
April 1992
April 199

.9w i n"

Le, G'aruct 'Di,. Ir.. Ola, T.,au, :1 ,. ,VD Pta
,i, ,

L. LEVITSKY '

Figure 9. Figure 10.

4* N 4

Mo! urt..14 CZAl OILDM" ..... -..c. BU7B OF I SM. ZAhS CZARINA OF RUS61A.

Figure 11. Figure 12.

28 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

..

,, ... *.
Ex H'mn. B,,ic. Be.t. l(H. Iambnia /luKo.lWa'*Qwl.
.. fAKd OUCHIESS ObA OF RUSSIA.

Figure 13. Figure 14.

S THE OGAO I ooMfgT t OLGA ANO TA-rC .

Figure 15. Figure 16.

Rossica Journal Number 118 29
April 1992

NH I.m. THE CRAND DUCHESS TATIAHA OF RUSSIA

Figure 17. Figure 18.

""- --
S "I i

April 1992

.-- --. --- -- .. 1 l..l...nll.i. ... ... *" .1

Srp, 1 a4- I..

Figure 20.

V ...... / u'- .~ "-
--- .-'... ..... .-,^ '*C :... .

Figure 21.
Les r* S. D- uc. -) -.* 'r

lf-.i-., A. TATIANA .. MARIE ,,- .><* _ -<- *y^ ....

Figure 21.

Rossica Journal Number 118 31
April 1992

99 r M.I. TM E ouZARIA O> RUsIA WITH nlt POUR DAUonTERi ereT -0 u.
S.t S' T.11 V At .tLA Is. HA A L A

Figure 22.

CHILDREN OF T. 1 M. CZAR & CZARIA OF RUSSIA.....

S as t MARIA. TTIANA. A ASTASIA. OL&A. THE CZARLVITCH.

Figure 23.

Amr7crtiAwuin a1trm Wc HunepaTPCowzi.HX Bnise.TrW, EIo HnI ,oujne Buc-eas h:jItaruct.i
UeCaptail'.b M EICJHdIH hIn3b Aemactl Hirunaseenim n Hixi Murear cpi.. BN.,oitroa BBmh.I h,...i..iwI
Mgpis, AhdCTacIn. OCADra Taria a 3HK)ieIlib.

Figure 24.

32 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

BEYOND BRYANSK

by Dave Skipton
M massive dislocations due to WWI and the The fledgling Soviet Post found itself unable
Russian Civil War created nightmarish condi- to provide postal services to much of its own
tions in the postal service. Thousands of postal territory, let alone serve German-held areas, and
officials had been packed off to support the mail that normally would have gone from or
Imperial Russian Army, and skyrocketing mail though Moscow and Bryansk to Ukraine or Be-
volume crushed the reduced postal force as POWs, lorussia suddenly halted.
soldiers, families and friends attempted to stay in Postal history buffs have long been familiar
contact with one another. Official (and espe- with the instructional handstamp shown in fig. 1,
cially military) correspondence increased, and applied to undeliverable, incoming foreign mail.
the transportation delays along Russia's rail- But a "junk box" at CHICAGOPEX-'91 yielded
roads played havoc with mail dispatch schedules, a new instructional marking, this time a domes-
Yet another consequence of the war was moun- .....
tains of undeliverable mail, as postmen wearily .'
attempted to find addresses of people who had .. ^
been forced to move as the fighting drew near. .
The Germans had already captured entire postal -. _,-,'
districts in Russian Poland and parts of Ukraine
up to the end of 1917, and they proceeded to drive
deeper into Ukraine and Belorussia when Trotsky ,". OK' '
broke off the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk. d.a.,a
Forced to trade land for time, the Bolsheviks e 't
signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March
1918 after watching the Germans roll through 'l
Riga, Vilnius, Minsk, Kiev, and Khar'kov.
Figure 1.

.^cpriiecjim inemirecgar raauu6 .T

-b. M S

Figure 2. Front of returned letter.
Rossica Journal Number 118 33
April 1992

os0ptu^gaQ& s MoCtl 6/ Puzzle Solved -
S.Blagoveshchensk 30-Ruble Sheet

S mP7c^pieet^xa WOmtP8ar by George G. Werbizky
wopp. 6S MXeAVCf,0CVU pateliow-
X P p In "Rossica" No. 115, October 1990, I
Xe1. 30 Ep.a KOAM showed a 2 x 13 strip of the 30-ruble stamp (fig.
Figure 2a. Tracing of handstamp. 18, p. 48), Scott No. 46, with tete-b8che pairs and
_, .-. -, wondered what the rest of the sheet might look

... enough to let me examine a complete sheet of this
stamp. What an interesting and unique item! The
sheet appears to have been postally cancelled in
'- Blagoveshchensk on 11-12-20. It does not ap-
pear to be a "CTO."
The overall size of the sheet is 44 x 36.5 cm
Reverse side of returned letter.
Reverse side of returned letter, while the "stamp to stamp" size is 43 x 32.5 cm.
The upper portion consists of four 5 x 5 panes
tic-mail version (fig. 2, 2a tracing). A commer- with no tte-bche pairs. Below these panes, at
cial cover posted from Moscow three weeks after 9, is the 2 x 13 strip, i.e., couch. The strip has
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed; it got two horizontal or one horizontal and one vertical
only as far as Bryansk. Its destination of Kiev lay t^te-bche pairs. This is in contrast to the 5-ruble
well beyond German lines, so the postal authori- sheet i referenced article), which has 6-
sheet (fig. 20 in referenced article), which has 6-
ties in Bryansk sent it back to Moscow with two vertical or 5-horizontal tete-beche pairs (or a
strikes of a handstamp reading "Return to Moscow combination).
to (space for address), as dispatch of correspon- The 30-ruble sheet has one unique position.
dence to places located beyond Bryansk has t the end of the 2 x 13 strip there is one empty
ceased." Moscow in turn relayed it back to the t Therefore one c i pir th onta
V.I. Stoll Co. in Petrograd, where it arrived on 9 oe stp and an find a par that cta
one stamp and one blank space (selvage). A
April 1918. highly reduced picture of this sheet is shown
This handstamp could not have been in use for belo
below.
very long, because the Soviet Southern Front, the i .
Ukrainian Soviet Army and forces from the
Western Defensive Region occupied all the cities
mentioned above by March 1919, and a fair
amount of territory beyond. It's more likely that
the marking saw use for no more than a few
months at most; after awhile, Moscow would not
even have bothered to forward Ukraine-bound
mail to Bryansk.

Reference:
Voennyi ehntsiklopedicheskii slovar', Minister-
stvo oborony SSSR, Institut voennoi istorii, '
Moskva, 1983, pp. 207-208 & map inserts of
Russian Civil War military campaigns. .

34 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

R.S.F.S.R. Unlisted Varieties of the May 1923 Issue

by Tom Chastang

I

In May 1923, the R.S.F.S.R. issued a se- The printing variety occurs on the 4-ruble
ries of seven stamps (Scott 238-241A; Gibbons brown stamp and consists of what I refer to as
320-324a; Michel XIII, XIV, 215-219). The the "missing ear" variety. On this particular
stamps measure 14mm x 20mm (dimensions of variety the upper 1mm of the worker's right ear
picture) and carried a picture of a soldier, is missing. I have this variety both as a single
worker, or peasant. Denominations issued stamp and as the bottom left stamp in a block of
were 3, 4, 5, 10, and 20 rubles. Denominations four. Thus, it appears that this may be a
of 1 and a 2 rubles were prepared, but they were constant variety. Attempts to illustrate this
not released. The 1 and 2 ruble stamps were variety invariably send the investigator back to
perforated 12 1/2 while the 3-20 ruble stamps the original stamp itself. The quality of the
were perforated 14 1/2 x 15 (Scott 14 1/2 printing does not allow for sufficient enlarge-
(Gibbons & Michel)). All stamps exist imper- ment to show the variety adequately. Figure 1
forate, however, the 3-20 ruble imperforate is provided simply as a guide for those who
stamps were available only at the philatelic wish to examine their collections. Yet one can
bureau in Moscow. These stamps were sold for see that the lines forming the ear do not touch
the currency of 1923 when one ruble was worth the worker's head on the illustration. If anyone
100 rubles of 1922 and 1,000,000 rubles of has full panes or sheets of this stamp, it would
1921. They were issued in the following quan- be interesting to known its position in the sheet.
titles and were no longer valid for postal pur- The shade varieties (as denoted by Stanley
poses after November 30, 1923: Gibbons Stamp Colour Key) are (regularshade
1-2 ruble unknown quantity listed first/shade variety second):
3-10 ruble 50,000,000 2-ruble stamp green/dark green
20 ruble 10,000,000 4-ruble stamp brown/light brown
Neither Scott, Gibbons nor Michel list any 5-ruble stamp lightblue/green-blue
varieties for this issue. However, "double im- 10-ruble stamp gray/olive-gray.
pressions errors" are listed. All the above in- These are all the shade varieties in my
formation is common knowledge to the collec- collection, but there may well be more. Again,
tor and is readily available from catalogs, any information concerning varieties of his
This purpose of this short article is to doc- issue would be most appreciated.
ument a couple of varieties heretofore unlisted
in philatelic literature. In remounting my col-
lection, I have discovered one variety and four
color varieties, all on the perforated stamps.
There may well be others, and I would appre-
ciate hearing from anyone who has examples
of these or other varieties in their collections.
Figure 1. "Missing Ear variety."
Rossica Journal Number 118 35
April 1992

The Elephant (SLON) Mail

by V.G. Boiko
translated by George G. Werbizky from "Philateliya" No. 6, 1991

[Tr.Note: A decree of 15 April 1919 established death trable wall made from sea-rolled stones. The
camps' (i.e., by Lenin). The first inmates on SLON wall was built to prevent capture by the mili-
(SLON Solovetsk Camp of Special Purposes) were artistic Swedes.
White Army officers who were shipped there in 19222.
There is a tendency to blame Stalin alone for the Soon theword spread across"All of Great
brutality of the Soviet system. However, "Nearly Russia" about the holy cloister and, from far
every one of Stalin's political practices had been and wide, pilgrims started coming to bow in
conceived and tested by Lenin. The invasive presence front of the miracle icons and cleanse their
of the secret police; concentration camps; show trials;
summary executions; collectivization and the war on souls from the "hustle-bustle of everyday
the kulaks, as well as the other familiar features of life. This milieu lasted almost 500 years.
Stalinism save one the killing of fellow Communists The events of October 1917 determined
- were introduced by the regime's founding father."'] the fate of the ancient temple of the devout.
The "SLON Mail" is a portion of the True, for a few years more, the tolling of bells
collection of the well-known Moscow phi- could be heard across the islands. This was
latelist V.G. Boiko, who is researching the not a God-fearing tolling, but a foreboding of
theme "Camp Mail of the Stalin Period." the coming tragedy. A year later, the first
Glasnost' and democracy were instrumental concentration camps were established on the
in widely revealing many facts about Gulag mainland for political prisoners by decree of
history. However, the curtain is barely lifting the VChK [All Russian Extraordinary Com-
and a thorough and serious research of mission to Combat Counter-revolution and
documents, statements of survivors, and Sabotage4]. These camps were located at
miraculously saved letters that carried the Arkhangel'sk, Kholmogory, Pertominsk, and
heavy seal of tragedy borne by our nation, Mud'yug. The SLON Camp was established
remain to be done. in June 1923 by decision of the OGPU
V.G. Boiko prepared and exhibited three [Combined State Political Directorate].4
collections based on the above subject at [Tr note: the acronym SLON actually spells a valid
Russian word elephant. Note the difference of one
philatelic events. The exhibit "Camp Mail" year between the "start date" used in this article and
was shown at "Moscow-89" where it re- that used in the book by Rozanov. Mikhail Rozanov,
ceiveda largegold-platedmedal; "Requiem" who himself was a prisoner, published an exhaustive
showed at the All-Union exhibit "Estonia- history of the Solovetsk camps.]
90" where it received a large gold-plated The camp had 12 sections grouped from
medal; "Stalinism: Tyranny and Repres- west to east and stretching from Kem' along
sion" showed at the All-Union exhibition all of the archipelago. The monastery was
"Russia-90" where it received a gold-plated closed. The orthodox holy establishment
medal. became a place of incarceration and deporta-
tion. The word "Solovki" became synony-
The Solovetski Islands are a beautiful mous with forced labor and death. In 1926,
oasis in the midst of the harsh Russian North M. Kol'tsov wrote:
and are rightfully called the "Pearl of the "So what that in Russia there have been no cle-
White Sea." In the 15th century, monks phants since the ice age. True bol'shevik ingcnu-
Sa h a e a ity, which angrily numbs all enemies, gave birth
established a hermitage and erected a one- even to a Soviet elephant. And what a terrible
story white-stone church. They surrounded creation it turned out to be."
the hermitage and church with an impene- There is another gloomy abbreviation con-
36 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

nected with Solovki. The abbreviation hierarchs of the Russian church as the Arch-
"STON" in Russian means "moan" and stands bishop of Voronezh Peter, Metropolitan of
for "Special Purpose Soviet Prison." Yes, Odessa Anatolius, Dmitri Flerin. The church
there was such a prison! Through time a philosopher and author P. Florenski also
number of covers were saved with these served time here.
acronyms. Mail arrived at Solovki the same way the
The holy places, which became torture prisoners did. They travelled by rail to Kem'
chambers, were splattered with the blood of where the Kemperpunkt (Kem' transfer point)
innocent people. In 1923, only six months was located, then on to the islands [by boat].
after the opening of the camp, the inmates On letters that took this route either to the
were executed at the walls of the Savatius camp or from it one can find cancellations of
hermitage. Whenever a "ChP" [extraordi- Kem', Rabocheostrovsk and Popov Island,
nary event] took place, every tenth [person] which, as a general rule, are bilingual cancel-
was executed so that the rest would be fright- lations in Russian and Karelian. (Figs. 1 and
ened. The future academian D. Likhachev, 2) In rare cases, the eastern route via the Ark-
then a youngster, miraculously escaped death hangel'sk office was used. During the part of
by hiding during such actions, the year when the sea was navigable, the mail
In the Solovski [islands] there were spe- went by boat. In the winter, transportation of
cial "Solovki": Anzer an island for dying cargo over the ice was treacherous and re-
that counted very few returnees; Crucifix quired a great deal of time and physical
Hermitage, also called Golgotha, served its effort. The help came from the inmates
primary function. Here weak, sick, and old, themselves. The inventor of the recoilless
as well as camp "finishers" were brought gun, L.V. Kurchevskii, who twice served
and, "based on humanitarian principles," time at Solovki and was executed there in
killed. 1937, constructed with his fellow inmates a
In the midst of this hell created by the sail boat that relatively swiftly and easily
Solovki management, the inmates had a single glided over the ice.
pleasure brittle hope for communication ,.
with relatives and friends who were free. '.e.
Mail service existed at Solovki, just as it .' !
existed at other places of mass internment. F
But it was in the hands of camp authorities. j ,,
The privilege of correspondence was not *
given to everyone. For example, the future
Academian A.A. Bayev did not send or re-
ceive a single letter during all of his incar-
ceration. Even those who had mail privileges
could not use it as they saw fit. The specific Figure 1. Kem' cancellation.
set of rules allowed a person to write twice a
month or once in two months. This was
determined by camp authorities. Carrying ---9
out rather harshly the correspondence rules, 7cx...,. : .
authorities did not care all that much about j,. ,-,.
mail delivery. ..__ ,,. I
The postal workers at Solovki were pri-
marily clergymen. Behind the walls of the urcml nepuwb n:. .
monastery the authorities tormented such Figure 2. Arkhangel'sk office marking.
Rossica Journal Number 118 37
April 1992

Postcards with views of the Solovki For- tion. This is partially explained by the loca-
tress were printed at the local printing shop. tion of the main camp departments on is.
On the reverse side of these cards the phrase lands, the distances involved, and the segre-
"Published by Main Office SLON," or gation from the mainland.
"Published by typo-lithography (shop) Ehko Correspondence arriving at the camp was
USLON." Sometimes there was an indica- also examined. One is easily convinced of
tion of how many were printed. As a rule, this this with the example of a letter mailed in
number did not exceed 1,000. Two different 1925. The letter shown here carried only the
view postcards are known: "Corner in the address "St. Kem', Murmansk R.R. Admini-
kremlin" and "Solovki guard tower." (Fig. station of Northern camps. To an inmate."
3.) However, judgment suggests that The name would be stated inside the letter
there were other designs.

HOVTA CjIO

p. 11

"- " '"4"1. ,
i ,

Figure 4. "1st Department Sollager Marking."
The letters of inmates were closely and written on the cover after examination by
checked for hidden messages. The author of the camp administration. After the location
this article has a postcard with a censormark of the inmate was verified, a notation would
in two lines reading "Examined. 1st Sol- be made on the upper portion of the cover
lager" (which means the 1st department of "Kons (should be Ts) Camp Solovki." (Fig.
the Solovetskii camp). (Fig 4.) It was impos- 5)
sible to get mail past the camp administra- In the fall of 1939, SLON ceased to exist as
38 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

an independent camp. Years have gone by Fake China Overprints -
and the land has freed itself from the tenets Another View
of Stalinism. The innocently convicted have
been rehabilitated and, as a pledge that the by Dr. Robert F. Minkus
past tragedy will not be repeated, a large sea-
rolled stone from the far north has been Norman Epstein's article on the diffi-
erected in Lubyanka Square. Recently, one culties of determining genuine China over-
more step was taken to re-establish justice, prints in Rossica #117 reminded me that over
The Solovki holy places were returned to the twenty years ago Anatoly Rosselevitch re-
Russian Orthodox Church, the rightful own- ported a simple method of evaluating these
ers. overprints in "TheRussian Philatelist" No. 3,
S page 6. He stated that on all genuine stamps
.,,, ," from Scott numbers 1-47, the angle of incli-
,. / .-A-' h' nation is approximately 570-580, whereas the
angle of the forgeries varies between 38 and
53*. An angle of 500 is the most common in
my experience.
,. Using a protractor to determine the precise
angle of the overprint is a bit cumbersome. I
7_ got around the difficulty by making a tem-
Splate on a 4" x 4" piece of clear plastic sheet
protector as shown in the following diagram.
Figure 5. "Kons Lager Solovki Marking."

Recently, in the Solovki, a fully stuffed
mail bag with camp mail that had been dis- / /_
carded in the 1930s was found. The yellow-
ing messages from people with broken lives
did not reach those addressed. The history of
the mail tells us that letters were delivered
many years after they were sent. It would be
only just if the employees of the Solovetskii
local museum, who started to study these
letters, were to deliver them to those who are
still alive. This template has served me well over the
years. By sliding the template along the
References: baseline of the stamp, it becomes quickly
apparent if the overprint lines up with the
1. Yakovlev, B., "Concentration Camps in genuine or the fake line on the template.
USSR," Munich, 1955. I measured the two stamps shown in Mr.
2. Rozanov, M., "Solovetsk Concentration Epstein's article, and each one measured
Camps in the Monastery," USA, 1979. about 50*. This method certainly is consid-
3. Pipes, Richard,"Stalin by R. Conquest," erably less tiring than the method of Mr. E.
p. 14, New York Times Book Review," Wisewell that requires checking 15 areas for
Nov. 10, 1991. discrepancies. Of course, this procedure will
4. Dziak, John J., "Chekisty," Lexington not apply to every forgery, but it does provide
Books, 1988. rapid screening for the majority.
Rossica Journal Number 118 39
April 1992

Early Field Post Markings from the "Great Patriotic War"

by Peter A. Michalove

At the time of the German invasion of the ample of a field post CDS that I am aware of be-
Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet military fore the German invasion, and an unusual case of
was unprepared to operate a field post system on the two types of FPO markings in use together.
a mass scale. A study of Field Post Office (FPO)
covers from the early months of the war provides The Early Wartime Period
a glimpse at the transition from the early con-
fused situation with a variety of new and prewar In the immediate confusion after the German
markings (or no markings) to a large scale field invasion, most covers show no field post mark-
post system with a high degree of standardiza- ings at all. In figure 4, dated July 1941, the
tion. manuscript return address indicates field post
unit 461/33a, but the cancel is apparently a civil-
The Prewar Period ian marking from Servy Vinnitskoi (oblasti)/8
(which I've been unable to locate) on a postcard
Before the German invasion, Soviet field post to Vinnitsa in Ukraine.
mail was usually cancelled with a characteristic While not strictly speaking an FPO cover,
triangular cachet reading "KPACHOAPMEICKOE figure 5 is another good example of the confusion
IHCbMO/BECnFIATHO (RED ARMY LETTER/ in the early wartime period. Mailed from Volno-
POSTFREE), or some variant of that text. Figure vakha, in Ukraine, where German forces were
1 shows an interesting 1930 postcard to the quickly advancing, the return address reads simply
Leningrad Military Commissariat, inquiring about "BO)HOBAXA 3BAKOnYHKT" (Volnovakha
the arrival of recruits from Andizhan, in Uzbeki- Evacuation Point) and bears a cancellation of the
stan. The commissariat stamped the card with its Volnovakha railway station.
triangular military cachet on receipt. This mark- Those FPO covers that do show military ca-
ing has a changeable date plug, here set to 15 chets in this period typically bear the old trian-
August 1930. Mail to military addresses was gular postfree markings, such as figure 6 from 5
postfree, but this card pays the 5-kopek domestic October 1941. The manuscript address is Post
postcard rate. Leppi (1985) illustrates a wide Office Box 70, 3rd Unit, Mariupol'. This may
variety of triangular marks in the immediate refer to a militarily hospital since the sender
prewar period, writes that he has been wounded.
Also typical of this period are covers like fig- Aside from sporadic use as in figure 3, circu-
ure 2, mailed from a military address, but with no lar dated FPO cancels were brought into regular
FPO markings at all. This letter was mailed from use only some time after the German invasion. I
the Rostov Oblast'on 22 February 1941 to Slutsk, have an example of a CDS together with one of
in the Belorussian Republic, where it arrived on the old triangular marks from October 1941, but
26 February. Slutsk was just inside Eastern my earliest cover with a military CDS alone does
Belorussia, which had been in Soviet territory all not occur until January 1942.
along, so this cover is not involved with the
Soviet occupation of Western Belorussia in 1939. Censorship of FPO Mail
More unusual in the prewar period is figure 3,
with the smallest triangular cachet I have ever Kabanov (1986) reports a censor mark on an FPO
seen, used alongside a circular dated field post cover from as early as 2 July 1941,but, in general,
cancel of 25 March 1940. This is the only ex- censor marks appear only sporadically in the
40 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

i0.lO ;'F x\PToOIKA

Do1. .- P TO.'
Ay L- WP

.-:. A,
S',- ,-....

.'- l t "' .'., "." 'l ,
/, y y I i

Figure 1.

w e' j^2a.
I T-

^ ^ . ^ ..&- A ,s. ',,,- ,.-

Figure 2.

--4

Figure 3.

Rossica Journal Number 118 41
April 1992
"""""""7 ~-d 'byS^ .Y'

April 1992

0 nOITOBAI KAPTOYKA
CARTE POSTAL

v,, -

Koxy ? 1it4--

i nUJHTE nPABHMJbH6lE. TOHblIE M P O BOP4HBbltA IPEC*

*. ... .. ...... .... .... ,
..M A .... .. ......e.m.. .s

^ jo t Et u *a.w e m a. p ,.pa I

9 sV AP .. .

Ad .m. ........ .

Figure 5.

Figure 6.
42 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Figure 7.

nlOnTOBAR KAPTOHKA '

I a M IS1 1 i10!
....... .. ...... .- -.-

.... .. .
i ./"
IRA mAVOO 0 DOHWm OTMBatHUN nMniTN C3OH 5PXATVLaWV

Figure S.
-C

44" ;F ",/,": '*

Figure 9.

.... ... ....

Figure 10.
Rossica Journal Number 118 43
April 1992

early months of the war. Kabanov does not example of this marking is from September 1941,
identify the type of censor mark he has seen from but after that I have no further examples until
July, but the earliest I know of is the wavy figure 10, mailed from FPO station 1565 on 24
machine censor shown in figure 7 used 27 August February 1942. Covers with no censorship indi-
1941. This is on a beautiful cover from Naval PO cations are still seen until the spring of 1942, but
1001 in Bob Taylor's collection, and the control from there on, censor marks are ubiquitous;
mark "34" to the left of the machine marking may Skipton's types 2, 3, and 4 occur on FPO mail
indicate review by a supervisor. Kabanov states from then through August 1943.
that these machine censor marks were used in FPO covers from the early months of the war
Moscow and Leningrad, and Taylor's example, illustrate the gradual introduction and standard-
from a ship in the Baltic Fleet, could conceivably ization of a field post system that had not been
have been applied in Leningrad; I have another prepared for large-scale operations. By early
example of this marking on an FPO cover ad- 1942, most FPO covers take on a more or less
dressed to Leningrad from October 1941, and uniform appearance, typically showing the
another on a civilian cover with a Leningrad numbered CDS of the FPO unit and a straight-
transit mark of September 1941. Shmuely (1988) line censor mark, as in figure 10. In later years of
shows a civilian use from as early as April 1940 the war, the system came to be standardized even
from an uncertain location, further.
There are a number of other varieties of this Many thanks to Dave Skipton and Bob Taylor
machine marking. Figure 8 (also in Bob Tay- for providing examples and informative insights
lor's collection) shows a type with straight lines for this article.
on an October 1941 cover to Naval PO 1004, also
in the Baltic Fleet, again with a control number, Bibliography
this time a "3." Figure 9 shows a type with a
different configuration of straight lines from Dave Kabanov. M. "Ob ispol'zovanii materialov
Skipton's collection. This cover is torn, and the voenno-polevoi pochty v filatelisticheskikh
date is missing, but it appears to be from the 1941 razrabotkakh." Sovietskii Kollektsionner 24
period and is addressed to FPO 401 (B). (1986), pp. 3-15.
There are still other types of machine censor Leppii, August. "Russian Fieldposts in the Bal-
marks that are known (so far) only on civilian tic States, 1939-41." Rossica 106/7 (1985),
mail: Steyn's (1990) "double bump" type from pp. 24-31.
the Crimea; Shmuely's (1988) figure 12, which Michalove, Peter A. "Soviet Field Post Proce-
has been seen into the wartime period; and mark- dures 1941-1945." Rossica 110 (1987), pp.
ings in Skipton's collection with the Ukrainian 60-66.
coat of arms. I have not seen any types of Michalove, Peter A. "Soviet Naval Mail 1941-
machine censor marks used after October 1941. 1945." Rossica 115 (1990), pp. 58-62.
My article on naval mail in Rossica #115 il- Shmuely, M. "Soviet Censorship and Other
lustrated (as figure 6) a specifically naval censor Markings." Rossica 112 (1988), pp. 17-41.
mark from December 1941. In light of Taylor's Sinegubov, V. (Michael J. Carson, trans.)"Stamp-
covers and some others, it appears that naval less Military Mail." Rossica 110 (1987), pp.
units were among the earliest to use censor mark- 56-59.
ings consistently. Skipton, David M. "Soviet Censormarks the
The machine censor marks were apparently 1942-1943 Category." forthcoming in Ros-
replaced by types of the straight-line cachet shown sica 118 (1992).
in figure 10 some time late in late 1941. This Steyn,Ivo. "Soviet Censorship: Some additional
marking, an example of Skipton's (1992) type 2, Notes." Rossica 115 (1990), pp. 63-64.
represents Military censor No. 80. My earliest U
44 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

SOVIET CENSORMARKS THE "1942-1943 CATEGORY"

by David M. Skipton

The Soviet censormarks of WWII and the 5) All of the illustrations except fig. 6 are
immediate post-war period have yet to be sys- tracings, and are therefore somewhat
tematically categorized and listed. Other than a inexact.
fairly comprehensive survey on Anglo-Soviet- Now to the censormark itself. The basic style
Persian censormarks scattered over three sepa-
Persian censormarks scattered over three sepa- consists of 4 "lines" beneath the Soviet coat-of-
rate journals, Moshe Shmuely's "Soviet Censor-
ship and Other Markings" in "Rossica" #112, Line 1 a single word, "PROSMOTRENO"
and H.-W. Boddenberg's "Kriegsgefangenen- (Examined)
post UdSSR 1941 bis 1956" in "Pochta" #47, Line 2 "VOENNOI TsENZUROI" (by Mili-
little has appeared on the subject in Western
tary Censorship),
philatelic literature, and even less in Soviet pub- Line 3 a placename, digitss, letters or a blank
locations. A beginning outline was provided by
space,
Marat Kabanov in SK #24, based on the collec- L 4 a ce n
Line 4- a censor's number beneath a horizontal
tion of Moscow philatelist D. Galishnikov, but ine
since the article is concerned primarily with the
field post, it leaves many questions about mili- In this style there are 4 major varieties, all
tary censorship unanswered. Moreover, it inex- dependent upon the contents of line 3:
plicably omits mention of those censormarks 1-C.o-A. 2-C.o-A. 3-C.o-A. 4-C.o-A.
assigned to Variety 4 in this article. Until and Examined Examined Examined Examined
unless the Soviet archives on censorship are by M.C. by M.C. by M.C. by M.C.
opened, this state of affairs is likely to continue. City name Letters # (space)
Censor # Censor# Censor# Censor #
Soviet military (and civilian!) censorship
remains one of Russian philately's uncharted -
seas, so this article is merely a probe into one of < .
its bays. As the old cartographers would say, nPocTorPEM o ncTPEg nPOCU0MOTPE npeocoUMriH
1**0 us1..ipO B.a Boem noi Uei$P I aeat i eAlypoi
"There be dragons here!" -*. .. _X-
27 1 213 23
Before the depths are sounded and the shore- 2
line mapped, a few cautionary words are in order: Figures 1-4. Basic style.
1) The entire "sample" of the censormark As will be seen in the illustrations, there are
category in question consists of 81 mark-many differences in font, size of letters and coat-
ings, far too small a grouping to form of-arms, spacing, and occasional variation in
anything but working hypotheses; text. This would seem to indicate that there was
2) No official source material and only one a directive from Moscow with instructions on
Soviet article on the subject are available; what the censormarks should contain, and what
all hypotheses in this article are drawn
all hypotheses in this article are drawn in general they ought to look like, but the censor-
primarily from the philatelic record; mark handstamps themselves were locally pro-
3) There may be many more sub-varieties of duced. And there was always that 5% who
this censormark type; misread the instructions Krasnoyarsk and
4) While all the Variety 1 censormarks Novosibirsk neglected to include the straight line
except Moscow seem hard to find, I have between lines 3 & 4, and Vladivostok, if Kaba-
made no attempt to assign rarity factors to nov's representation of its censormark is correct,
these markings; inverted the placename and the number.

Rossica Journal Number 118 45
April 1992

The earliest example recorded thus far for the Postal Sorting Point" but the example appears to
entire type is 7 February 1942, the latest 8 April show a definite "O" rather than "S.") I have
1944. The latter is six months after the next latest included it in Variety 1 only because none of the
recorded, and that in a different variety. So for other varieties will have it. Perhaps when its pa-
now, the hypothesis is that they were introduced ternity is established, we can assign it a new
around January 1942 and the overwhelming variety of its own. At any rate, it probably has a
majority phased out by late 1943. Kabanov states brother "VPOP No. 1" out there, somewhere.
that the standard 3-line censormarks with 5 digits
beneath "VOENNOI TsENZUROI" were intro- f
duced throughout the USSR in the "summer of
1943," but some cities continued to use the old nPoCMOTPEHO
Bowotoi uiouypo
versions into the fall. Bnon rN 2
Without exception, all the recorded markings 11
are in black or violet.
Figure 5.
VARIETY 1 Placename on line 3.
VARIETY 2 Initials on line 3.
My guess is that their usage was confined to
oblast', krai, and republic centers, with a possible Unlike Variety 1 censormarks, Variety 2,
exception listed below. From the meager record which is shown in table 7, appears only on mail
at hand, it would seem those censor offices which from the various fronts to the rear areas, i.e., on
used Variety 1 markings were set up at the major military mail. All have two letters, both capital-
oblast' (or krai) post offices (see table 6). All the ized, and begin with A, B or V. I have seen no
examples in my collection save one are on covers examples with any other first letter. Of the 16
which lack an FPO cancel, and all but two were examples recorded below, eight begin with "A."
sent to other locations in the Soviet Union. Thus, Despite this admittedly small sample, it is obvi-
they were used primarily for domestic civilian ous that the letters are not censors' initials. It
mail, not military, would be very odd if the Soviet censorship appa-
The list which follows in tables 1-5 was ratus insisted on choosing its censors only from
gleaned from the 1958 edition of "SSSR. Ad- those whose first names began with Aleksandr,
ministrativno-territorial'noe delenie soyuznykh Aleksei, Boris or Vitalii, to name some of the
respublik," (USSR. Administrative-territorial most common. Why no Pavels, Romans or
Division of the Union's Republics) and is in- Konstantins? If against all odds they are indeed
cluded here on the chance that the usage hypothe- censors' initials, and we just don't have a suffi-
sis is correct. If it is, most, if not all of those unac- ciently large sample, why then include a censor's
counted for, ought to have censormarks. I have number right below the individual's initials? A
purposely omitted the autonomous oblast' and censor number that changes? (See "ATs" and
national territory centers, as it appears unlikely "AShch.") And if they are not censors' initials,
they would have had censorship offices. (The well, what are they?
city names are presented in the order they appear One decent possibility is that the letters are
in the reference cited.)There is a black sheep in codes for censorship offices at the front, army
every family, and this censormark category is no headquarters, or some other major formation.
exception. It appears to have an odd cousin in fig. Another "perhaps" is that they are a code for a
5, and neither its puzzled keeper Peter Michalove designated geographic area, say, a military dis-
nor I have so much as a feeble clue about the trict or theater of operations. Looking at the
meaning of "VPOP No. 2". (It would be nice if "ATs" and "AShch" examples below, however,
it were "VPSP," in which case it would stand for that seems doubtful. The four entries were re-
"Voenno-pochtovyi sortirovochnyi punkt Field corded from different correspondences, yet the
46 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

City Oblast'/Kral Remarks
Moskva Moskovskaya x (fig. 6)
Barnaul Altaiskii x
Krasnodar Krasnodarskii x
Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarskii x (fig. 7) Kabanov illustrates a
Vladivostok Primorskii x stylized version reading
Stavropol' Stavropol'skii x "C.o.A./PROSMOTRENO/
Khabarovsk Khabarovskii x (fig. 8) VOENNOI TsENZUROI/3/
Blagoveshchensk Amurskaya x VLADIVOSTOK."
Arkhangel'sk Arkhangel'skaya x
Astrakhan' Astrakhanskaya x Formed on 27 Dec. 1943, possibly in time
to have a Variety 1 censormark assigned,
but very doubtful.
Vologda Vologodskaya x
Voronezh Voronezhskaya x
Gor'ki Gor'kovskaya x (figs. 9-10)
Ivanovo Ivanovskaya x
Irkutsk Irkutskaya x
Kalinin Kalininskaya x (fig. 11)
Kemerovo Kemerovskaya x
Kirov Kirovskaya x (fig. 12)
Kuibyshev Kuibyshevskaya x (fig. 13)
Kurgan Kurganskaya x Formed on 6 Feb. 1943.
Kursk Kurskaya x Kursk was retaken in July 1943.
Leningrad Leningradskaya x (fig. 14)
Murmansk Murmanskaya x (fig. 15)
Novosibirsk Novosibirskaya x (fig. 16)
Omsk Omskaya x (fig. 17)
Orenburg/ Orensburgskaya/ x Orenburg was renamed Chkalov
Chkalov Chkalovskaya x in 1938, & reverted to Orenburg in 1957.
(fig. 18)
Orel Orlovskaya* x Orel was occupied by the Germans until
5 August 1943. Before then, Elets
apparently stood in for Orel as a
censorship center. (fig. 19)
Penza Penzenskaya x (fig. 20)
Perm'/ Permskaya*/ x Perm' was renamed Molotov in 1938, and
Molotov Molotovskaya x reverted to Perm' in 1957. (fig. 21)
Rostov-na-Donu Rostovskaya x (fig.22)
Ryazan' Ryazanskaya x
Saratov Saratovskaya x (fig. 23)
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Sakhalinskaya x
Sverdlovsk Sverdlovskaya x (See fig. 29 in Rossica #112. The
illustration has been reduced.)
Smolensk Smolenskaya x Smolensk was retaken by the Soviets on
25 September 1943.
Stalingrad Stalingradskaya x
Tambov Tambovskaya x
Tula Tul'skaya X
Ul'yanovsk Ul'yanovskaya x
Chelyabinsk Chelyabinskaya x
Chita Chitinskaya x
Yaroslavl' Yaroslavskaya x (fig. 24)

Table 1. Placename on line 3.

Rossica Journal Number 118 47
April 1992

Figure 6.

Slp OC MOT P-H 0 JO TP6MOTPEO
nPOCMOTPEHO f POCMOTPHO P MT O
Bot8 t Ho r elr ypo* "ocr Bo^ r -r L^ypo
10 32 9 185

Figures 7-10.

T PF-HO 0 PO (M,

"T O lPOC 'H nPOCMOTPEHO nPOCMOTPERO
ek.eypoA yoi Boeotep UeNsypoA BSot0tiA Ue3sypoi
H rO KY&biWES JIjUxl'MrpAA
97 28 243

Figures 11-14.

48 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

-' nPOCMOTPEHO nPOCMOTPEHO
nPOCMOTPEHO nPOCMOTPEHO 9 oe6L4 ,.o,; Boem., L.eNbCpoY
Boe***A UtonmypA BoeMoi Ueexaypof 4oaClOb
Myp'.dc, Ho.ocw.pcx OMC K
9 82

Figures 15-18.

"OCOPE1O "POCMOTPEHO nPOCMOTPEHO
BDonm oulk raC- 4POCMOTPEHO BA npocMO'IPEHO
B EQMLO r Boeo* L4esypoA BoeMxxot Ueaypoft 6a.,,6 MXc
EneuM nt Mwoo 6oA. POCTca.AOX
45 12o xoZO 209 71

Figures 19-22.

nPo0 CM
nPOC-MOTPEHO oCM
Botw"ao ut,.Y1, 6oeHMoN L
CAPATOB Aipoc
148 17

Figures 23-24.

Rossica Journal Number 118 49
April 1992

City Autonomous Republic Remarks
Ufa Bashkirskaya (fig. 25)
Ulan-Ude Buryat-Mongol'skaya nPOCNlL )H I,
Makhachkala Dagestanskaya 3oeHHOAR UeHwypo k
Nal'chik Kabardino-Balkarskaya y (p A
Petrozavodsk Karelo-Finskaya l
Syktyvkar Komi
Ioshkar-Ola Mariiskaya
Saransk Mordovskaya Figure 25.
Ordzhonikidze Severo-Osetinskaya
Kazan' Tamarskaya (fig. 26) '
Izhevsk Udmurtskaya (fig. 27)
Groznyi Checheno-lngushskaya Disbanded on
7 March 1944,
restored on nPOC fMCITr O rnPfCMOTPE1O
9 January 1957. c Pi Boe Cheboksary Chuvashskaya AC9 January 1957. A B6o W P
Yakutsk Yakutskaya X A3 A 14(bc
Table 2. The ASSRs. -l7 -

Figures 26-27.

City Oblast' Remarks
Andizhan Andizhanskaya t
Bukhara Bukharskaya
Karshi Kashka-Dar'inskaya
Namangan Namanganskaya
Samarkand Samarkandskaya (fig. 28) n pO M OT PEHO
Termez Surkhan-Dar'inskaya
Tashkent Tashkentskaya BoQeHOW L ea3YP0
Fergana Ferganskaya CAMAPKAHA
Urgench Khorezmskaya
Nukus Kara-Kalpakskaya 12

Table 3. Uzbek SSR. Figure 28.
Figure 28.

City Oblast' Remarks
Akmolinsk Akmolinskaya (fig. 29)
Aktyubinsk Aktyubinskaya
Alma-Ata Alma-Atinskaya OTPEHO
Ust'-Kamenogorsk Vostochno-Kazakhstanskaya Boe' oh LUeH3ypoA
Gur'ev Gur'evskaya AKMO/IHHCK
Dzhambul Dzhambul'skaya
Ural'sk Zapadno-Kazakhstanskaya
Karaganda Karagandinskaya Figure 29.
Kzyl-Orda Kyzl-Ordinskaya
Kustanai Kustanaiskaya ..
Pavlodar Pavlodarskaya
Petropavlovsk Severo-Kazakhstanskya
Semipalatinsk Semipalatinskaya
Chimkent Yuzhno-Kazakhstanskaya (fig. 30)EH

Table 4. Kazakh SSR. CEWr AT K
35
Figure 30.
50 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

City Oblast'/SSR/ASSR Remarks Place Censor Range Color
Tbilisi Gruzinskaya SSR (fig. 31) Akmolinsk 5 1-1943 Black
Sukhumi Abkhazskaya ASSR Vladivostok 3 ? ?
Batumi Adzharskaya ASSR Gor'kii 9 5-1942 Black
Baku Azerbaidzhanskaya SSR (small variety)
Nakhichevan' Nakhichevanskaya ASSR Gor'kii 77 8-1942 Black
Frunze Kirgizskaya SSR (large variety) 185 9-1943 Black
Dzhalal-Abad Dzhal-Abadskaya Oblast' Elets 45 2-1943 Black
Przheval'sk Issyk-Kul'skaya oblast' Izhevsk 4 8-1942 Black
Osh Oshskaya oblast' Kazan' 117 2-1943 Violet
Naryn Tyan'-Shanskaya oblast Kalinin ? 4-1943 ?
Stalinabad Tadzhikskaya SSR Kirov 97 3-1943 ?
Leninabad Leninabadskaya oblast' Krasnoyarsk 10 11-1942 Violet
Erevan Armyanskaya SSR Kuibyshev 28 10-1942 Black
Ashkhabad Turkmenskaya SSR 51 2-1943 Black
Mary Maryiskaya oblast' 67 2-1943 ?
Tashauz Tashauskaya oblast' (fig. 32) Leningrad 197 5-1943 Violet
Chardzhou Chardzhouskaya oblast' 218 8-1943 Violet
243 4-1942 Violet
Table 5. Other Republics. Mary 4 3-1943 Black
Molotov obl. 209 3-1943 Black
Moskva 12 4-1942 Black
26 2-1942 ?
"27 2-1942 Black
fPOCMOTPEH0 59 5-1942 Black
232 6-1943 ?
80oeHNHo OeH3ypol nIPCMOTPEHO 240 9-1942 Black
TEHJIHMCH BOHHOA L.H3ypo't 314 8-1942 Black
A P bl 581 7/12-1942 Black
38 4 Murmansk 9 10-1943 Violet
Novosibirsk 3 6-1942 Violet
Figures 31-32. 23 6-1943 Violet
Omsk 82 7-1942/4-1943 Black
FPO numbers in each "pair" are the same. This Penza 120 6-1943 ?
Rostov-Don 71 6-1942 Violet
seems more like a situation where a given FPO Samarkand 12 8-1942 Black
supported a specific headquarters of a large for- Saratov 113 2-1943 Black
mation. Until we can expand on the number 148 4-1943 Violet
162 4-1943 Black
recorded, this will have to remain an open ques- Semipalatinsk 35 2-1943 Black
tion. Sverdlovsk 100 6-1943 ?
Tbilisi 38 11-1942 Black
Sub-variety 2.1 Only one letter on line Ufa 107 11-1942 Black
three. Khabarovsk 32 2-1943 Violet
Chkalov 71 9-1942 ?
Kabanov records an "L" (or possibly "P") Yaroslavl' 17 4-1943 Violet
over 26, but again the representation is stylized, Table 6. Variety 1 Censormarks.
and no date is given.
VARIETY 3 Number above line. violet, and the organizational level of the censor-
ship offices which used it is also unknown. (If
Only seven recorded examples (listed in table these were assigned to individual FPOs, we ought
8) in this category, and much the same question to have seen many, many more of them.) The
is asked here as the one for Variety 2 what does reason for leaving a blank space may have been
the upper number mean? This variety was also to provide greater flexibility (i.e., an entry could
used for military mail. be made in it, either a town name, number or
VARIETY 4 Blank space above line. letters), but if that was the case, no such instance
has been recorded. It may be just a coincidence,
Variety 4 (see table 9) appears in black or but all the supposed censor numbers are one-or
Rossica Journal Number 118 51
April 1992

Recorded two-digit entries. From the looks of #11 and #13,
Initials Number Range FPO both from FPO 77657, these were assigned on a
AZh 16 4-1943 (49860Zh)* one-up basis at each censorship office, rather
AK 7 10-1942 591 than across the board for a given area or large
AM 12 4-1943 (54233B) formation. And none have been recorded from
AN 4 3-1943 1754
ATs 30 2-1943 1813 1942, which leads to the tentative surmise that
ATs 42 1-1943 1813 this particular variety wasn't introduced with the
AShch 17 10-1942 1930 others in 1942.
AShch 26 11-1942 1930
BD 1 10-1942 1567 I am indebted to Peter Michalove for his
BD 13 2-1943 635 observations on this article and the numerous
"BTs 13 4-1943 1995 photocopies from his collection, to Denys Voaden
"VK"** 20 10-1942 979
VN 1 4-1943 (28765D) for the loan of several books on WWII, and to
VN 38 3-1943 (1722) Messrs. Finik and Brooks for allowing me to
Vya 28 ? (See Rossica ransack their postal history stocks.
#112, P. 35)
FPO numbers in parentheses denote an FPO cancel Sources consulted:
with its number excised, but recorded in the return
address. Brooks, William, Dealer's stock of WWII So-
viet covers. M. & W. Brooks.
"* The VK appears in quotation marks, the only Engel, Arnold,"Censorship by the Soviet Union
censormark recorded thus far to do so.
During The Great Patriotic War," in "Postal
Table 7. Variety 2 Letters on line 3. History Journal," V.15, Sept. 1971, pp. 26-31.
Erickson, John, "The Road to Berlin, Stalin's
Number Number Recorded War with Germany," vol. 2, Weidenfeld and
Above Below Range FPO .
Above Below RangeNicolson, London, 1983.
2 213 2-1943 2189
4 88 8-1942 981D Finik, Leon, Dealer's stock of WWII Soviet
4 130 4-1943 (73297B) covers
22 63 ? Recorded by
Kabanov Kabanov, Marat, "Ob ispol'zovanii materialov
22 137 3-1943 394
45 (or 451) 6 -1944 (15142) voenno-polevoi pochty v filatelisticheskikh
1141 23 ? Recorded by razrabotkakh," SOVETsKII KOLLEKTsION-
Kabanov.
Could the numbers NER #24, Moscow, 1986, pp. 3-15.
have been mis- Lur'e, Yu., "Soldat i polkovodets," FILATE-
takenly reversed?
LIYa SSSR, #7, July 1973, pp. 17-18.
Table 8. Variety 3 Number above line.
Lloyd, John, (n.t.), in "Philatelic Shorts" section
Recorded of POST RIDER #8, May 1981, p. 69.
Censor Range FPO Remarks Michalove, Peter, Exhibit of "Soviet Field Post
3 7-1943 (32645N) of World War II," [n.d.], Champaign, Illinois.
11 8-1943 (77657) Rauch, Dr. Walter J., "The Czechoslovak Field
12 6-1943 (26179Zh) Post in the Soviet Union," POST RIDER #22,
13 8-1943 (77657)
23 5-1943 (75601) Near Leningrad June 1988, pp. 36-62.
28 5-1943 (45338) Shmuely, Moshe, "Soviet Censorship and Other
28 7-1943 (25765D)
30 6-1943 (74132) Recorded from Markings," Rossica #112, 1988, pp. 17-40.
FILATELIYa SSSR #7, Skipton, David, Exhibit of "Control of the Mails
1973, p.17. Attached in the Soviet Union, 1917-1991," [n.d.], Green-
to 60th Army on the
Voronezh Front. belt, Maryland.
31 5-1943 (51956) Torrey, Gordon, Exhibit of "Censorship in the
38 4-1943 (374761)
-38 4-1943 (374761) USSR," [n.d.], Bethesda, Maryland.
Table 9. Variety 4 Blank space above line.

52 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

The CRIMEA in Philately

By Ivo Steyn

It is a strangely-shaped peninsula which the Ukrainian mainland. During the 1850s, the
sticks down from the Ukrainian mainland into Crimea became world famous as a place to fight
the Black Sea. It's seen a wondrous procession senseless and bloody wars. The hearts of military
of con-querors and khans, tsars and generals, di- history buffs beat faster at the mention of places
rectorates and commissars since the first inhabi- like Sevastopol', Inkerman and Balaklava. The
tants-probably nomads-discovered it. And, hearts of the soldiers who fought there, on the
more relevant for us, it has left a wonderful other hand, ceased beating altogether as a rule.
variety of philatelic traces which should appeal After the Revolution, the Crimea went through
to every philatelist, whether your interests re- a dizzying succession of governments. Crimean
volve around stamps or postal history. The regionalists, Bolsheviks, White Guards, even
Crimea has a lot to offer if you're looking for an anarchists, they all had a shot at playing king over
off-beat sideline, or a subject for a documentary the Crimea. After the final shuffle of the cards,
collection, or even a subject for a monograph. the remnants of Wrangel's Whites found them-
Any takers? selves locked up on the Crimea for a few months,
before the remarkably successful evacuation of
History the Whites coincided with the storming of the
Disregarding the really early history of the fortifications on the Perekop isthmus by the Red
Crimea, which presumably consists mostly of Army.
chaps dressed in animal skins hitting each other What was the first thing the Bolshevik gov-
on the head with tree trunks, we might as well emment did with its new acquisition? Right, let
start with the Golden Age of the Crimean Kha- the Cheka loose, under the guidance of the
nate, an almost-independent Muslim state that HungariancommunistBelaKun. Sincethepurges
flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. A of 1920-1921 killed at least 60,000 Crimeans,
mix of Ottoman Turkey, descendants of the Bela obviously let off steam on the Crimea after
Golden Horde, and some Italian settlements the failure of his Hungarian Soviet Republic.
thrown in made this a powerful and influential The Bolsheviks had shown little concern for the
state. The important cities were Bakhchisarai, traditions of the mostly Muslim Crimean Tatars
where the khans of the Giray clan built a beautiful during the Civil War, and initially exploited the
palace, the old fortress town of Kerch', and the Crimea as a Russian colony. The famine of 1921-
coastal places Gizleve (known as Evpatoriya in 1922 hit the Crimea hard as a result: Crimean
Russian times), Sevastopol', Yalta and Kaffa. crops were seized and transported to the central
Further inland, the towns of Karasubazaar and provinces, leaving the Crimeans with little or no
Eski Krim ("Old Krim") were already over the seed corn.
hill, while Simferopol' was slowly gaining in Ironically, the Crimea was given a singular
importance. honor in the midst of all this. On October 18th,
Under Catherine the Great, the Crimean Kha- 1921, the old Taurida province was split up, and
nate was slowly absorbed into the Russian Empire, the Crimean peninsula made into the Crimean
and, from then on, an exodus of Crimean Tatars Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR),
was matched by a steady influx of Russian, with Simferopol' as its capital. This was mostly
Ukrainian, Jewish and German immigrants. The due to the efforts of a remarkable man, Mir Said
Crimea had become a part of the Taurida prov- Sultan-Galiev. A Volga Tatar, he was a strong
ince, which also included a substantial section of proponent of the formation of a Muslim commu-
Rossica Journal Number 118 53
April 1992

nist party to give the enormous Muslim popula- Central Asia. Crimean Tatars who fought in the
tion of the old Russian empire its own organiza- Red Army were sent to Central Asia later, as soon
tion. Eventually he would pursue this aim too as they left active service. On June 30, 1945, the
vigorously for the party hierarchy. Arrested in Crimean ASSR was abolished and transformed
1923, he would be in and out of prison until Stalin into the Crimean Oblast' of the RSFSR. On
had him shot in 1940. But in 1921 it was Sultan- February 19, 1954, the Crimean Oblast' was
Galiev's report on the conditions in the Crimea given to the Ukrainian SSR as a birthday present
that led to the formation of the Crimean ASSR. on the 300th anniversary of the incorporation of
This formation is surprising when one realizes the Ukraine into the Russian Empire, and it has
the Crimean Tatars actually formed a minority in remained a part of the Ukrainian state ever since.
the Crimean ASSR (25% in 1923), with Russians The Crimean Tatars have waged a long and
and Ukrainians making up half of the population. dignified struggle for the right to return to their
The Crimean ASSR is thus a rare case of a homeland.
minority ethnic group being over- rather than
under-represented in its own government. Postmarks of the Crimea
The period of 1921-1928 is sometimes known
as the Golden Age of the Crimean Tatars. Under This tragic and bloody tale has left many
the guidance of an enlightened party boss, Veli traces in the postmarks used in the Crimean
Ibrahimov, Crimean Tatar language, culture, peninsula during the past century. Naturally,
tradition and religion was allowed to flourish. Imperial Russian postmarks exist in the usual
But the dream ended horribly when Stalin moved progression of forms: from the early straight-line
against "nationalist deviations" at the end of the to the single-circle/3-line-date type, to the single-
1920s. The Crimean ASSR was purged of those circle/crossed-date models, and finally, the fa-
whose attitudes towards the Crimean Tatars was miliar double-circle types. However, collectors
judged to be too soft. They were accused of should remember the Imperial Taurida province
"veliibrahimovism," just as Volga Tatars found also included a substantial section of the Ukrain-
themselves accused of "sultangalievism." The ian mainland, so not all Taurida province post-
collectivization and subsequent famine, and the marks are Crimean postmarks! A further trap is
"Terror of the Thirties" then formed the second set by Sevastopol', which sports a postmark with
phase of this nightmare. serial letter "b" and the numeral "2" in the lower
When the Crimea was overrun by the German half. (fig. 1) Despite appearances, this is not a
army in 1941, we might therefore be excused for postmark from Sevastopol's second town branch
thinking the Crimean Tatars hailed the Nazis as office, but one of those rare cases in which the
liberators, but this would be grossly incorrect, serial is represented both as a letter and as a
Partisans, Russian, Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar number. There was a town branch post office, of
alike, took to the mountains and waged a bitter which postmarks are decidedly scarce. (fig. 2)
war against the Nazi occupation. The idea of
Nazis collaborating with the Crimean Tatar
"Untermenschen" also loses all credibility after a
moment's thought.
This did not save the Crimean Tatars from
officially being branded collaborators after the 9.5 2110 12
Red Army retook the Crimea in 1944. On May
18th, 1944, virtually all Crimean Tatars were
arrested and deported under horrific conditions Figure 1. Postmark of Figure2. Sevastopol'
Figure 1. Postmark of Figure 2. Sevastopolr
(as much as 45% of the 250,000 deportees may Sevastopol' Main Post Town Branch Office.
have died en route) to various desolate places in Office. Serial b/2.
54 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Imperial Russian postmarks continued in use
in the Crimean ASSR period; I have seen them
used as late as 1927 and I do not doubt this date o :
can be moved even further forward. The first
new postmarks of the Crimean ASSR read (for 'i
example) SIMFEROPOL' P.T.K. KRYM, and D,
are wholly in Cyrillic. (fig. 3) The Golden Age Figure 5. The Cyrillic-modified Latin postmark of
Sudak.

po cancel is from the reverse side of the card and the Chaplinsk district in Ukraine.
placed as an inset TOPhere for CCPillustration purposes.

The bilingual postmarks are exotic and at-
s t iocrptn a oiie ati aet ri-ra te are ret are ro

l, /~l-^ MOCHBA. -

_f.~.1' ~~ *EHbrH MI0*,0HO UTUPAMaITb 1104TO0. TLIErPA4OI H 4OTOTEAErA4'

Figure 3. A bank card showing use of a Crimean reg-
istration cachet and a postmark from the all-Cyrillic Figure 6. A postcard from Voinka, Krym, with the last
group, taken into use around 1923. The larger Simfero- type ofCrimean ASSR postmark. Censored en route to
poi' cancel Is from the reverse side of the card and the Chaplnsk district in Ukraine.
placed as an inset here for illustration purposes.
The bilingual postmarks are exotic and at-
saw the introduction of Cyrillic-Arabic bilingual tractive and well worth collecting. For a list of
postmarks (fig. 4), but one of the side effects of post offices in the Crimea, see Andrew Cronin's
the denationalization campaign of the late 1920s study in Yamshchik Nos. 8-9. The all-Cyrillic
was the introduction ofa modified Latin alphabet and Cyrillic-Arabic types are pretty scarce from
for the Crimean ASSR (and other Muslim any place other than Simferopol' and Yalta.
ASSRs). From 1928 onward we therefore see Apart from postmarks, the Crimea had its
Cyrillic and modified Latin bilingual postmarks share of censor marks during WWI, with Alushta,
(fig. 5), to be succeeded in turn by wholly Cyrillic Evpatoriya, Kerch', Simferopol' and Sevasto-
postmarks when modified Latin gave way to pol' all contributingsome attractivecensormarks.
modified Cyrillic in 1938-1939. (fig. 6) The Some of these are pretty scarce as well. The Nazi
abolition of the ASSR status was also reflected in occupation also left a bewildering legacy of Nazi
the Crimean postmarks after WWII, and to this FPO postmarks, censor marks, etc. Incidentally,
day very ordinary postmarks are in use in the the Nazis intended to cleanse the Crimea of
Crimea. "Untermenschen" and resettle it with colonists
from South Tyrol, rename the place Taurida and
Sevastopol' Theodorichshafen, trivia fans please
1 note!
/ by A final category of postal markings is formed
by registration cachets from the 1920s. A 1923
Kj^ 't example reads "SIMFEROPOL' P.T.K. /
KRYMSKOI S.S.R.," which appears to over-
Figure 4. A rare example of a Cyrillic-Arabic post- se the a y of the Ciea, m it a-
state the autonomy of the Crimea, making it ap-
mark, from the old Imperial resort of Livadiya. ea e a on rep ofing habit
pear like a Union republic (a confusing habit
Rossica Journal Number 118 55
April 1992

which we find in many ASSRs). Although I have kopek green of the 1933 "Peoples of the USSR"
not yet seen them, I have no doubt that Cyrillic/ set, which features the Crimean Tatars, by that
Arabic registration cachets were also taken into time already well past their Golden Age of auton-
use. omy. (fig. 7) After the post WWII deportation
made "Crimean Tatar" a dirty word, the stamp
Crimean stamp issues quietly disappeared from Soviet catalogs. It re-
appeared after the Brezhnev Politburo partly re-
SeparatestampissuesfortheCrimeaareknown habilitated the Crimean Tatars in 1967. It was a
only from the Civil War, and from a variety of nasty bit of work, that rehabilitation. For one
sources. thing, it was kept pretty quiet, so most of the
There were actually two regional governments population of the USSR continued to think of the
in the Crimea during 1918. The first, under Crimean Tatars as despicable collaborators. It
General Sul'kevich, was pro-Tatar. The second, also refused to acknowledge the Crimean Tatars
which succeeded it when the Russian and Ukrain- as a separate ethnic group, primly referring to
ian section of the populace felt its rights were not them as "people of Tatar origin [formerly] resi-
being respected, was under a person with the dent in the Crimea." Since this denied that the
appropriate name Solomon Krym. The change Crimean Tatars were a separate nationality, it
took place on November 16, 1918. A single also sabotaged any idea of reinstating the Cri-
stamp was issued by the Sul'kevich regime, a mean ASSR. Even as late as 1980, a Soviet
surcharge of 35-kopeks on the imperforate 1- catalog continues to describe the people on the 3-
kopek Arms stamp. Not much is known about it, kopek "Peoples" stamp as "Tatars," while the
and covers are very scarce. Probably the best one stamp itself clearly names them Crimean Tatars.
ever recorded is in the happy possession of Mr. It may seem a slight distinction, but its connec-
George Werbizky, and illustrated in Yamshchik tion to the existence of a Crimean ASSR made it
No. 29. It bears a block of six of the Crimean a hot topic for many years.
stamp, and is a registered letter from Feodosiya
(on the Crimea) to Rostov.
A so called currency stamp (50-kopeks, large "
format) was also issued, but even less is known
about that! Postal use appears to have been
mostly philatelic.
The 1920 Wrangel administration of the Cri-
mea also left a stamp legacy. Four stamps were
given a surcharge of5-rubles and issued in August-
October 1920. They exist with if not every, then
most conceivable varieties, which always make L L -n I...
me slightly queasy. However, the stamps have u .
seen postal use, although covers are almost i
impossible to find.
Finally, a 100-ruble overprint with the text
"YUG ROSSII" is also ascribed to the Wrangel
administration, although incontrovertible evi- '
dence of its postal use has yet to be recorded.
Relad i s Figure 7. The 3-kop. stamp of the "Peoples" set. Hori-
elate e zontal and vertical watermarks, different shades and
To anyone with a sense of history, the most differences in the background. Two separate print-
To anyone with a sense of history, the most
significant stamp related to the Crimea is the 3- ings?
56 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Like all stamps of the "Peoples" issue, the 3- [Ed. note: According to V. Pantyukhin "USSR Advertis-
kopek stamp exists with horizontal and vertical ing Cards," Filateliya SSSR, 1978, Nos. 5 & 6-translated
Sby George Shalimoff (1982), the following exist:
watermark "Carpet." The position of the wa- Russian, Esperanto
#40. French, Russian, Esperanto
termark is sometimes hard to distinguish on a Qty 150,000-red color
loose stamp. A big help is the wove structure of #40A. printed in orange
the watermarked paper: the two positions of the #41. French, Ukrainian, Esperanto
watermark lead to a structure of tiny dashes in the Qty 100,000
#42. French, Georgian, Esperanto
paper, and these dashes occur horizontally or #. t 50,000
vertically, depending on the position of the wa- #40A is very scarce]
termark.
At 3 kopeks, the stamp was suited for the No famous Crimeans have been featured on
international printed matter rate, and my only postage stamps of the USSR, but one famous
two examples of this stamp on cover are both in Crimean Tatar has left a few philatelic traces.
that category. This is, of course, Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak,
Later in the 1930s, a set of stamps designed to the Supreme Leader of the White Armies. A
promote the USSR as a tourist trap featured thematic collection of Crimean matters should
several stunning views of Crimean landscapes, therefore never be without the Kolchak surcharges
with Crimean Tatars presumably whimpering in of 1919-1920!
the background after the Purges. The 1920
storming of the Perekop isthmus by the Red References:
Army has also been commemorated on stamps.
Postal stationery related to the Crimea does Fisher, Alan W. "The Crimean Tatars." Hoover
exist. One of those wonderful propaganda cards Institution, 1987.
of the 1930s states "SEE CRIMEA / PEARL OF Ceresa, Dr. R.J. "The Postage Stamps of Russia,"
THE USSR!," with a pretty picture. (fig. 8) With Vol. 3, parts 6-12. Cambridge, 1988.
a print run of 50,000, this card is not all that easy Cronin, Andrew. "Crimean Tatar Postal His-
to find. The value of the imprinted stamp is 7 tory." Yamshchik No. 9, 1981. Addendum in
kopeks, and the word "postcard" is inscribed in No. 10.
French, Georgian and Esperanto, to make things
interesting. Possibly there are other, similar
examples to be found.

o .- .-

0 Figure 8. The "See Crimea" postcard.
Rossica Journal Number 118 57
April 1992

"C HOBbIM rOjOM!"

by G. Adolph Ackerman

Several years ago, I became casually inter- each stamp/cover was placed on a bright red
ested in Soviet New Year stamps and New Year mount on stark white paper. The red mounting,
postal stationary decorated with you understand, is an absolute no-no for the
cachets. I noted a small collection exhibitor. But, then again, I did not envision a
of this material in a German auc- large international gold award for the small
tion and submitted a bid. Lo and exhibit.
behold, I had the nucleus for a The Soviet Union issued its first special New
small collection. The possibility Year stamp in late December 1962 to celebrate
of showing something different at the beginning of the year 1963. The 4k value
our local stamp exhibition in the one-frame exhibit features a white dove, blue globe, a decorated fir
section presented itself, and it came at the holiday tree, and a star on a deep purple background. A
season, too. The exhibit was nothing earth shak- fancy "Happy New Year" inscription appears on
ing, but it was fun, pretty, and it begot some nice a white background with stars on the accompany-
comments. ing label. This inaugural New Year stamp was
The exhibit presents the series of New Year issued in sheets of 20 stamps in both perforate
stamps and a scattering of cachet-decorated holi- and imperforate varieties. Apparently, a variety
day postal stationary with and without special of special New Year covers and postal stationary
New Year cancels. To match the holiday season, with cachets also were prepared, as well as spe-

W tMC tpM O. OMM tO OM.

Dove and Globe. First New Year issue by the USSR 1963. Alternating labels inscribed "C HOBuM "FoOM!"

rOAOA-I-_ _-
-. nflJ E .. ..

1963 New Year stamp on cover with cachet and decorative special cancel dated 1-1-63 from Moscow in red.
58 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

cial cancels that featured an outline silhouette of Special New Year cachets on postal station-
the Spasski Tower, plus a star and a fir tree with ary appear to be quite varied. Examples can be
a rocket ascending to the heavens to divide the found in the bourses at stamp shows along with
initials "CCCP." The "C" of the Cyrillic "Happy covers and postcards franked with various New
NewYear!"providedtherocket'sextendedvapor Year stamps. Cachets, as well as stamps, com-
trail. The holiday cancel is dated 1-1-1963 and only feature winter scenes, the Spasski Tower,
the name of the city where the item was posted, the Kremlin, a troika, stars, and fir trees. Even
e.g., Leningrad, Moscow, etc., is inscribed along Grandfather Frost is there along with rockets,
the right-hand margin of the design. rockets, and airplanes. Picture postcards ofholi-
Three separate stamps were prepared for the day scenes and decorations, gifts, and holiday
1964 holiday. One was a 6k multicolored stamp fun activities represent an added parameter to the
featuring a large decorated fir tree on a dark holiday collection.
background with trails of two rockets zig-zag- The special seasonal cancels may have been
going in the sky above. The other two stamps (4k rather short-lived. They preceded the issue of the
and 6k values) were of identical design having a first New Year stamps. Their use continued
large radiating star with the "1964" date and during the first years of issue of the New Year
showing a portion of a snow-covered fir tree and postage. I have examples for 1961-1964. These
the New Year greeting appropriately inscribed, cancels show scenes of the Kremlin with rockets
The 6k value used a fluorescent red-rose ink in the air, as well as fir trees and stars. Soviet
contrasting with the red star of the 4k value, cities on these holiday postmarks include
Other stamps in the series have been quite color- Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. I have no idea
ful and imaginative in design. They usually have how many different cities employed special
featured winter scenes of the Kremlin, of the cancels in the succeeding years, but I can assume
Spasski Tower and its large clock, as well as fir the practice has continued since I have several
trees. Holiday variations include the 1972 issue holiday postmarks from more recent years. One
in black, red, and gold showing Grandfather of these fancy cancels from Moscow (1 January
Frost and his horse-drawn troika with the Spasski 1980) is inscribed "Happy New Year" and in-
Tower and a small rocket in the background. The cludes Grandfather Frost with a cap and beard in
1980 issue shows "Misha," the Olympic mascot, the design. This marking provides an interesting
holding an envelope and a stamp of Grandfather transition for the Soviet holiday season. The
Frost, plus a decorated fir tree and a banner New Year holiday stamps and cachets were quite
inscribed "Happy New Year!." Only the 1970 popular in the Soviet Union. They lend a refresh-
New Year stamp breaks the holiday scene by ing flavor to the usual Soviet stamp and cachet
showing a profile bust of Lenin on a large flag. It designs and subjects.
was issued both for the New Year and the centen- Perhaps other members can provide factual
ary of Lenin's birth. The 1983 issue shows the information about Soviet NewYearpostal items,
Spasski Tower clock, fir branches, and a promi- their usage and changes over the years.
nent hammer and sickle. A double-white diago- Suggestions for further exploration of this mod-
nal banner with black lettering "C HOBblM ern area of Soviet philately would be appreci-
FOLIOM!" extends across the design. This per- ated. Those of you who have never exhibited
forate issue has two unreported printing vari- should try the New Year theme at your local
eties. One is imperforate and the second is show. This material is available at nominal cost,
missing the Cyrillic "Happy New Year!" in- and you will be pleasantly surprised by the
scription. viewers' responses.

Rossica Journal Number 118 59
April 1992

................. ---- ---

MI oM. Kremlin and snowflake 1973. "Misha" Olympic Mas-
"Misha" Olympic Mas-
JP I^ cot Bear holding a
Grandfather Frost
.. stamp with decorated fir
tree (background) 1980.
Ostankino Television Tower,
Molniya 1 Satellite, and
Kremlin 1967. Issued for the
New Year and the 50th
anniversary of the October
Revolution.

Spasski Tower Missing diagonal inscription Imperforate Variety!
Clock, New Year "C HOBblM rOLIOM!"
Banner, and Ham-
mer and Sickle -
1983.

nO-TA CCCP 1985 K

1992 New Year stamp furnished compliments of Gor-
don Torrey. This is probably the last New Year stamp
issued by the former Soviet Union.

Spasski Tower, Kremlin, and Snowflakes 1985.

60 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Postal stationary with cachet applied by the Moscow Postal stationary with cachet applied by the Moscow
Post Office for the 1960 New Year. Post Office for the 1961 New Year. [Ed. note: Note
mixed franking: 40-kop. of old currency; 6-kop. of
currency reform making 10 new kop. rate. New Year's
Day 1961 was the first day of usage for the new cur-
., 3rency. Therefore, this is also an FDC!]

vo* sonZ n -

Postal Stationary with New Year cachet design and -
circular cachet with polar bear of Zhokhova Island '-- -- ....
Polar Station. Canceled 22 April 1985 from Cherskii to Postal stationary with cachet applied by the Moscow
Kishnev. Post Office for the 1978 New Year.

1 ;,.A.ION 'L'",- :1

': = Y ....-- "--S \
W W- mi 2220-..3 _.1,g
New Year cachet 4k stationery with New Year New Year cachet on 6kstationery. Dated 13 December
stamp. Note: Picture of Grandfather Frost at top of 1975 from Novokuznetsk to Poland.
Spostmark.

Rossica Journal Number 118 61
April 1992

1952 Olympic Village Cancel

by Sherwin D. Podolsky

D during Olympic games, the athletes are The handsome hand cancel is known only in
housed in special areas called villages. Usually black.
there are postal services available for the athletes, The following list was provided by Mr. Ossi
trainers, and support staff to communicate with Virtanen of Finland.
their homeland. This article covers the 1952 V period of
Village Place/ Period of
Olympic Games that were held in Helsinki, Fin- Letter Area Usage
land and the particular village that housed the C Kapyl/Olympic Village 1.7-5.8.52
men and women of the Eastern Bloc countries. D Otaniemi/ Olympic Village 1.7-5.8.52
1952 marked the return of the Soviet athletes to of the East Bloc Countries,
men and women
the Olympic Games since the Stockholm Olym- E Sairaanhoitajaopisto/ 1.7-5.8.52
pics in 1912. Olympic Village for women
Cancellations used for the 1952 Olympic F Domus Academica/press hotel 10.7-5.8.52
s by te F h Pt O e c o a G Satakunta/press hotel 10.7-5.8.52
Games by the Finnish Post Office consisted of a H Lauttasaari/camping area 17.7-5.8.52
double circle measuring 35mm for the outer I Lehtisaari/camping area 17.7-5.8.52
circle and 23 for the inner circle. Helsinki is J Seurasaari/camping area 15.7-5.8.52
K Kauppakorkeakoulu/office rooms 15.7-5.8.52
carried between the two circles with the Finnish of the organizing committee
version on top and the Swedish version on the L Uimastadion/swimming stadium 23.7-3.8.52
bottom. Inside the inner circle there is a five-line M ElIintarhan seutu/training area
read : for athletes
inscription reading: N Stadion/The Olympic Stadium 15.7-3.8.52
Line 1: the five Olympic rings P Verovirasto/office rooms of the
Line : the five Olympic rings organizing committee
Line 2: XV OLYMPIA R Kioskit/10 different post offices 15.7-3.8.52
Line 3: the date in different contest places
Line 4: a letter representing the location of the S Seutula/Helsinki airport 15.7-3.8.52
temporary post office at an Olympic Letters used, their locations and period of usage
site.

Tv 01,vMPlA
'/ 19 7 52 1,\X 0 206

& omen PoIstierk.keiy ()r/.
I'lM&l =K AA"kat 6 -- 1P" 230a

1952 cover illustrating scarce "D" cancel.
62 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Many cancels are commonly known without a Scott 1992 Standard
letter; these were used at the main Olympic Postage Stamp Catalogue.
Stadium, which also used the letter N. The most Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, OH.
common letters found are N, P, and R. The letter
D for the Olympic village of the East Bloc coun-
by George Shaw
tries is extremely scarce, perhaps rare.
The cover illustrated to the left shows a the The new Scott catalogues contain over
1 he new Scott catalogues contain over
very scarce "D" cancellation used during the
2400 price changes; this compares with more
1952 Olympic games. Although philatelic, the 0 c t m r
than 600 changes in the 1991 volumes. Nearly
cover I obtained from Mr. Virtanen, and which is changes .
95% of this year's changes are increases. The
illustrated, is one of only two I have ever seen. I 99 ott eass e minimum value frm
S. 1992 Scott increases the minimum value from 5
wonder if any member of Rossica has seen other the a
cents to 15 cents; changes caused by the altera-
covers with a "D" cancel, perhaps posted by an
tion in the floor price are not included in this
Olympic athlete or participant to his or her East s he onl additions to the historic
c c ry survey. The only additions to the historical
Bloc home country.
Scon on t t t oc o listings are various miniature sheets issued from
In connection with the East Bloc and Soviet o1
1983 to 1988.
interest in sports, I am also seeking to learn about, 1
In the pre-1940 period, there are relatively few
the 1935 Spartacist Games and its very attractive n he re19 er h are relatively few
changes. The 1889 small arms (Scott 41-45)
philatelic issue (Russia Scott Nos. 559-68): the changes. The 1889 small anrms ( t 41-0 ud
increase from $14.45 unused and $1.80 used to
history of the Games; technical details of the
stamps; how they were sold; duration of postal $.1 .. 3- -
lithographed definitive perforated 14.5 x 15
availability; what values exist on covers, etc. lithogr d defiitis perforated 14.5 x
(Scott 263-264) fall from $50.00 unused and
If anyone has any information please contact (Scott 263-264) fall from $50.00 unused and
me at: $19.00 used to $42.00 and $16.00. Similarly, the
me at:
S. 50-kopek typographed imperforate of 1925-25
"0 herw D odolsky (Scott 275A) drops from $400 unused and $27.50
16035 Tupper Street
orth Hills, CA 913 05 to $350.00 and $25.00. The major increase
North Hills, CA 91343-3045
USA during the 1930s is the 1931-32 imperforate
definitive set (Scott 456-67). It rises from $76.46
to $114.42 in unused condition.
[Ed. Note: Although Mr. Podolsky is not a member of About 30% of unused and 20% of used stamps
Rossica, and this article is not considered related to Rus-
sian philately or postal history, Ifelt his article would make issued during the 1940s increase. Unused issues
an informative addition to the journal. The subject is that are up sharply include the 1941 Lermontov
purely topical in nature. Perhaps there are topical collectors (Scott 850-51), 1947 Moscow (Scott 1132-46),
in Rossica that will be inspired by this article and write an and the 1948 small definitive (Scott 1214-21).
article for the Journal.] Some of the largest increases for sets in both
unused and used condition include: the 1943
From Khronika" in "Zhizn' i Tekhnika Revolution Anniversary (Scott 878-85); the 1946
Svyazi" No. 9-10, Sep-Oct 1924, p. 193. Medals (Scott 1032-46), and the 1948 Young
Communist and Young Pioneers (Scott 1284-
Transit of international correspondence by 94). The used 1950 Moscow Buildings (Scott
airmail through the USSR 1518-25) are down from $168.00 to $144.00.
During the 1950s, many of the increases are
Transportation of a part of the Chinese mail focused on 1951 and 1960. Major increases for
transiting the USSR to Western Europe has been both unused and used condition are: the 1951
established, using 'airplanes from Moscow to Composers (Scott 1584-85); the 1952 Sedov
Kinigsberg. (Scott 1631); and the 1960 Karelian/Udmurt
I
Rossica Journal Number 118 63
April 1992

Many cancels are commonly known without a Scott 1992 Standard
letter; these were used at the main Olympic Postage Stamp Catalogue.
Stadium, which also used the letter N. The most Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, OH.
common letters found are N, P, and R. The letter
D for the Olympic village of the East Bloc coun-
by George Shaw
tries is extremely scarce, perhaps rare.
The cover illustrated to the left shows a the The new Scott catalogues contain over
1 he new Scott catalogues contain over
very scarce "D" cancellation used during the
2400 price changes; this compares with more
1952 Olympic games. Although philatelic, the 0 c t m r
than 600 changes in the 1991 volumes. Nearly
cover I obtained from Mr. Virtanen, and which is changes .
95% of this year's changes are increases. The
illustrated, is one of only two I have ever seen. I 99 ott eass e minimum value frm
S. 1992 Scott increases the minimum value from 5
wonder if any member of Rossica has seen other the a
cents to 15 cents; changes caused by the altera-
covers with a "D" cancel, perhaps posted by an
tion in the floor price are not included in this
Olympic athlete or participant to his or her East s he onl additions to the historic
c c ry survey. The only additions to the historical
Bloc home country.
Scon on t t t oc o listings are various miniature sheets issued from
In connection with the East Bloc and Soviet o1
1983 to 1988.
interest in sports, I am also seeking to learn about, 1
In the pre-1940 period, there are relatively few
the 1935 Spartacist Games and its very attractive n he re19 er h are relatively few
changes. The 1889 small arms (Scott 41-45)
philatelic issue (Russia Scott Nos. 559-68): the changes. The 1889 small anrms ( t 41-0 ud
increase from $14.45 unused and $1.80 used to
history of the Games; technical details of the
stamps; how they were sold; duration of postal $.1 .. 3- -
lithographed definitive perforated 14.5 x 15
availability; what values exist on covers, etc. lithogr d defiitis perforated 14.5 x
(Scott 263-264) fall from $50.00 unused and
If anyone has any information please contact (Scott 263-264) fall from $50.00 unused and
me at: $19.00 used to $42.00 and $16.00. Similarly, the
me at:
S. 50-kopek typographed imperforate of 1925-25
"0 herw D odolsky (Scott 275A) drops from $400 unused and $27.50
16035 Tupper Street
orth Hills, CA 913 05 to $350.00 and $25.00. The major increase
North Hills, CA 91343-3045
USA during the 1930s is the 1931-32 imperforate
definitive set (Scott 456-67). It rises from $76.46
to $114.42 in unused condition.
[Ed. Note: Although Mr. Podolsky is not a member of About 30% of unused and 20% of used stamps
Rossica, and this article is not considered related to Rus-
sian philately or postal history, Ifelt his article would make issued during the 1940s increase. Unused issues
an informative addition to the journal. The subject is that are up sharply include the 1941 Lermontov
purely topical in nature. Perhaps there are topical collectors (Scott 850-51), 1947 Moscow (Scott 1132-46),
in Rossica that will be inspired by this article and write an and the 1948 small definitive (Scott 1214-21).
article for the Journal.] Some of the largest increases for sets in both
unused and used condition include: the 1943
From Khronika" in "Zhizn' i Tekhnika Revolution Anniversary (Scott 878-85); the 1946
Svyazi" No. 9-10, Sep-Oct 1924, p. 193. Medals (Scott 1032-46), and the 1948 Young
Communist and Young Pioneers (Scott 1284-
Transit of international correspondence by 94). The used 1950 Moscow Buildings (Scott
airmail through the USSR 1518-25) are down from $168.00 to $144.00.
During the 1950s, many of the increases are
Transportation of a part of the Chinese mail focused on 1951 and 1960. Major increases for
transiting the USSR to Western Europe has been both unused and used condition are: the 1951
established, using 'airplanes from Moscow to Composers (Scott 1584-85); the 1952 Sedov
Kinigsberg. (Scott 1631); and the 1960 Karelian/Udmurt
I
Rossica Journal Number 118 63
April 1992

Period Mint Used Total
Up Down Up Down Up Down Total
Czarist
Major Varieties 8 0 5 0 13 0 13
Minor Varieties 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1921-1930 8 7 0 10 8 17 25
1931-1940 24 17 15 0 39 17 56
1941-1950 259 0 163 8 422 8 430
1951-1960 129 0 50 0 179 0 179
1961-1970 367 4 103 4 470 8 478
1971-1980 328 0 150 0 478 0 478
1981+ 340 1 247 1 587 2 589
Semi-postals 68 0 46 0 114 0 114
Airmails 28 1 13 1 41 2 43
Trans. Fed. Rep. 0 15 0 0 0 15 15
Ukraine 3 0 1 0 4 0 4

TOTAL 1562 45 193 24 2355 69 2424
Scott 1992 PricingTrends

overprints (Scott 2336-7). Many of the imper- Linn's Trends was released for the first time in
forate stamps issued in limited quantities in the over two years in August 1991. Now that Scott
late 1950s are up sharply, including Scott Nos. claims to reflect retail prices, how do their values
1979, 2095-2106, and 2147-51. compare to Linn's Trends, which purport to
Increases are relatively small but pervasive show retail? Through 1940, about half of the sets
from 1961 to 1988. The 1966-68 definitive are priced higher in Linn's Trends than in Scott.
(Scott 3257-68, 3470-81) are up about 30% However, Linn's Trends outpaces Scott by a
unused and 20% used. Most souvenir sheets margin of three to one for issues from 1940 to
show higher catalog values, particularly the 1977 1950. Although a similar pattern applies to
Icebreaker (Scott 4586). The miniature sheets of unused stamps for the 1950s, a more even picture
8 are listed for 1983 to mid-1988. Often printed occurs for used stamps of the same time period.
in quantities of 15,000 or less, these are unpriced.
Unfortunately, the listings are incomplete, lack-
ing both the 1982 issues (Scott 5049 and 5058-
61) and all recent issues. From "Khronika" in "Zhizn' i Tekhnika
Back-of-the-book changes are relatively mi- Svyazi" No. 6, June 1924, p. 167.
nor. Modern semi-postals and airmails follow
the pattern of increases of the corresponding Airmail Routes
regular issues. There are no changes in either the
Offices in China or Offices in the Turkish Em- In view of the [recent] opening of regular
pire. The various imperforates of the Transcau- airmail flights on the Odessa-Khar'kov line, the
casian Federated Republic are reduced by 40% Odessa Post-and-Telegraph Office has begun
these stamps were not adjusted downwards in the accepting any kind of mail for air dispatch. Mail
change to net pricing in the 1990 catalog. Several will be received in Elisavetgrad, Poltava, and
Ukrainian stamps increased, notably the 1919 Khar'kov, and by the same route back to Odessa.
overprints (Scott 72-73) and the 1919 bi-color Planes leave Odessa once each week on Tues-
(Scott 74). days at 5 a.m., and arrive there on Mondays at 11
a.m. Airmail to Khar'kov takes 5-6 hours.
I
64 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Interesting Items

TWELVES by George Shaw Unusually, it was sent from Moscow's 12th City
This postal card is interesting for the date of Post Office, making it four "twelves" on a single
the cancellation. Collectors throughout the 20th card. The orthogonal cancellation, also from 12
century have had a fascination with dates when December 1912, is from the Moscow City Dis-
the year, month, and day are the same. The patch Office (5th dispatch) and indicates that the
illustrated card is dated 12 December 1912. letter was dispatched at 4 P.M. on the same day.

lIt!

Postage Due Post Card by Mel Kessler

This PC was sent from the METELIN ROPIT office on 20 February 1904, and passed through the
Constantinople ROPIT office on 23 February in route to France. A 2-kop Russian stamp surcharged
10 para is on the front, and the same stamp is on the back. The
four kopeks were insufficient postage so the French penalized A1 V .- 4 /,/,x
the recipient 10 centimes to make the correct PC rate abroad. On V,
the back of the PC are two elves carrying an easter egg on a pole. Iwo,
The writer certainly wrote much on the PC. Postage due /
postcards are certainly not common.

Dopisnice. Postkarte. Ltvlez6-Lap. ,
Corrpondnzkari. Carte posale. Ca4olinaposta7.4
PPst ard. WeftpostverPos, CieBr bya t.
Unions posale univerl. P io e on 23 a
Kiara knespondencpt Koandtia
Rossica Journal Numbertily 118 65
ApZril B "At- T1992. t.
Coopr3tnt t pfji. C oltte p. SE- / \* ^ ^ l l V l

Rossica Journal Number 118 65
April 1992

Illustrated Military Letter Sheet by Mel Kessler
The illustrated regimental letter sheet (in green) is from the 66th Butyrsky Regiment, dated 18 March
1903, stationed at Kholm, Lyublin province. The letter, six pages long, is in stylized yiddish. The
envelope with the letter was sent to LETICHEV in the Podol'sk province. The addressee refused
receipt of the letter. The envelope has a DOPLATIT (postage due) oval marking. From what I have
been able to ascertain from the translation (help from others who read Yiddish), the letter is for one
of the daughters of the addressee, apparently a romance the father discouraged. Incidently, a Jewish
soldier was not very common in the tsarist military.

Of 9A /

^/ J( I f7^ 'jI iZL f 2". -
,#p- 66-1 1.
o -q - ., /,) ,P ',. r., 5 YTblPCHIBr i

I- ) / I -7 "I- l

e_7 12 \\7?o G rd
..
)n i '-. LA' (F /0

Ale. I P ri., .;v ,. G6 liffa

66 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992
April 1992

Advertising Letter Sheet by Mel Kessler

In the past these advertising covers were seen more often than now, especially in used condition.
Unused covers of this type are readily available. It was issued for the benefit of children as charity
under the auspices of Empress Maria. The letter is written 11 May 1891, but the cancellation is
KHAR'KOV, 30 April 1891. The cover is in excellent condition, no tears, fully intact.

................. ...............................o........................
BjiaHKrn aTroT nponaeTcR noBciony aa 5 KOg. '
s0o Pft 3 A
c sI 3AKPbITOE nMCbMO
0C'h Ohill.'lIRll Mii .

4wrwj LfC~ ^AO W(d C

*w (.x- -wmsni

1 835.
OconaaZu as 1o10 ro q POcclCao: 00Meca 3acrpaxoeaia

CTAPT 'ill AI bAI P l) A P I I KA A
PORflEi N nlAHHHO HAPO/HOE TPAXOBAHIE.
BP. P. i A. ,LHAEPHIXCI. .--.,. ,..-
C.ETEPSYPP Wo :.. U-
TapC u. od.T.sT i au" tll l 4lll O V .
A. 8. Arora Aip iJ npcia .. & S. na ..r,t. slp. C. r rppt. ,1. I '.. 1 ,
.o oi. c ?. .ator.o .Icr.,uns.. OiKfuwgra 3ac sop aeot. a .
*peiOll-lypauIl lsw hanlrSl h0ailaitle. ropoP..us. Si|o;ss.
yfelW"*a. cABPMKHA

S lllllllZOI re;-:.Z e-. sei'iBxi :: x -L .:- :--.e .- .

,,IO CT"U. AHIif H BH e 'H i
P. IlE.siwuHH UMcusarre's sm..eo.
TOProoblt ii O'b a6 Btaptuelt. 'A- II'/r.m.lHa ",
A. M. fYCEB7 u KX. ,
C.-.rMPr6ypPa. SAbwnUA Maepcwax. 30.

Rossica Journal Number 118 67
April 1992

Reviews of Recently Published Literature

The British Journal of Russian Philately No. 2. P.E. Robinson writes on the remarkable
71, Autumn 1991. Ivo Steyn, Editor. censormark "specimen sheet" in "The
Russian Military Censor at Manchuriya,"
The British Joiur the only one recorded.
Of Rusiani Philately 3. "Misrouted Mail and Translators' Marks"
-71 by Dr. Casey expands on markings other
than the red triangles.
4. "Mail from German POWs in Soviet
Captivity 1945-1956" by Peter Micha-
love summarizes information from a
number of sources to "shake the tree" on
this little explored subject.
5. "Postmarks on Soldiers' Mail in Russia
-A-u--ruNi"199 --- during WWI 1914-1918" by Alexander
-w, Epstein. The types, functions, and can-
Stamps-only collectors will find BJRP #71 cels of the FPOs are explained, and their
very thin gruel, but postal history fanatics may be postal history is well presented.
excused for wearing a sappy grin. Beginning 6. "Field Post Offices of the Russian Army
with the opening shots of what will become a in WWI 1914-1918," also by Alexander
major overhaul of our knowledge about Russian Epstein. Besides more detailed postal
POs in China and ending with a huge Imperial history, it contains a 15-page listing of
FPO feast, this issue has broken more new ground FPOs, units they supported, locations
in the tsarist period than any English-language when known, fronts to which assigned,
philatelic journal in recent memory. Consider: and date ranges. It expands considerably
on the list provided by Messrs. Robinson
1. "The opening of the Russian Post in and Kiryushkin in "Russian Postmarks."
China" by Dr. Raymond Casey. Tchil- and disagrees with it in numerous places.
inghirian and Stephen (T&S) believed
that the Russian Government Postal Serv- The issue is rounded out by a follow-up on the
ice began operating there around 1858, "1920 Blagoveshchensk Issue," by Ivo Steyn,
and that the postal links in existence from reviews of literature, "Baltica-90" by George
1728 were run by the Chinese. In fact, it Henderson, and "The Story Behind the Stamp"
was a Russian operation. The precise by V. Sheppard. A tremendous issue!
date of opening for the Russian POs in
Chefoo, Shanghai, and Hankow is now David Skipton
known, thanks to Dr. Casey's digging in
the fabulous Tomsk Archive-19 No-
vember 1896. As for cancellations, T&S
Peking #1 is shown to be a fake, Tien-
Tsin #1 and #2 are reversed. And there is
much, much more.

68 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

"Informatsionnyispravochnikkollektsionera. The Large Philatelic Dictionary (BojibmOR
Vypusk N2.1. Raznovidnosti pochtovykh Hna'aTenHCTHtecKHf CJIOBaOr published in
marok SSSR ne ukazannye v kataloge TsFA." 1988 by "Radio and Communications," Soviet
(A Collector's Information Handbook. 1 Union. Price not available.
Edition. Varieties of USSR Postage Stamps,
Unlisted in the TsFA Catalog), by V.V.
Vlasenko, Kiev, 1990. (No price given. 25,000 : r
printed, with further editions planned.)
qmare.1IllcTrs1cct .
_' C10oaph ..
A slender, softbound booklet of 48 pages,
consisting of an introduction, author's foreword -.
and variety listing, this compilation will be a l
welcome addition to the serious Soviet stamp
collector's arsenal. However, a word of caution:
the title is a bit misleading in that the unlisted
varieties depend upon the author's central prem-
ise; "differences in the configuration and mutual A total of 12 authors are listed. The dictionary
positioning of raster elements on stamps with the is a very useful book for those that read Russian.
same design" are in fact true varieties. Two It contains over 4,000 entries, dealing with essen-
rasters are addressed, the "square" and the "rhom- tially all aspects of philately. Topics are arranged
boid." A stamp printed using a square raster will alphabetically by subject. For example, under
display minute differences from one produced by "Stamp" (Marka), there are 244 entries, i.e.,
means of a rhomboid raster-size variations of postage-due stamps, railroad stamps, telegraph
less than 1 mm (and usually much less), and that, stamps, etc.
together with the usual shade and miniscule shifts On the minus side, the dictionary is over
(George will get you for this one Dave!), consti- burdened with reproductions of Lenin (the old
tutes a new variety worthy of inclusion in the party line nonsense is maintained). There are
major catalogs. Then there are the varieties that also some serious omissions. The stamps of
result from a horizontal raster vs. a vertical raster. Soviet Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and
(A relatively few entries record differences in Ukraine are listed, but there is no mention of
size of letters, missing or misplaced periods, etc.) these states prior to communist takeover when
These differences will seldom be apparent to they were independent. All Civil War issues of
the naked eye a 4x or 7x magnifying glass is the White armies as well as those of Batum are
necessary to determine the type and position of absent!
the raster. If you don't mind squinting for hours Another serious shortcoming is the listing of
on end, and if you accept a raster variant as a the Postmaster Provisionals of the 1920s. They
stamp variety worthy of inclusion in your album, are not listed all together as a unique topic, but are
you can't afford to be without this booklet. To dispersed throughout the dictionary. Therefore,
use it effectively, you will need the "Katalog to find all towns that issued these stamps (really
pochtovykh marok SSSR 1918-1980 gg.," as this revalued existing stamps), one has to look through
booklet uses its numbering system, the entire dictionary. This is very inconvenient.
In fairness to the author, this method of dif- Even with these intentional omissions, the
ferentiation can be a valuable tool in determining dictionary is a worthwhile addition to one's phila-
whether a given stamp issue has been reprinted, telic library.
and in a rigidly technical sense these are indeed George G. Werbizky
varieties.
a David Skipton
69 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Soviet Collector #27, 1990, Moscow. Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 10:
Russia (Fourth Edition, 1991) Stanley Gib-
bons Publications Ltd., London and Ring-
wood, 16.50.

It's too bad that issues of Soviet Collector-are
so hard to obtain. Almost every issue contains
one or more important research articles. The
current issue has the conclusion of Kaminskii's -- -
series on (internal) postal rates in pre-revolu- i.
tionary Russia. The series, begun in #22, is a gold
mine for rate enthusiasts. The final installment
covers the period 1914-1917, with much infor- The fourth edition illustrates why Gibbons is
mation on military mail. Dobin and Ratner have the most useful general catalog covering Russian
written an article on registered correspondence philately in the English language. Its 381 pages
from St. Petersburg/Petrograd/ Leningrad from contain listings consistently more detailed than
1872 to 1945. The various regulations governing Scott, historical footnotes that place a number of
registered and COD mail are discussed in rela- the Civil War issues in context, as well as includ-
tion to this one city. Many labels and handstamps ing related areas such as the Baltic States and
are pictured. An article by Mandrovskii dis- Mongolia in a single volume.
cusses and illustrates Russian and early Soviet Although it lacks proofs, printing quantities,
stamp booklets, and contains a catalog of all and modern imperforates that are found in Michel,
known types. The series of articles by Levin on Gibbons excels in clear illustrations dif-
WWI mute cancels, begun in #23, is continued ferentiating the lithographed and typographed
with further illustrations. There are two articles printings of the 1923-27 Small Definitives as
on picture postcards, one relating to Urzhum and well as describing the two types of many issues
the other to Arkhangel'sk. There is a long article from 1947-51 that are missing from the German
on the postal history of the international brigades catalog. For the regular user of Scott's who is
in the Spanish Civil War, as well as other relevant looking for additional varieties, Gibbons lists
articles on medals, coins, bonds, lottery tickets, several sizes of the 1883-8 issue as well as dis-
and miniature soldiers. tinguishing between perforation 12.5 and perfo-
Howard Weinert ration 12.5 x 12 for many issues from 1925 to
1962.

70 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

There are several additions to the catalog, be- 5IMIIHK The Post Rider, No. 29, Dec. 1991.
yond five years of new issues. The 50-kopek The Canadian Society of Russian Philately, Box
postal-savings stamp used postally has been re- 5722 Station "A," Toronto, ONM5W 1P2, Can-
written. Several imperforates (included in Scott ada.
for years) have been added to the 1902-05 defini-
tives and the 1938 Polar sets. A dozen minor
varieties have been added to the 1924 postage
dues. More than 20 listings are added for stamps
that are imperforate between varieties to the is-
sues for the 1930s to 1950s. A second size is
listed for the 1944 Leningrad Souvenir sheet.
The Czechoslovak Army and Polish Military
Post (both 1918 and 1942) are included for con-
venience. Siberia and Batum have been re-
written and the 1919 Berlin issues of Lithuania
break out perforation varieties. A cautionary
footnote has been added to the Nikolaevsk-on-
Amur issue questioning whether genuinely
postally used stamps exist.
There are two disappointments in the listings. This issue contains: Postage Stamps of the
Mongolia is not listed after 1985 because Gib- Zemstvos, by ALex Artuchov; Soviet Airmail
bons has been unable to obtain release dates. The Labels, by Robert Taylor; The Roumanian Posts
recent issues of Lithuania are also not included, in Transnistria, by C6lin Marinescu & Dumitru
although they are noted. C. Biala; Oval Railway Postmarks 2, by Mi-
Prices tend to be up between 15 and 30% since chael Renfro & Leonard Tann; Postal Stationery
1986, barely keeping pace with the comparable Cards for Soldiers' Mail WWI, by Alexander
British inflation. Increases of greater than 50% Epstein; Expedition Covers, Andrew Cronin;
during the Czarist period include: SG 3 (Scott 3) The Auxiliary Postage Due Stamp of 1924, by
unused; SG 4 (Scott 4) used, and SG 35 (Scott Ladislav ervinka; Postage Stamps of South
26a) unused. The 15-kopek and 25-kopek of Russia: Comments and Illustrations, by George
1904 quadruple in used condition. Soviet stamps G. Werbizky; A Tribute to Collectors, by Alex
at least doubling include: SG 477A (Scott 359a) Artuchov; Opening Old Wounds, by Ya. Afan-
used; SG 574b-575b (Scott C12b-13b) used; SG gulskii; Captain Rudnev, the cruiser "Varyag"
1042-4 (Scott C77-9) unused; SG MS1463b (Scott and sundry varieties, by Andrew Cronin; A
1327 imperforate) used. The Romanov issue Double-Censored Cover via Canada, by Allan L.
overprinted for the Offices in the Turkish Empire Steinhart; The Son of Uncle Arthur, by Ivo Steyn;
also more than doubles in used condition. There to end with Philatelic Shorts, Review of Litera-
are a few price reductions, notably various 1939- ture, Journal Fund, and the Collector's Corner. A
1949 small-size definitive. most unusual issue!

George Shaw Gary A. Combs

71 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

"Georgia: Postal Cancellations 1918-1823," The list of Georgian post offices of these
by P.T. Ashford, 9 Pentre Close, Ashton, Chester years number 225, including 14 in Armenia
CH3 8BR, England, 1991. Available from the (disputed territory). Names are given in English,
author for $20 (no checks), and in hand-written Russian and Georgian,
GEORGIA: "reconstructed" if not actually seen.
This is followed by a descriptive listing of the
POSTAL known handstamps/cancellations, with 171 il-
CANCELLATIONS lustrations of the circular types. The largest
1918 -1923 number (50) are from Tiflis/Tbilisi, followed by
Batum (10), Sukhumi (8), Kutais (7), and Poti
(5). The number of localities for which cancella-
tions are shown is 63, a little more than one
s quarter of known post offices. Much scope
remains for seeking the elusive placenames, armed
P.T.ASHFORD with Mr. Ashford's hint to "Learn Georgian!"
Other valuable discussions concern railway
In his latest and very esoteric handbook, TPOs and steamship markings, as well as the use
Peter Ashford describes and illustrates the 1918- of FPOs by British, Indian, French, and German
1923 cancellations of this turbulent nation, in a troops. Mail of Georgian origin but cancelled at
work of seven chapters with maps, postal routes, Constantinople (not all genuine) is also described.
a bibliography, and a list of post offices. Ashford comes close to the opinion that the
The first chapter is an historical introduction production of overprinted stamps and of covers
which readers will find very valuable in setting in Constantinople was a hoax intended to dispose
the political and chronological framework. of such items, even though a few apparently were
Briefly, this describes the relationship of Arme- accepted by postal authorities in Tbilisi. If infor-
nia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Bol'sheviki, mation is available, it would have been interest-
to Turkey and to Germany, and to Dunsterforce ing to describe the scale of such industry so that
in 1917-1918. its probability might be assessed.
Chapter two discusses the availability of The final chapter describes forged cancella-
stamps (Imperial Russian Arms Type) in Geor- tions and covers. It is followed by a tentative
gian offices and the nature of cancellations ap- compilation of postal rates and a useful bibliog-
plied to them in 1917-1918. Until late 1919 raphy. Last of all is an alphabetical list (in
cancellations were in the Russian language. There English) of 225 post offices.
are useful comments on CTOs.
The main subject of this study is the cancel- -Denys Voaden
lations in Georgian, and Mr. Ashford discusses ***************************.
the language and its alphabet(s). The modern
The following individual has requested a phila-
written language (of recent Soviet times) uses 33 The low dividual has requested a phila-
letters, whittled down from 39 (or 38, or 40!); telic pen pal.
seven obsolete ones are included as some have
Mr. Feodor A. Satirov
been noted in cancellations of the 1918-1923
period. The gradual introduction of these mark- 23 Toponaya Str
Izmail 272630
ings, with examples and transliterations, is given.
Then the use of the stamps of the Georgian SSR Odessa Region
and of the Transcaucasion Federation concludes Ukraine
the treatment of the actual adhesives.

72 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Ukrainian DP Camp, POW Camp, Govern- This well written and valuable volume should
ment In Exile, and National Council Issues by help to fill in the gaps and update information
Borys Fessak. Published by the Ukrainian Phila- needed by collectors and exhibitors. Borys Fes-
telic and Numismatic Society and available from sak is to be complimented for a job well done.
Dr. Ingert Kuzych, P.O. Box 3, Springfield, VA
22150 for $16 postpaid. Paul Spiwak

| U ,s "As I went to press with Journal No. 117, we had

a decent rate of new applicants. However, we are
also experiencing an attrition rate that equals our
i. applicant rate.

-. Membership in October 1991: 332
(corrected number)
Finally, a book in English to help identify New members since October: 26
those Ukrainian private issues that you knew Resignations Received: 2
little about, and probably couldn't identify. This Ingemar Lidholm, James Pike
90 page volume contains approximately 187 Deceased Members 2
illustrations and is based primarily on Julian Norman Epstein, Stig Andersen
Maksymchuk's "Catalog of Ukrainian Postage
Stamps" (in Ukrainian) and numerous other Members removed from list for
sources in French, German, Italian, and English. non-payment of dues: 21
The volume provides much sought after data
suchasbackgroundinformation, quantities when Joseph P. Chinnici, Maurice Cook, David
available, issue dates, designer name, printing Denbow, Marion Dudek, Christopher Grippo,
and paper information, and cancellations used. John Haydon, Wayne Holder, D. Iworsky,
After acknowledgements, an introduction, and a August Leppi, David Montanye, John Otten,
tranliteration of the Ukrainian alphabet, the book Frangois Rochon, Michael Rogers, Herbert
goes into detail on the following topics: Sauvage, William Schipper, Herbert Sloan,
Michael Tihomirov, Bjarne Ursin, Victor
Ukrainian Government in Exile Wasilov, Robert Williams, Ralph Young.
Ukrainian POW Camp in Rimini, Italy
Ukrainian DP Camps in Germany
-Regensburg Applications in adjudication: 1
-Bayreuth New Applications in-progress: 4
-Neu-Ulm
-Ulm/Donau
-Ellwangcn-Jagst I
Ukrainian National Council
The book concludes with a bibliography from
which Mr. Fessak got his information for this
volume.
73 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

New Members

Our membership now stands at 332-26 new 1440 Edward H. Jarvis
ones since the October journal! The new mem- 145 26th Avenue
bers are heartily welcomed and, if one of them San Francisco, CA 94121
happens to be your neighbor or a friend, person- USA
ally welcome them to our favorite hobby. 1441 Dr. David N. Vigor
The new members are: 601 E. Minges Road
Battle Creek, MI 49015
1431 John S. Babiy USA
11317 NW 44th Street 1442 Dr. David K. Meriney
Coral Springs, FL 33065-7296 4 Duryea Road
USA Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
1432 Gunnar Koppermann USA
15 Palmer 1443 William E. Barker
Uncasville, CT 06382 3675 West 130th Street
USA Cleveland, OH 44111
1433 Leslie A. Lear USA
283 Redwood Avenue 1444 Patrick J. Eppel
Santa Clara, CA 95051 108 Pinewood Circle
USA Apple Valley, MN 55124
1434 Frank Schorr USA
431 Hunter's Cove Court 1445 George W. Halstead
Lawrenceville, GA 30244 5033 Fillmore Avenue # 20
USA Alexandria, VA 22311
1435 William G. Boltz USA
2519 N.E. 106 Place 1446 Martin Holmsten
Seattle, WA 98125 Handelseplanaden 15 a
USA SF-65100 a VASA
1436 Herbert A. Sloan Finland
3917 Irish Hills Drive 1448 Bruce Corson
South Bend, IN 40612 3021 Arden Way
USA Sacramento, CA 95825
1437 William Lester USA
5107 Jacoby Creek Road 1449 Pieri Rolando
Bayside, CA 95524 Via Cafiero 89
USA P.O. Box 113
1438 John Brigden 47023 Cesena
6 Westerham Avenue Italy
Edmonton 1450 Bobby J. Bishop
London N99BU 31 Kensington Court
England Hackettstown, NJ 07840
1439 M.B. Evans USA
75 Fox Road Beacon Heath 1451 Ri6ardas Vainora
Exeter EX4 8NB Box 750
England 3020 Kaunas-36
Lithuania
74 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

1452 George Peterson All adlets and checks will be mailed to
Voulis 45, 10557 Gary A. Combs
* Athens 8241 Chalet Court
Greece Millersville, MD 21108
1453 David J. Howard USA
12216 Horado Rd. Wanted: Moscow cancellations. On cover,
San Diego, CA 92128 loose stamps or CSQ. Send xerox, photo or item
1454 Matt Hedley with requested price. Gary Combs, 8241 Chalet
1419 Speers Avenue Ct., Millersville, MD 21108.
San Mateo, CA 94403 Wanted: WENDEN stamps, covers, proofs, etc.
1455 John W. Teat, Jr. Any quantity for plating purposes. Send for
207 Kerby Parkway exchange or requested price to:
Ft. Washington, MD 20744 Victor Kent
1456 George A. Cook 5738 Harris Cutoff
701 S. 7th Avenue Mariposa, CA 95338-9759
Iowa City, IA 52240-6203 USA
1457 Edward Bubis
200 Colonial Dr., #7
Ipswich, MA 01938 E ertization
[ Expertization
Member-to-Member Adlets
One of the privileges of membership in Rossica
is one free expertization per membership year.
Rossica cannot assume any liability for trans- one ee expertiz n er membership
Policy on these free expertizations is as follows:
actions resulting from member responses to adlets l n e free expertization
nor get involved with mediating disputes.
Members are cautioned to be fair in offering and bership year.
in responding. Any material considered to be of The privilege must be used during the
value by the sender sent through the mails should membership year. It cannot be accu-
be insured or registered for your own protection. mulated The service as b n in the
The regulations and prices are as follows: 1978 membership year, and prior mem-
Rossica adlets will have no limit per bership in the Society has no bearing.
se however memes ae tested to The item must be submitted on an offi-
se, however, members are requested to cial expertization form available from
use good judgmecial expertization form available from
use good judgment.
"* The price will be US $2 for adlets up to Gary ombs or Gordon Torrey.
Return postage must be included.
25 words, and US 10 cents per word
thereafter. Only one item per expertization form.
Each adlet must include the name and
"address of the member placing the ad. Anyone wishing to avail himself of this service
SNo general buy or sell ads will be ac- merely has to write the Treasurer, Gary Combs,
"or the Chairman of the Expertization Committee,
cepted as adlets. The journal makes
epted as aets. The orl m e Gordon Torrey, enclosing a legal size (4 1/4 x 9
other provisions for strictly commer- 1/2") stamped envelope for an expertization form.
l adveerice is i et ssi When submitting material for free expertization,
"members only the owner must provide return postage for his
SAll cadets will be accompanied by a material. Items submitted will be expertized by
"check for the correct amount made out Rossica members specializing in the various
check for the correct amount made out
to Rossica Society. aspects of Russian philately.
to Rossica Society. 0
75 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

Dealer-Member Ads For Sale

The Editorial Board of the Rossica Journal In addition to back issues of the journal, the
invites advertisements from our dealer-members society has other items for sale. All items listed
as well as non-members who conduct the occa- can be purchased through any officer of the
sional auction or mail-sale with a strong offering society or through the journal editor.
of Russian and related-areas material. The Jour- We send items at the "book or surface rate"
nal appears twice a year, and reaches over 325 (also the slowest) to keep costs down. If this
members worldwide in April and October. method is not satisfactory, please include suffi-
Deadlines for submission of ads are February 15 cient funds to cover the type of postage desired.
for the April issue, and August 15 for the October All checks must be in $US to be drawn on an
issue. We strongly prefer commitments for ads American bank. This NEW policy is a result of
in three consecutive issues to aid us in planning. increased handling costs charged by the banks
However, one-time ads for upcoming auctions or and the fluctuating monetary market.
mail-sales can be accommodated.
The Russian Post in the Empire, Turkey, China
Rates: 1/4 page $35 per issue (for 3 and the Post in The Kingdom of Poland by
issues) S.V. Prigara. English Translation.
1/2 page $65 per issue (for 3
issues)

1 page $100 per issue (for 3 issues)

For one-time ads: $52.50, $97.50 and $150, WOW T
respectively. a- i Udmi A.Kr

For outside back cover ads (full page only) Cm
$150, first come first serve (based on postmark nM
date).

If you should desire to place an ad in the
Rossica Journal, please notify the editor as soon _'_X"__H_._
as possible, together with the text of your ad, the
rate and number of issues, and a check in $US This is the standard upon which many studies
made payable to the "Rossica Society" drawn on and conclusions have been established. Written
an American bank. in 1941, the book is considered by many to be the
Thank You! authoritative guide for Russian postal history.
Any serious collector of Russian postal history
Gary A. Combs must have this book on his shelf. The translation
8241 Chalet Ct. can be purchased from the society President,
Millersville, MD 21108 Treasurer, Librarian or journal editor at the fol-
USA lowing rates (sent Book/Surface Rate):
U Non-Rossica member: $40 postpaid
Rossica members: $35 postpaid
Dealer rate: $24 per copy for orders of 5 or
more.

76 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

The Russian Posts in the XIX Century reproduction and postage go to the society. This
by K.V. Bazilevich listing contains approximately 59 pages and cov-
ers all articles (in English) that have appeared.
An excellent index to your library. The cost is US
$5, which is very reasonable. This list will enable
you to decide what back issues to purchase, if
your set is not complete. (Many of the issues can
be ordered through your editor.) Send check or
money order to:
THE RUSSIAN POSTS IN THE XIX CENTURY
&Yv .KV-h Robert B. Bain
3132 Bayswater Court
Fairfax, VA 22031
USA

Imperial Russian Postal Placename List, Re-
Sverse Sort (1858-1915) compiled by David
Skipton.
The original work, published in 1927 in
The original work, published in 1927 in Have you ever had a partial strike on a loose
Moscow, is today almost impossible to find. It is, r r
stamp or cover, where the first few letters of
one of the most detailed overviews of the impe- the placename are missing? If so, and you
the placename are missing? If so, and you
rial Russian postal system to be found under one c i R c,
collect imperial Russian cancellations, this
cover, and contains a wealth of information and .
working aid is a must for you. It contains
illustrations. The translator has provided many 1,7
S. 18,187 postal placenames gleaned from ten
illustrations not in the original. If you want to from t
learn about the whys and wherefores of old sources, ranging from the Prigara book to the
learn about the whys and wherefores of old Ls. i
official 1916 Postal List. The Reverse Sort is
Russia's communications system, this book will ,
oblige. 379 pages long, xerox, printed on one side
oblge ,only, and unbound. It contains an introduction,
Intended as a companion to the Prigara transla- n, an non. t cots toucto,
an explanation of how to use the RS, com-
tion, the Bazilevich book will be a handsome ,
tion, the Baievich book wi be a handsome piler's notes, a list of cancellation abbrevia-
addition to your shelf: 165 pages on semi-gloss ,
,. tions, format explanation, a list of sources,
paper, casebound, with a purple-and-white dust format explanation, a list of sources,
ae, eb, a red t t province and oblast' trigraph listings, a cyrillic-
jacket. Members may order directly from the
jacket. Members may order directly from the latin alphabet conversion chart, and 361 pages
President, Treasurer, Librarian or Journal Editor
of cross-referenced placenames. A must for
of the society. Prices are as follows (sent Book/ ro n.
the serious cancellation collector. Members
Surface Rate):
may order directly from the President, Treas-
urer, Librarian or Journal Editor of the society.
Non-Rossica member: $50 postpaid
Rossica member: $ postpaid Prices are as follows (sent Book/Surface
Rossica members: $45 postpaid
Dealer rate: $30 per copy for orders of 5 or n
Non-Rossica member: $45 postpaid
more. Rossica members: $40 postpaid (Overseas
orders please add $3 for surface mail on all
Compendium of the Table of Contents for orders.)
issues 44 through 117
George Shaw has compiled a list of all articles
that have appeared in the Rossica Journal since
the 1950s. All proceeds beyond the cost of

77 Rossica Journal Number 118
April 1992

RUSSIAN POSTAL HISTORY 1857-1918

Martin Holmsten's new book: Russian Postal History 1857-1918. The book has a pricelist of Russian stamps
on covers and cards; Special indices on old dotted postmarks, railroad postmarks, shipmail postmarks,
postage-due postmarks, St. Petersburg numerals, postal rates, etc. Richly illustrated! The price of the book
is FIM 135 (USD 31).

RURIK STAMP MAGAZINE

Order the new Rurik stamp magazine! The Rurik stamp magazine will be published twice this year. The
magazine deals with Russian, Baltic States, and Finnish postal history. Every issue includes an interesting
auction, articles, literature, etc. Yearly subscription to the United States and other non-European countries
is FIM 90 (USD 21). To European countries the subscription price is FIM 70.

PRICELIST OF FINNISH LETTERS AND CARDS 1889-1960

Martin Holmsten's interesting book contains an enormous portion of info about Russian stamps used in
Finland. Full of information that you cannot find anywhere else. Richly illustrated. Price is FIM 135 (USD 31).

The books and magazines are a tri-lingual publication English, Swedish, and Finnish. The books and the
magazine can be ordered directly from us. Cost includes postage. We accept VISA/ Mastercard, International
moneyorders, checks if you add an extra FIM 40 for the bank charges, also cash. Finnish P.O. Giro account
TA 2070 122. Telefax 358-61-123046.

AB RURIK Ltd., PB 432, SF-65101 VASA, FINLAND

Comprehensive Stock of Russian Material:
stamps
covers
errors
yearly units
collections
wantlist service
approvals
wholesale

Free price list

Loral
Box 521
Rego Park, NY 11374

Fax (718)271-3070

TANNU

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H A H (IHST COMF FPRST SrEVED)

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1943-PRIMITIVE PRINTING BY HAND one by
one, on the only small pieces of paper
available, in sholt lots of 4 or 51
FASCINATING WAR ISSUE listed by Stanley
Gibbons, Michel, etc.
BUFF PAPER*WHITE PAPER
1.25k black with gum -
2 horizontal perfs. 24.00
i imperf. on 3 sides 36.00
ORIGINAL sheet of 5 210.00
25k slate blue w/o gum
2 horizontal perfs. 12.00 22.00
imperf. on 3 sides 18.00 30.00
"ORIGINAL SHEET of 5 120.00 190.00
25k trccrl w/o qum -
"imperf. on left & top 48.00 75.00
"imperf. on left & bottom 48.00 75.00
VERTICAL left pair 120.00 200.00
50k green w/o gum -
imperf. on right & top 48.00 75.00
imperf. on right & bottom 48.00 75.00
VERTICAL RIGHT PAIR 120.00 200.00
COMPLETE COLLECTION (12) 625.00 (9) 735.00

S. SEREBRAKIAN, INC.
P.O. Box 448 Monroe, New York 10950

Buying & Selling via our

International Public Auction Sales

Held every two months in the heart of New York City, with
over 15000 lots offered annually, emphasizing world-class -------
rarities and sophisticated postal history from virtually every
facet of philately.
Lots are meticulously descriLed and illustrated in our deluxe
auction catalogues (each with over 90 color plates) which are
available to serious collectors, exhibitors and dealers.
Fi lor our international clientele, we are constantly seeking
important collections of stamps and covers. Of particular
interest: classics and rarities, postal markings, maritime and ......'.
aviation, military history, documents and manuscripts,
signatures of famous people, political campaigns and
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'hce international nature of our business comblinted
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Write. or fax your inquiry today, or call collect and tp
ask to speak to Paul Buchsbayew.

CHERRYSTONE STAMP CENTER INC. PHILATELIC AUCTIONEERS 119 WEST 57TH SI. NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019
(212)977-7734 Fax (212) 977-8653 (New York City Auction License #732052)

RUSSIAN POSTAL HISTORY

What Do You Collect?

I stock Russian Postal History items from the Imperial and
Soviet periods
including:
Airmails, Republics, Space, Zemstvos
Semi-Postals, Inflation, Stations, TPOs,
Interventions and Offices Abroad.

I also stock the Baltic Countries. 0
Let me know what you are searching for.
Material sent on approval.
I am always searching for material to buy and
offer top dollar.
Please include references or Rossica number.

Member: Rossica Society, Canadian Society of Russian Philately,
British Society of Russian Philately, Australian & New
Zealand Society of Russian Philately, APS, ASDA, PTS
and others.
Webster F. Stickney
7590 Windlawn Way
Parker, CO. 80134

	Front Cover
	Norman D. Epstein, 1918-1991
	Index
	Life of the society by Dr. G. Adolph...
	Secretary's report by George...
	Treasurer's report by Gary...
	Editorial by Gary A. Combs
	Zemstvo stamp forgeries: summary...
	Vremennoe once more by Gary A....
	Russian deltiology (part IV) Ol'ga,...
	Beyond Bryansk by Dave Skipton
	Puzzle solved - Blagoveshchensk...
	R.S.F.S.R. - unlisted varieties...
	The elephant (SLON) mail by V.G....
	Fake China overprints - another...
	Early field post markings from...
	Soviet censormarks by David...
	The Crimea in philately by Ivo...
	"S NOVBIM GODOM!" by Dr. G. Adolph...
	1952 Olympic village cancel by...
	Scott 1992 standard postage stamp...
	Khronika translated by Dave...
	Interesting items by George Shaw...
	Reviews of literature
	New members
	Adlets
	Society publications for sale
	Advertising
	Back Cover

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