Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately

ROSSICA

No. 117 October 1991

The Journal of the

Rossica Society of Russian Philately

ISSN 0035-8363

THE JOURNAL OF THE
ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY

Journal No. 117 for October 1991

Editor: Gary A. Combs
Editorial Board: Norman Epstein, George Shaw, David M. Skipton,
Howard Weinert
Bulletin Editor: Paul Spiwak

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Article Page

Life of the Society Dr. Gordon Torrey 4
Editorial Gary Combs 5
1843 Postal Convention Between Austria and Russia 6
translated by David Skipton
1872 Postal Treaty Between Italy and Russia 14
translated by Dr. Howard Weinert
Red Cross Charity Cards From the Sisters of Mercy 17
J.G. Moyes
The Swiss Woman's Cipher Dave Skipton 27
Received From an Automated Mailbox M. Kosoi, 29
translated by Gary Combs
Russian Deltiology Part III Alexei Nikolaevich Dr. William R. Nickle 31
Questions of a Cover Michael Ercolini 35
Siberian Spa Resorts P.E. Robinson 37
Fake China Overprints Norman Epstein 38
Siberia New Varieties George Werbizky 39
Persian Consular Office in Baku Dr. Gordon Torrey 41
Mail for Ostarbeiters in WWII George Werbizky 42
A Call to Arms Leon Finik 49
Eighth Standard Postage Stamp Issue L. Aronin, 49
translated by Richard A. Dallair
The Caboose Almost Gary Combs 54
It May Quack Like a Duck, But... Dave Skipton and Leon Finik 55
The Rossica Library 58
Reviews of Literature 58
New Members 60
Adlets 61
Advertisements 64

*

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 66-116. 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, 78-85, 88-89, 92-93, 110-112, 115, 116

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. Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive, Bethesda, MD 20816
Acting Vice President and
Secretary: George Shaw, 7596-J Lakeside Village Drive, Falls Church, VA 22042
Acting 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. Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane, Gorsley, Ross-on-Wye,
Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Alex Sadovnikov, P.O. Box 612, San Carlos, CA 94070

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SOCIETY

Washington-Baltimore Chapter: Dr. Gordon Torrey
Northern California Chapter: Michael Gutter
Midwest Chapter: 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 1991
The Rossica Society

Life of the Society

by Dr. Gordon Torrey

I have served as president of the Rossica are the translations of Prigara and Bazilevich,
Society since 1974. and the loosebound book is the Russian Reverse
Whether I should say Sort. If you have not purchased these "basic"
that I survived so long books, there are not too many left. When they are
was because everything gone, they are gone. George Shaw has compiled
was a "bed of roses" .. a "Compendium of Tables of Contents of Rossica
. Well, maybe not. Yet Journals, numbers 44-116." This is an excellent
clearly it has been one Ireference source. We published the highly suc-
of the more rewarding cessful George Shalimoff translation of the Lo-
positions I have held, bachevskii Specialized Catalog in the journal.
and one for which I am An additional important asset of the Society
deeply honored to add to my philatelic experi- is the library, which, under the leadership of
ences. Although I retire from the position, I Dave Skipton, has reached the point where I be-
promise all my fellow members that I will at- lieve it can be safely stated that it is the largest one
tempt to remain as active as my health will allow, devoted to Russian philately. The library con-
From my unique position, and having spent tains many scarce original items as well as pho-
so many years at the top observing our organiza- tocopies and microfilm of items too numerous to
tion, I can definitely state that we are at one of the list here. In addition, the library contains the
strongest points in history. Although we have not official Society records. Use it!
reached the highest level of membership, our We are officially classified by the Internal
contributions to the philatelic community con- Revenue Service as a non-profit educational
tinue to grow at a very strong rate. We are the organization. We are incorporated in the State of
premier Society in our field and the one chosen Maryland. Donations to the Society are deduct-
for affiliation with the APS. This is mainly a ible from your Federal Income Taxes. However,
direct result of the outstanding cooperation and since so little is deductible these days, consult
efforts of its officers over the years as well as the your local tax specialist first.
significant support from the general member- With the forthcoming elections, the Society
ship. will have two of its longest-serving members
During my tenure as president the journal has stepping down. They are Norman Epstein, now
grown in stature. The journal editor is sometimes gravely ill, and me. The elections will provide
an isolated position. In other words, damned if the Society with the opportunity to choose new
you do and damned if you don't. The hours are leadership to build on the solid foundation now
long and the pay is nil. Therefore, I highly existing and further Rossica's goals. All in all, I
encourage all members to assist our editor, Gary believe that Rossica has led the cause of Russian
Combs, by submitting articles, comments, etc. philately greatly. This can be seen by the fact that
He can only publish what he has and what he Russian stamps are finally climbing in value.
thinks you want to see (if he has it). The journal I am sorry to report the death of our longtime
belongs to the Society support it! member and director Lester Glass.
We have published a couple of hard cover In closing I wish to say that I am looking
books and one loosebound book in the recent forward to our annual meeting at CHICAGOPEX.
past. The sales have more than helped recover all
associated costs. The hard cover books I mention
4 Rossica Journal Number 117,
October 1991

Editorial

by Gary A. Combs

I continue to receive letters and comments simply raise the stakes to suit themselves.
from members about the I have been chastised for being "unwilling" to
quality and content of the correspond with individuals in the Eastern Block
journal. Overall, they are countries by some of our members. I wish to
positive. For those I say clear the record right here and now. There are
thank you. Members members in the Society that cannot correspond
who write the not-so- with these countries due to the nature of their em-
positive letters and com- ployment. I happen to be one of those. Those
ments simply cannot members that are more fortunate should perhaps
understand why we don't have more articles on show a little more understanding and a lot more
the Soviet era, or a particular area of speciality, willingness to assist.
My response is always the same. I can't publish The editorial staff has been criticized by sev-
what I don't have! I do not sit around thinking eral members for failing to review potential ar-
of articles to write that are outside of my specialty tides written in a language other than English.
because some member may want to read about Often this criticism is by a member that is fluent
them. I expect the membership to support their in that language but, again the same excuse,
journal. The Rossica Journal will not resort to doesn't have time to render a rough draft of the
what another journal recently had to do the context of the article. We do have a very small
editor wrote over 60% of that edition. pool of individuals that assist with foreign lan-
I asked Bill Welch and his staff at APS to guages. Unfortunately, this pool consists of a
provide an unofficial evaluation of issue #116. few individuals, of which the ones complaining
They were more than willing to assist and, as you are not a part of.
will notice, several items changed directly re- Several people have told me that they would
fleeting their advice. If you like what you see and love to submit articles but they, for one reason or
run across Bill at some -PEX, let him know. another, do not have the capability to put pen to
I have noticed a trend since I became the paper in an understandable fashion. Perhaps
journal editor. That trend deals with submission some of our members can assist them. If you
of articles. Journals 113-117 contain 89 articles, know a member that has what could be an article,
Of those 89, less the ones by people in the volunteer to ghost-write it for him/her. I can tell
immediate Washington area (Skipton, Shaw, you from experience that there are articles in the
Combs, Nickles) I have received only three di- journal that have been totally rewritten because
rectly from the authors. The remaining articles the author had the same disability. Therefore, it
have come to me through some circuitous route, is not an excuse, rather an opportunity to help.
Everybody wants to determine what will be in the Last but not least, I will get off my soapbox. I
journal. Therefore, if the particular article does dream of the day when I have so many articles to
not suit them, they simply hold on to it a while, publish I can literally lay-out the next 2 or 3
Therefore, I say to the general membership, please journals well in advance. This would be a wel-
send the articles direct to me. I will either publish come change and would offer the possibility of a
them or let you know why they will not be pub- wider variety in each journal. Given the number
lished in a timely manner. If you send an article of members we have, and the vast amount of
to another member, I cannot make this guarantee. knowledge available, we should be able to do this
I prefer not to deal with "middlemen" since they very easily. SEND ARTICLES!
5 Rossica Journal Number 117,
October 1991

Postal Convention Between Austria and Russia, Signed at
St. Petersburg, 30 January (11 February) 1843

translated by Dave Skipton

In the name of the Holy and Indivisible If, in the future, the two main postal admin-
Trinity. istrations should find it necessary to open postal
The Emperor of All the Russias and King of communications along other lines, it shall be
Poland, and the Emperor of Austria, King of possible to do so by mutual agreement.
Hungary and Bohemia, in order to expand postal
communications between both Empires and to ARTICLE II.
establish between their states a more regular Transfer of correspondence between Russia
exchange of correspondence that would benefit and Austria shall be handled by these post offices
trade and mutual ties for their subjects, have on the borders of the two Empires and the King-
ordered the conclusion of a postal convention, dom of Poland:
and to that end have named these, their plenipo- On post road "a" the Cracow and Pod-
tentiaries: gorze offices.
For the Emperor of All the Russias and King of On post road "b" the Radzivilov and
Poland: Brody offices.
Fedor Pryanishnikov, His Privy Councillor, On post road "c" the Novoselitsy and
Director of the Postal Department and St. Chernovitsy offices.
Petersburg Postal Director, etc.;
And for the Emperor of Austria, King of Hun- ARTICLE III.
gary and Bohemia: Direct dispatch of postal packets [*see page
Baron Othon Meysenbug, Charg6 d'Af- 57 for explanation] shall be conducted:
faires of His Apostolic Majesty at the Im- a) Between the Vienna Main Post Office
perial Russian Court, and and the postal establishments in St. Pe-
Maximillian Loewenthal, Imperial Coun- tersburg, Moscow, Radzivilov and
cillor in the Main and Court Board of the Odessa.
Austrian Posts; b) Between the Podgorze Post Office and
Who, by mutual exercise of their authority in the postal establishments in St. Peters-
good and proper form, have established the fol- burg, Kovno and Brest-Litovskii.
lowing articles: c) Between the Lemberg Main Post Office
and the postal establishments in Radziv-
A. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE
GiHT OSTS lov, St. Petersburg and Moscow.
LIGHT POSTS.
d) Between the Brody Main Post Office and
ARTICLE I. the postal establishments in Radzivilov,
Postal communications between the Russian Kiev, Zhitomir, Odessa, St. Petersburg
and Austrian Empires shall be maintained along and Moscow, and
the following post roads: e) Between the Chernovitsy and Novoselitsy
a) Through Kovno, Brest-Litovskii, Post Offices.
Cracow and Podgorze through the If, in the future, one of the Postal Administra-
Kingdom of Poland. tions finds it useful to establish a similar dispatch
b) Through Radzivilov and Brody. of postal packets between several post offices in
c) Through Novoselitsy and Cher- addition to those mentioned above, such dispatch
novitsy. may be established at the mutual consent of both.
Rossica Number 117
6 October 1991

ARTICLE IV. ilov to Brody and from Novoselitsy to Chero-
The number of weekly posts between the two vitsy.
Empires shall be as follows:
a) Between Vienna, Podgorze, Kovno and ARTICLE VII.
St. Petersburg 3 times per week. Russia shall transfer to the Austrian posts all
b) Between Vienna, Podgorze, Brest- letters submitted to the Russian posts that are
Litovskii and Moscow twice per week. addressed to the Austrian Empire, the lands of the
c) Between Vienna, Brody, Radzivilov and Italian Peninsula, Greece, and also to the islands
Moscow twice per week. of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. More-
d) Between Vienna, Lemberg, Brody, over, letters addressed to lands contiguous to
Radzivilov and Odessa 3 times per week. Austria shall be transferred to the Austrian posts,
e) Between Chernovitsy and Novoselitsy inasmuch as the transportation of these letters
twice per week. through Austria can be accomplished as fast as
Both Postal Administrations may increase through other states, and will cost less.
the number of these posts and change the order of On its part, Austria shall transfer to the Rus-
their dispatch by mutual consent. It is agreed that sian posts all letters addressed to Russia that are
the posts received in Radzivilov from St. Peters- submitted to the Austrian posts, and also those
burg, Moscow and Odessa shall be dispatched to [addressed to Russia] that arrive from foreign
Brody separately, and no later than two hours lands.
after their arrival. Likewise, posts shall be dis- Both Main Postal Administrations shall issue
patched from Brody to Radzivilov as often as it the necessary instructions to ensure that cor-
is necessary to dispatch them from the latter city respondence from the various parts of the two
to St. Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa. To that Empires is dispatched along those post roads af-
end, schedules shall be established, with the fording the greatest speed in reaching its desti-
hours of departure shown for Russian correspon- nation. To that end, both of the aforementioned
dence from Radzivilov to Brody, and for Aus- administrations shall draw up and notify each
trian correspondence from Brody to Radzivilov. other of their postal route schedules. In accor-
Each Postal Administration shall notify the other dance with this article, the Russian Postal Ad-
of these schedules. ministration is directed to dispatch:
ARTICLE V. a) to Radzivilov and Brody:
If, in the future, it shall be found possible to 1) A Russian correspondence sent
arrange for posts between Russia and the King- to Hungary and the eastern and
dom of Poland so that letters between Lemberg northern parts of Galicia.
and St. Petersburg can be expedited by sending 2) Correspondence of theVolhynia,
them to Tomashev and Warsaw, the Austrian Podolia, and Kiev provinces, parts
Postal Administration will agree to send them by of the Chernigov and Poltava
that route, as soon as the Russian Postal Admini- provinces, the Bessarabian ob-
stration so desires. last, and the provinces of Novo-
rossiisk addressed to all parts of
ARTICLE VI. the Austrian Empire and foreign
The costs for transportation of letters from lands the route to which passes
Podgorze to Cracow and back, from Brody to through Austria.
Radzivilov and from Chernovitsy to Novoselitsy b) To Novoselitsy and Chernovitsy:
shall be assigned to the Austrian Postal Treasury; 1) Correspondence from Bessarabia
likewise, the Russian Postal Treasury shall take and the Novorossiisk provinces
upon itself the costs for transporting letters through addressed to Transylvania and
the Kingdom of Poland, as well as from Radziv- part of Bukovina.
Rossica Number 117
7 October 1991

c) Via the Kingdom of Poland: Empire and to the provinces of
1) To Kovno and Podgorze. Vil'na, Vitebsk, Pskov, Nov-
Correspondence from Finland, the gorod, St. Petersburg and those of
Northern and Ostsee provinces, the Ostsee area.
and also St. Petersburg, 2) ToPodgorzeandBrest-Litovskii.
Novgorod, Pskov, Vitebsk and Correspondence from all the
Vil'na provinces, to all those Austrian regions and foreign lands
regions of the Austrian Empire not mentioned above to the prov-
not mentioned above. Also to inces of Grodno, Minsk, Mogilev
those foreign lands not men- and Smolensk, part of Chernigov
tioned above, for which Austrian province, and to Moscow and the
possessions serve as a transit, surrounding provinces.
2) To Brest-Litovskii and Podgorze.
Correspondence from Moscow ARTICLE VIII.
province and those surrounding Letters addressed to the Austrian Empire and
it, as well as correspondence from submitted to the Russian posts, as well as those
SmolenskandMogilevprovinces, submitted to the Austrian posts for dispatch to
and parts of Chernigov, Minsk Russia, must be [fully] franked up to the borders
and Grodno provinces, [addressed of both empires, so that each of the two postal
to] all regions of Austria not men- administrations may collect [the necessary post-
tioned above and to foreign lands age] from these letters for their own benefit,
to which the route goes through according to their own rates and weight progres-
Austria. sions, and their weight-rates, both from the let-
The Austrian Postal Administration is di- ters' senders and the addressees.
reacted to dispatch: However, if in the future the Imperial Rus-
a) To Brody and Radzivilov: sian State deems it useful to lower the weight-rate
1) Correspondence from part of for letters, so that the highest rate is completely or
Hungary and the eastern and approximately equal to that of Austria, then both
northern parts of Galicia to all of postal administrations shall make mutual arrange-
Russia. ments concerning free franking of the letters to
2) The correspondence of all other their destinations. [i.e., one country's postage
Austrian regions and foreign lands would carry a letter all the way to the addressee,
to the provinces of Volhynia, not just to the border. DMS]
Podolia, Kiev, Poltava, Bessara-
bia, and parts of Chernigov prov- ARTICLE IX.
ince, plus the Novorossiisk prov- Austria shall demand no transit fee for those
inces. letters that are submitted to the Russian posts and
b) To Chernovitsy and Novoselitsy: which must go via Austria to reach a foreign
Correspondence from Transylvania destination. Excepted from this are letters ad-
and parts of Bukovina to Bessarabia dressed to Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, and to the
and the Novorossiisk provinces. French and English colonies. For these letters, a
c) Via the Kingdom of Poland: fee must be paid to the French Postal Treasury in
1) To Podgorze and Kovno. addition to the Austrian transit fees.
Correspondence from all the
Austrian regions and foreign lands ARTICLE X.
not mentioned above to the north- For letters from foreign lands to Russia via
ern provinces of the Russian Austria that are not franked to the Russian bor-
Rossica Number 117
8 October 1991

der, Russia shall pay Austria a transit fee of 12
kreuzers in conventional coin for each individual ARTICLE XIV.
letter weighing one-half lot. For those letters ex- Correspondence shall be transferred from
ceeding one-half lot, transit fees shall increase one Postal Administration to the other in prop-
according to the following progression: erly done-up postal packets. Each of these postal
For letters weighing more than 1/2 lot, but packets must include a list of contents (PEECTP),
less than 3/4 18 kreuz. drawn up on the form hitherto employed. In the
From 3/4 to 1 24 kreuz. event the mandatory frankings are abolished,
1 to 1 1/2 36 both Postal Administrations mutually shall settle
1 1/2 to 2 48 upon a new form of contents list.
2 to 3 1 gulden
3 to 4 1 gul. 12 kr. ARTICLE XV.
4 to 6 1 24 Postal packets shall be delivered from one
6 to 8 1 36 border post office to another in leather suitcases
8 to 12 1 48 or bags, which will proceed together with an
12 to 16 2 guldens order for post horses (no0lOPO)KHAS). On this
16 to 24 2 12 kr. order the dispatching office must enumerate the
24 to 32 2 24 kr. postal packets and their times of dispatch, while
the receiving office shall note thereon the receipt
ARTICLE XI. and time of the post's arrival.
In addition to Austrian transit fees, the Rus-
sian Postal Treasury shall also reimburse Austria ARTICLE XVI.
for the additional fee Austria must pay to foreign In the event a post office or postal official
powers for those letters mentioned in Article X loses insured letters (RECOMMANDIRT), the
that emanate from foreign lands. The Austrian administration in whose purview the office is
postal authorities shall notify the Russian Postal shall pay the sender 20 guldens in conventional
Department of the tariffs for these monies and of coinage, but only if the award of this amount is
any possible changes in those tariffs, demanded within three months from the date the
ARTICLE XII. insured letter was posted.
Only one-third of the weight-rates extant in
ARTICLE XVII.
either of the two States shall be exacted for
Letters which cannot be delivered due to the
newspapers, journals, price lists, circulars, bro-
newspapers, ornas, prie ists, irars, bo death of a recipient or his refusal to accept them,
chures and other printed matter sent by wrapper.
re a o r pri r r r. and also letters sent poste restante which are not
This shall also pertain to goods samples done up claimed, shall be returned in three months to
claimed, shall be returned in three months to
in such a way that, upon their acceptance at the
those post offices which accepted them [from the
Post, it can easily be verified that nothing else is seders. he letters mst ear a icr
senders]. The letters must bear an inscription
contained therein. However, the sum of these d
detailing the reason why they were not delivered
weight charges cannot be lower than the weight- ailing the reason why they were not delivered
rate charged fr an entil leter according to the address. If a letter is sent to the
rate charged for an identical letter. .
wrong post office, that office shall immediately
ARTICLE XIII. forward it to the correct address.
Letters sent from Russia to Austria or from Letters with incorrect or very vague addresses
Austria to Russia must bear both the postmark of shall be returned to the dispatching office with
the dispatching post office and the date they were the first departing post, in the same postal packet
presented to that office for mailing. Moreover, in which they were received. As for those letters
insured (CTPAXOBblE) letters must show the word addressed to individuals who have moved, they
"RECOMMANDIRT." shall be sent immediately to that post office that
Rossica Number 117
9 October 1991

can best deliver them to the addresses. The those packages addressed to foreign states, inas-
reason for such a re-routing shall be marked on much as they will transit Austria just as fast as
the letters themselves. through any other state and it will cost less. It
The aforementioned letters shall be returned goes without saying that, during transit of these
by either of the post offices without any [addi- packages, customs regulations current in both
tional] payment, and the weight-rate charge col- States must be strictly observed.
elected by either of the two administrations upon
the initial dispatch of these letters shall remain ARTICLE XX.
with that administration. The post offices of both States shall accept
for dispatch by post any sort of item, excepting
B. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE those listed below, so long as the weight of each
HEAVY POSTS (PACK-POST). individual package does not exceed 80 pounds
Austrian or 100 pounds Russian. Live animals,
ARTICLE XVIII. items which under pressure, friction or other
Coinage, any kind of goods and other items influence may ignite, liquids and in general such
which may be sent by post on the basis of Article items (e.g., gunpowder, mineral waters, chlorine
XX, as well as documents and printed papers and the like) which by their nature may them-
weighing more than one pound, may be sent from selves spoil or damage other packages with them,
either of the States to the other by light post or shall not be accepted for dispatch by post.
heavy post (Pack-Post). This mailing shall take
place each way once per week, by way of the ARTICLE XXI.
routes set forth in Article I. Excepted from this is Each package must be done up properly,
the Novoselitsy and Chernovitsy route, which, taking into consideration its contents, weight and
for the time being, shall be excluded from this volume, as well as the distance it must traverse.
Convention. Lists-of-contents which accom- It must be carefully sealed, have a clear address,
pany these items shall be exchanged between the bear the seal of the dispatching post office, and
Brody and Radzivilov post offices and between bear [manuscript] entries showing its contents,
the Cracow and Podgorze post offices. Shipment value and weight. Moreover, an open declaration
of the items mentioned above may take place [form] must accompany wares.
more often and by other routes, if both postal
administrations deem it necessary and are in ARTICLE XXII.
agreement. If, upon receipt of a package in one of the
Moreover, it is agreed that if, in time, the States, a customs inspection discovers that the
Russian Postal Administration finds it possible package contains items forbidden entry under the
to establish a postal carriage [route] between St. laws of that State, the items shall be returned im-
Petersburg and Radzivilov, or between Moscow mediately to that post office where they were
and Brest-Litovskii, then it must notify the Aus- received for dispatch.
trian Postal Administration of this beforehand
and together make arrangements for the trans- ARTICLE XXIII.
portation of passengers and their baggage. All packages mentioned in Articles XVIII to
XXII must be franked to the borders of either
[State]. It is agreed, however, that if both Postal
ARTICLE XIX. Administrations can come to an arrangement
The post offices named in the preceding ar- concerning free franking of letters [from the
tide shall transfer to one another those packages borders to their destinations], the administrations
from both States delivered to them for dispatch. shall mutually set the conditions for free franking
In addition to this, Russia shall transfer to Austria of packages.
Rossica Number 117
10 October 1991

slightest delay. The reason for their return must
ARTICLE XXIV. be entered on the packages themselves or on an
Both Postal Administrations shall take upon accompanying declaration.
themselves the expenses for transporting pack-
ages, in the same proportionality as for the heavy ARTICLE XXVIII.
posts. Namely, the expenses incurred from Postal and customs expenses incurred for the
Podgorze to Cracow and back, and from Brody to return of the aforementioned undeliverable pack-
Radzivilov shall be borne by the Austrian Postal ages shall be reimbursed by one Postal Admini-
Treasury. For its part, the Russian Postal Treas- station to the other. It is agreed to calculate the
ury shall cover the expenses for transporting postal expenses of returned packages at half the
packages in the Kingdom of Poland and from weight-rate initially paid [by the senders] upon
Radzivilov to Brody. presentation of the items to the post. Packages
with printed matter or samples with no value
ARTICLE XXV. shall be returned at no charge.
At every dispatch of packages, the Radziv-
ilov and Brody Post Offices must attach to them ARTICLE XXIX.
two precise contents lists. The post office which Both Postal Administrations shall be re-
receives these packages [from the other] shall sponsible for the unlawful activities, errors and
keep one of the lists for itself, and the other shall negligence of their officials, and, in the event of
be returned to the office which dispatched them. damage to or loss of part or all of the mail, they
A notation attesting to the package's arrival must shall be required to pay the senders thereof on the
appear on the returned contents list. The Postal basis of their statutes.
Administrations shall decide between themselves Russia will undertake to pay for damaged
upon the form of these contents lists, items only when those items were dispatched by
highway.
ARTICLE XXVI. A Postal Administration's responsibility
For packages going to Brody, the Radzivilov begins when its postal official accepts the pack-
Post Office must enter the Russian weight, value age from a patron and ends with delivery of the
of contents and the charge in Russian silver package to the addressee, or with its transfer to
coinage on the contents lists. The Brody Post the other [Postal Administration's] post office.
Office, in turn, shall enter the Viennese weight, Liability for compensation ceases if it is not
value of contents and charges in conventional demanded within six months of the date the
Austrian coinage on the contents lists of pack- package was submitted to the post.
ages going to Radzivilov. Both of these post
offices shall enter the weight and value of the C. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE
packages received from the other in their own RELAYS.
system of weight and coinage.
The Radzivilov and Brody Post Offices shall ARTICLE XXX.
balance their mutual accounts for the expenses A regular dispatch of relays (3CTAIETbl) for
marked down on their contents lists once each letter mail, packages and so forth shall be set up
week. between the two Empires along the post roads
enumerated in Article I of this convention. The
ARTICLE XXVII. border post offices of each of the contracting
Packages which are undeliverable must be States shall send by relay everything they receive
returned to the post office from which they were from border post offices of the other, accompa-
sent no later than three months after their receipt nied by orders for post horses [issued] by those
[at the post office of destination], with not the offices. Russian correspondents may send relays
Rossica Number 117
11 October 1991

not only to areas of the Austrian Empire, but to all ARTICLE XXXV.
foreign lands to which the routes proceed through Border post offices shall not pay to one an-
Austria, and where regular dispatch of relays is other monies owed for transporting the relays,
established. Both Postal Administrations shall but payment of accounts according to prelimi-
inform the other of the relay regulations extant in nary checks thereof by both States' inspectors
their respective States, as well as those of other shall be made through the proper channels by the
lands where regulations have been published for St. Petersburg GPO or the Main Postal Admini-
dispatch of relays. station in Vienna.

ARTICLE XXXI. ARTICLE XXXVI.
Packages sent by relay must be properly done In the event a letter or package sent by relay
up and sealed, and have a correct address. The is lost, the postal administration responsible for
packages should not have a declaration of value, the loss shall be obligated to pay a compensation
since neither Postal Administration is respon- of 25 guldens in conventional coinage and refund
sible for the contents of those packages, the monies it charged for dispatch by relay, so
long as the demand [for reimbursement] is made
ARTICLE XXXII. within three months of the day the relay was
Direct transfer of packages sent by relay shall dispatched.
be effected:
a) Between the Radzivilov and Brody D. REGULATIONS CONCERNING
Post Offices, and TRAVELLERS ON POSTAL HORSES.
b) Between the Novoselitsy and Cher-
novitsy Post Offices. ARTICLE XXXVII.
In addition, packages addressed to destinations Those wishing to ride post horses from Aus-
to which the shortest route is through the King- tria to Russia through Brody or Chernovitsy shall
dom of Poland shall be sent to the Cracow Post be conveyed on Austrian post horses only as far
office, as Radzivilov or Novoselitsy. Likewise, those
travelling from Russia to Austria may take Rus-
ARTICLE XXXIII. sian post horses only as far as Brody or Boyan, for
The post offices mentioned in the preceding it is strictly forbidden to proceed beyond the
article are obliged to enter everything that is sent border stations [with those horses].
by relay in a list of contents, which must be made
up into an envelope under official seal and ac- ARTICLE XXXVIII.
company the order for post horses. The dis- Postmasters of both States are likewise for-
patching office shall note on the order the hour of bidden to have their post horses convey travellers
dispatch. and the receiving office shall note its to the other State. However, a traveller who
receipt and the hour the relay arrived, comes from the border station of one State and
arrives at the border station of the opposite State
ARTICLE XXXIV. shall be permitted to return on the same horses, if
Relay orders for post horses shall be sent his stay is brief and if the postmaster in charge of
back to the offices from which they were re- the postal horses agrees to it.
ceived. The orders must bear precise notations of
the transportation costs, beginning from the border ARTICLE XXXIX.
post office to which the relay was sent for further Postmen conducting travellers shall be re-
dispatch and ending with the destination of the quired to halt at the highway stops, customs
relay, points and other outposts of both States.

Rossica Number 117
12 October 1991

E. GENERAL REGULATIONS. ARTICLE XLV.
During their runs from one border postal
ARTICLE XL. station to the other, postmen must be dressed in
Receipts accompanying insured letters and the proper uniform called for by their Postal
packages shall be returned signed by the recipi- Administration.
ents to those post offices from which they were ARTICLE XLVI.
sent. Accounts for weight-rate and porto fees on
ARTICLE XLI. letters, as well as monies collected for dispatch
Upon receipt of a billet-doux, in which a post by relay, shall be closed every three months, and
office of the other State requests information the sum of these accounts, once they have been
about an insured letter or package, the post of- checked for accuracy by the inspectors, shall be
fices of either State shall immediately enter that paid either in conventional currency or in bills of
information on the billet-doux and return it to the exchange.
office from which it emanated. Should objections arise about the accuracy of
the accounts, they must again be checked, and the
ARTICLE XLII. total difference shall be credited or debited to the
Likewise, a vigorous investigation shall be next three months account.
launched in the event an insured letter is lost, a
package is lost or damaged, or part of its contents ARTICLE XLVII.
are missing. Each Postal Administration shall This convention shall be in force for 10 years,
provide the other with all necessary information beginning from the date of its ratification, and if,
to ascertain the guilty party, during the tenth year, one of the High Contract-
In order to forestall to the extent possible ing Parties does not provide to the other side
[spurious] demands for compensation, in the official notification of its intent to discontinue
event there is a well-founded suspicion that a the Convention, or present modifications thereto,
claim is spurious, both Administrations shall the Convention shall continue in force in one-
cooperate in order to confirm that the claim is year increments, or until such time as 12 months
false. have elapsed from the day notification was given.
It goes without saying that this official notifica-
ARTICLE XLIII. tion must be given by one of the Postal Admini-
As soon as an investigation proves that one or stations to the other.
the other of the two Postal Administrations is at The conditions of this Convention shall enter
fault, a cash compensation shall be forwarded to into force four months from the day ratifications
the other Postal Administration. are exchanged.
ARTICLE XLIV. ARTICLE XLVIII.
Both Postal Administrations are obliged to This convention shall be ratified and the rat-
observe postal and customs regulations in the ifications thereof exchanged in St. Petersburg,
strictest manner. within three months, or as soon as possible.
If postal officials of one of the Contracting In witness thereof, etc.
States are in violation of these regulations in the In St. Petersburg, 30 January (11 February)
other State, then the Administration in whose 1843:
purview the violation occurred shall be notified (signature) Pryanishnikov
of this, so that they may be dealt with according (signature) Meysenbug
S to the law. (signature) Loewenthal
Ratified in St. Petersburg on 29 May 1843.

Rossica Number 117
13 October 1991

The 1872 Postal Treaty Between Italy and Russia

translated by Dr. Howard Weinert

His Majesty the King of Italy and His ARTICLE 3
Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, moti- The stipulations of the present treaty will
vated by a common desire to improve the postal apply to all the territory of the Kingdom of Italy
service between the two states, have resolved to and to all the integral parts of the Russian Empire,
conclude a postal treaty, and have named for this including the Grand Duchy of Finland.
purpose their representatives, to wit:
His Majesty the King of Italy ARTICLE 4
Postal service will include letters, all printed
His Charge d'Affaires in St. Petersburg, Maurice matter and merchandise samples. None of the
Baron Marichetti, Chevalier of the OrderofSaints items mentioned above may weigh more than
Maurice and Lazare, etc., etc., and 250 grams, or have a declared value.

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias ARTICLE 5
Postal fees will be calculated by means of
His Aide-de-Camp, General of Cavalry, Minis- basic units. The basic units are: for letters -15
ter of the Interior, Member of the Imperial Coun- grams or fraction thereof; for printed matter or
cil, Alexander Timasheff, Chevalier of the Order samples 50 grams or fraction thereof. In any
of Russia, etc., etc. case, the two Administrations are authorized,
His Privy Councillor, Director of the Postal when they deem it necessary, to adopt by mutual
Department, Baron Jean Velho(Velio), Cheva- agreement a provisional weight scale other than
lier of the Order of Russia, etc., etc. that fixed by this article.

These, having been given the authority, have in ARTICLE 6
good and due form, agreed on the following: The fee for a letter sent from Italy to Russia
or from Russia to Italy is fixed at 50 centimes per
ARTICLE 1 basic unit if it is pre-paid, and at 70 centimes per
There will be, between the Italian Postal basic unit if it is not pre-paid. Insufficiently pre-
Administration and the Russian Postal Admini- paid letters will be treated as non-pre-paid and
station, a periodic and regular exchange of cor- charged accordingly, less the value of the stamps
respondence originating in the respective states, or postal stationery used.
or in countries for whom the Postal Administra-
tions of the contracting parties may act as inter- ARTICLE 7
mediaries. Printed matter and merchandise samples sent
from one country to the other must be pre-paid at
ARTICLE 2 the rate of 10 centimes per basic unit. The term
This exchange will be effected by land in "printed matter" encompasses all reproductions
closed dispatches, or by sea. All correspondence obtained by copying or transfer machines. Printed
will be sent by the most expeditious route. In the matter and merchandise samples must be sent
case where the sender indicates the route by under wrapper or other manner which facilitates
which he desires his correspondence to travel, it verification of contents. Printed matter should
will be expedited in the manner indicated, to the not bear any manuscript notations other than the
extent possible. address of the recipient, the signature of the

Rossica Number 117
14 October 1991

sender, and the place and date of dispatch. that due the foreign non-intermediary
Merchandise samples must not have a declared Administrations. These fees will be cal-
S retail value, and must not have any manuscript culated according to net weight of the
notations other than the address of the recipient, correspondence, excluding official cor-
and the trademark or name of the sending firm. respondence, vouchers, and correspon-
They must conform to the customs regulations of dence misdirected or refused. Corre-
each country. Printed matter and merchandise spondence transiting the two states must
samples carrying unauthorized manuscript nota- conform to the same regulations speci-
tions, not pre-paid, insufficiently pre-paid, or fied for Italo-Russian correspondence.
generally not conforming to the stated conditions,
will be treated and charged as ordinary letters. ARTICLE 11
The loss of a registered letter imposes on the
ARTICLE 8 Postal Administration of the country of origin the
All letters sent between Italy and Russia may obligation to pay the sender an indemnity of 50
be registered and the sender may ask for a return francs. In the case in which the loss takes place
receipt. For registration, the sender must pay, in in the service of an intermediary country, the
addition to the weight fee, a fixed charge of 30 Postal Administrations of the contracting states
centimes in Italy and 25 centimes in Russia. If a will each pay half of the indemnity. The indem-
return receipt is demanded, the sender must pay nity must be paid to the sender, or in his absence
another fixed charge of 20 centimes in Italy and to the addressee, as soon as the loss has been
25 centimes in Russia. The receipt will be verified. The sender may, by a simple written
returned as soon as possible. Registration will be declaration, transfer to the addressee his right of
allowed, as far as possible, for letters addressed indemnification. The obligation to pay the in-
to countries for whom the Postal Administrations demnity ceases if the declaration of loss is not
of the contracting parties serve as intermediaries, made within a year from the day when the con-
signment was made, or when the loss takes place
ARTICLE 9 outside the territory of the contracting states or
Correspondence which is poorly addressed their intermediaries; in this case, the Postal
or misdirected, or is addressed to someone who Administrations of the contracting states agree to
has moved, will be quickly re-directed to its take all useful actions in the interest of the claim-
destination by the most expeditious route, and ant.
will not be liable to any surtax by either contract-
ing state. Refused letters will be sent back. ARTICLE 12
The proceeds from collected fees will be
ARTICLE 10 evenly divided between the Russian and Italian
The contracting parties mutually agree to the Postal administrations. Fees for registration and
transit, either in closed or open dispatches, on return receipts will be kept by the Administration
their territory, of correspondence from countries which collects them. Costs of intermediary tran-
for whom Italy or Russia may act as intermediar- sit will be borne in equal parts by the two Admini-
ies. The transit fee is fixed at: stations. These costs will be paid by the Admini-
In closed dispatches 30 centimes for 30 station which obtains from the intermediary
grams for letters, and 1 franc per kilo- offices the most advantageous transit conditions.
gram for printed matter or merchandise The Administration which pays these costs will
samples, be reimbursed for half by the other Administra-
For open dispatches the Italo-Russian tion.
international fee will be augmented by

Rossica Number 117
15 October 1991

ARTICLE 13 ARTICLE 18
The Italian and Russian Postal Administra- The present treaty will come into force on the
tions will draw up each trimester the accounts day agreed upon by the two Postal Administra-
resulting from the transmission of correspondence tions, and will remain in effect as long as one year
under the dispositions of the present treaty. These after one of the contracting parties renounces it.
accounts will be drawn up in francs and centimes.
Fees will be collected and indemnities paid by ARTICLE 19
each of the contracting states in their legal cur- The present treaty will be ratified, and the
rency, the franc being equivalent to an Italian lire respective ratifications exchanged in St. Peters-
and to one-fourth of a silver ruble, the centime to burg, within two months after signing.
a centesimo and to one-fourth of a silver kopeck,
with fractions of a kopeck being considered as a In testimony whereof, the respective delegates
whole kopeck. have signed and affixed their seals. Done at St.
Petersburg on 15/3 June 1872.
ARTICLE 14 U
The Postal Administrations of the contract-
ing states will exchange without delay regula-
tions and other information concerning the exe- CHUNKING TO MOSCOW
cution of the present treaty, such as decrees
governing the circulation of printed matter, etc. Soviet Airline Inaugrated-
Planes will meet at Border Station
ARTICLE 15
Exchange offices, routing of correspondence, The Soviet-China airline bringing Moscow
as well as all the details of the transmission of and Chunking within four days of each other was
official correspondence, the delay after which inaugurated yesterday when, according to mes-
refused correspondence must be returned, etc., sages from United Press and Reuter, a Chinese
will be determined by common accord of the plane left Chunking to fly to Hami, terminal of
Postal Administrations of the contracting states, the Chinese section of the route, and a Soviet
who may, when the opportunity presents itself, plane was scheduled to leave Alamutu for the
augment the means of exchange and modify the same destination.
formalities of service. The tri-motored Junkers plane, Lanchow,
belonging to the Ministry of Communications
ARTICLE 16 took off from the Chunking aerodrome, which is
The Postal Administrations of the contract- constructed on a flat island in the Yangtse, at 7
ing states are authorized to introduce, when they am. To assure a safe takeoff, she carried only ten
deem it convenient, the services of subscriptions passengers and 1,100 kilograms of mail. She was
to journals and revues, and money orders. to stay overnight at Lanchow, and is due in Hami
today.
ARTICLE 17 Passengers for Chunking or Lanchow carried
All addresses, or at least the essential por- by the Soviet plane will change to a Chinese
tions of their text, will be in French. The use of plane at Hami.
the national language of the respective countries
is allowed for postage stamps, stamped envelopes, OFFICIALS CAREFUL
and handstamps, cachets, and other signs used to
facilitate the transport of correspondence. The South China Morning Post
Chunking, March 24, 1939

Rossica Number 117
16 October 1991

Red Cross Charity Postcards From The Sisters of Mercy

by J.G.Moyes

The Sisters of Mercy of the Red Cross and Third, I differ from Guerin in his emphasis
the St. Eugeniya Society of the Sisters of Mercy on the separation of the cards with split and
both issued charity postcards from the end of the undivided backs. For those who do not know,
nineteenth century to the end of the Imperial the split-back cards appeared around 1905. Prior
regime. A list of these postcards previously to that, the postal authorities accepted only pic-
compiled in the USSR concerned itself only ture postcards without a message at the postcard
with the "series" indicators on the picture side of rate. Cards having a message paid the full letter
the card. This article covers the various styles rate.
used for the reverse of the cards and the printers The dividing line on the back of the cards is
who produced them. a useful way of dating them. Apart from that, it
To the best of my knowledge, a compre- has little purpose in the compilation of a listing
hensive listing of these has not been attempted of the types. If a printer wished to keep a
before. Mons. R. Guerin in France-USSR Phi- particular style of back without having to go to
latelie No. 53-5 for Jan. 1977 Apr. 1978, the trouble of producing a completely new plate,
published a list of those known to him at the then he had only to add the dividing lines to the
time. Since the article was published, I have existing plate. This does not appear to have
noted several different styles and new printers, happened very often, but when it did, the new
They are incorporated into this article, version is only a modified form of an existing
I do not follow Guerin's numbering system type. Such items are worth collecting, yet they
and means of classification. Therefore, his types do not constitute new issues. They can be found
should not be confused with the numbers I give with an added inscription indicating a second (or
to them. Guerin places significance on three later) edition.
features that I do not. Perhaps a few words of I note the distinction between split and un-
explanation are necessary, divided backs in all the types, although I do not
First, Guerin lists many items by the size of segregate the two into systematic listings; there
the cross on the emblem, particularly on my type is no need for it since the list below is, as far as
SM-2. I feel that these minor variations come I can tell, in chronological order. Once 1905 is
from the different units on the plates used for the reached, the split-back is the norm.
backs and, thus, do not constitute new printings
but only slight differences within a single print- Postcards from the Sisters of Mercy
ing.
Second, Guerin puts emphasis on the dif- These cards are not common. From used
fering shades of the same color used for some examples seen, the dates of issue appear to be
issues. I suggest that this comes about from 1898-1904. Yet, they can be found used after
reprinting of an identical item. These shade these dates. Thus, it is likely that they continued
variations are considerable, yet do not constitute to be sold either until stocks ran out or from later
new issues. printings on out-of-date backs. All occurrences
Although eliminating the above two points of late usage are encountered on the types with
in compiling the present listing, I still think that undivided backs. They are high-quality items
they are interesting. Thesewidevariationsmake from the leading printing houses in St. Peters-
a very collectable group. burg.

Rossica Number 117
17 October 1991

'WVXWzUA *D$0MEL 0W o"uwmtg X3N.- CAM POOTAIL,

MrWPWTOE utliCMO.-CAME POSTAl. I I
&A s o",. s --l

Type SM-3 card.
Type SM-1 and 2 postcard example.
Type SM-I Inscription reads "For the bene- Type SM-4 Inscription is the same as in type
Sfit of the Order of the Sisters SM-3, but the design is new. There is
of Mercy of the Red Cross." one line at top reading "Postcard" in
Nothing on the address side Russian and French. There are five
i apart from the emblem. dotted lines for the address and a space
I Gray with red cross. Printed for the stamp.
by Markus, with the printer's name on A. All printing in brownish-gray with
the picture side. a red cross. From Il'in with the
Type SM-2 Inscription reads "St.Petersburg printer's name on the picture side.
Committee under the Trusteeship of the B. All printing in a dull red. From Il'in
Sisters of the Red Cross." with printer's name on picture side.
"Universal Postal Union" .. .-
and "Postcard" added at top OTHPMTOE IIHbO.- CARTE POSTA
and "Side reserved for the
address" added at bottom.
These inscriptions are in
Russian and French. There are five
dotted lines for the address and a space
for the stamp. Printed by Markus with
the printer's name on the picture side.
Gray with red cross. ___
Type SM-3 Inscription reads "To the benefit
of the St.Petersburg Committee under ype SM-4.
the Trusteeship of
SM s r ust o Type SM-5 Inscription is again the same as
rthe rsters of the in type SM-3 but is placed in part of the
lRe Cs.o Orne intricate design at the left. There is one
S"UieraPsaline at top readming .
"Post-card" in Rus line at the top reading "Postcard" in
andO ~ "Post-carde in Rus- th : -,-
"Pstcard in Rh Russian and French. There are five
sian and French.
rpi an Frnh c dotted lines for the address and a space
There are five dotted lines for the ad- dotted lines for the address and a space
for the stamfor the stamp. From Il'in with the
dress and a space for the stamp. Printed
Sprinter's name on the picture side. The
by A. Il'in Lithography, with the printer's printer's name on the picture side.
intertwined network is in gold with all
name on the picture side. Brownish- .
other printing in red.
gray with a red cross.

Rossica Number 117
18 October 1991

"UPU" and "Postcard" at top, each in
tBo two lines, in Russian and French. Split-
4 Ifos 0ltso. S Poals. back, four dotted lines for the address,
and a space for the stamp. From Il'in
Switch the printer's name on the picture
Side. All printing in gray-green.
I have only seen this type on a very high
j- -- quality series of cards showing soldiers of the
Imperial Guard.

SUo,, Pedals Uni.esmlle.
Type SM-5. TRPMbITOE' nHCbMO

Type SM-6 Inscription again as in type SM- **"- '
3 and appears on the left side within the
design. "UPU," "Postcard," and "Side
reserved for the address" in Russian and
French. There are four dotted lines for
the address, and a space for the stamp.
From Il'in with the printer's name on the
picture side. The background of the or- Type T1.
namental design is gold with trellis work
in blue-gray. The rest is in black, brown Postcards from the St Eugeniya
and red. Society

These postcards are found in many styles
from many printers. The Society even advertised

OTKPFATOEt 'H146o8
.Tp its own products on a postcard.

iL m fVs Tor pItWo.- 9 rt fTWa s, i

Type SM-6

Trinity(Cathedral) Section of the
Sisters of Mercy
Society advertisement card.
I can only record one type from this group.

Type T1 Inscription reads "Trinity Commu-
nity of the Sisters of Mercy." With

Rossica Number 117
19 October 1991

The inscription on all the cards is "To the name on the picture side. All print-
benefit of the St. Eugeniya Community." They ing in red with a gray shadow around
date from the late 1890s to the end of the Mon- the cross and emblem.
archy.
SorWPUOKr nItClO.-CAMS POWALU.
Type SE-1 Society inscription at the base, .
"Postcard" at the top in Russian and
French, and a space for the stamp. -..---- ....- -.-
No printer's name. Printing in pale .. ...- .-
red.

Type SE-2.
IT 1K b)KA
,1,rXU W *%aoym, | Type SE-3 This type exists in two styles. Each
aBHaHbiX HnrmavJ has the identical emblem, five dot-
Crl. c ncKm, ted lines for the address, and a space
for the stamp.
A. Wording in the space for the
stamp is in italics. No prin-
ter's name. "Postcard" in
Russian and French at top.
Printing in silver with a red
cross.
B. Wording in the space for the
stamp is in upright capitals.
"Postcard" in Russian and
French at top but in smaller
Type SE-1. letters than type SE-3A. This
style comes from Il'in with the
I can only record this type on a series of cards printer's name on the picture
showing engravings of views of Peterhof. These side. Olive-green with a red
are in black and white on unsurfaced paper, and cross.
look poor in comparison with the usual produc-
tions. There are no lines for the address. I placed 6 FOTKfTOE Ii HW' O T'o
this first even though I have not seen any used ,CA'RTEp OSTALE-.
examples that could date the type. It seems .._
likely that this poor quality edition would pre- _-..
cede the rest particularly since there is no Soci- _
ety emblem in the design.

Type SE-2 "Postcard" in Russian and French at
the top, and a space for the stamp.
There are six dotted lines for the
address. From Il'in with the printer's
Rossica Number 117
20 October 1991

Type SE-4 The emblem on this type has the 3. Normal surfacedwhitecard.
wording all around the cross dis- "Postcard" in Russian only
tinguishing it from the next issue. It and in larger letters than the
exists in a number of styles and previous two types listed
comes from two printers, above. Six dotted lines for
the address, and a space for
M-azon =.cua-cAM "M the stamp. Printer's name
on the picture side. All print-
ing in olive-green with the
cross and the inscription
._____ around it in red.

.. B. Golike and Vil'borg
.- -.. ...... 1. On unsurfaced white card.
"Postcard" in Russian and
French with letters 3 1/4
Type SE-4. mm high. Space for the
stamp has the words
widely spaced. Five dot-
ted lines for the address.
SThe printer's name is on
address side at the right.
All printing in red.
2. All as in 1) above but the
letters of "Postcard" are 2
1/2 mm high and the word-
Type SE-4 emblem. ing in the space for the
stamp has narrow spacing.
A. The State Printing Works
1. On unsurfaced buff card Type SE-5 Similar to type SE-4, but the word-
with "Postcard" in Russian ing around the cross does not extend
and French, six dotted lines below it. From Il'in in three styles:
for the address, and a space A. "Postcard" in Russian and
for the stamp. Printer's name French with a space for the
on the address side. All stamp. Five dotted lines for the
printing in olive-green with address, and the printer's name
the cross and inscription on the picture side. All print-
around it in red. ing in gray-green, cross in red.
2. Normal surfaced white card, B. As style 'A' but all printing in
with "Postcard" in Russian black, cross in red.
and French, five dotted lines C. Inscription added at the base in
for the address, and a space Russian and French, "Side
for the stamp. Printer's name reserved for the address only."
on the picture side. All print- All printing in pale olive-green
ing in grayish brown with with the cross in red.
the cross and the inscription
around it in red.
Rossica Number 117
21 October 1991

All the types listed so far are from the late
OTHPbTOE fHCbiO.-CARTE POSTALE 1890s to c. 1905 and are undivided-back cards.
Where the printer's name is known, they all
came from St.Petersburg firms.
The following types existed from 1905 on-
Swards with the exception of odd examples of
types SE-10 and 11. Types SE-7/10 appear to be
normal cards from commercial outlets that have
Added the emblem at a later date to turn them into
charity cards.

Type SE-7 A new type of emblem, small size
pe S but still the same inscription as be-
fore. "Postcard" in Russian and
French, "UPU" in Russian only, six
dotted lines for the address, and a
space for the stamp. A double line
divides the back. No printer's name.
All printing in black except the
emblem which is red.

Type SE-5 emblem. .
SOmpuoe aumo.-Carte Postale. i
.6api VIM -s. POW.
Type SE-6 A completely different style from ......
previous types. Unsurfaced white. .......
card with "Postcard" in Russian and -
French. The Society name is at the
base. Five lines for the address .
consisting of a series of pairs of
dots. Also a space for the stamp.
From Golike and Vil'borg with
printer's name on address side at the Type SE-7.
right. All in green except the cross
and "Postcard" in red.

anTPbrrOTLTMcbO
..y O.PPO I UcSS1

e..". *M*M y ... i. I

Emblem used by SE-8/11.
.,n ll u L The only difference is in size.

Type SE-6.

Rossica Number 117
22 October 1991

Type SE-8 A similar small emblem as type SE-
7 but the leaves at the top touch the OTRPTTO nflbM O.
crown. "Postcard" in Russian and -
French, "UPU" in Russian only, ..- ...
without a space for the stamp. There
is a single dividing line for the
address side and six dotted lines for -
the address. Exists in two forms:
A. No printer's name. All print- .
ing in black except for cross ._ ..
which is deep cherry red.
B. From the K. Fisher Artistic Type SE-9.
Photo-typography in Moscow,
with the printer's name on the Type SE-10 As types SE-8/9 but with larger
address side at bottom left. All emblem. Known in two forms:
printing in black except for A. Undivided back. "Postcard,"
emblem which is pale red. "UPU" and "Side reserved for
address" in Russian and French
OTKPhI o fnChN.D printed in black. At the right
OTKPUTOE nM .. .
on the address side is the in-
r scription "Donated by the firm
to the St. Eugeniya Society" in
*-.. LA.-. the same shade of red as the
Cross. Printed by Prokudin-
', Z.,_ -Gorski with printer's name on
........ the picture side.
S- B. Split-back. "Postcard" in
Russian and French, "UPU" in
Type SE-8. Russian only. No space for the
stamp or printer's name. A
Type SE-9 The same style as type 8 but slightly double dividing line, and five
smaller. "Postcard" in Russian only. dotted lines for the address.
Five dotted lines for the address All printing in dark green ex-
with a space for the stamp. A triple cept the emblem, which is a
dividing line to split the back. From pale red.
Golike and Vil'borg with printer's
name on the address side. All print-
ing in black except the emblem Opine, aum.-cad Po..t .
which is a reddish claret. .0 A. Ab.
) r-:----__

Type SE-10.
Rossica Number 117
23 October 1991

Type SE-11 This design has the same em- presumably during the Provi-
blem as the last three types but is sional Government period.
larger. It can be found as an undi- D. A.F. Dressier Photo-typogra-
vided back type, but is usually a phy, Podyarcheskaya 22 SPB.
split-back in an unchanging style 1. With printer'sname atright.
with a double dividing line. The Shades of green and red.
cross is always in red (shades) with 2. With the full designation
the rest of the design in a single Photo-typography and Ty-
color (usually green). This type is pography (abbreviated to
the most common of the St. Eu- Tip.) on the right side. This
geniya cards. Itwas used until 1915. can be found in green and
The following listing is by printers, red, or in khaki and red.
subdivided where necessary. 3. Name given as Photo-ty-
pography Kordovski Dres-
Ssler SPB Podyarcheskaya
OlIYKP] lbOE T1111ClO. ltci 22. Found on surfaced and
SCAt PosTALr.c fVm unsurfaced cards in shades
rft cj.canncm raitc. tb.a ,fE. of green and red. The name
is again on the right.
E. F.B.B. Name on left. Unsur-
Sfaced card. Shades of green and
-. ___red.
S____ __ F. Artistic Photo-typography K.
Fisher Moscow. Name at right.
Found on unsurfaced, surfaced
"and highly surfaced cards.
Type SE-11. Shades of green and red
G. Golike and Vil'borg
A. No printer's name. Found in 1. Without the address added
this form on surfaced and un- a) Undivided back on buff
surfaced card, split and undi- card, five dotted lines for
vided backs. Five dotted lines address. Shades of green
for the address. Found in green and red. Name on right.
and red or blue-gray and red. b) Split-back on buff or
B. Artistic Print Company (Tvo. white card, surfaced or
Khudozhestv. Pechati). Print- unsurpassed. Shades of
er's name at bottom left. Found green and red. Name on
with split and undivided backs, right.
Shades of gray-green and red. 2. With address added, Zven-
C. Ph. Backer Brody (Austria) igorodskaya 11 SPB. Split-
Artistic Editions. Printer'sname back on surfaced or unsur-
in French on the right side. faced card. In green and red
Unsurfaced card. Shades of or khaki and red. Name on
green and red. This printer's right.
cards can be found with the H. Granbergs Stockholm. Without
emblem obliterated by a grill, the printer's name, but with their

Rossica Number 117
24 October 1991

logo at bottom right. On the St. and red, five dotted lines for
Eugeniya cards this is only 6mm the address. Printer's name at
High. In green and red. bottom left. Found with the
name in two sizes 21/2 mm
and 19 mm.
UORTOBAERI R ORT N. S.M. Prokudin-Gorski. Print-
IORR OBAR BRAPEORTH
her's name on right. Dark green
and red.
0. Union Art Works SPB. Un-
... surfaced card, name at right.
SGray-blue and red.
P. Contemporary Art (Sovremen-
noe Iskusstvo) SPB Ofitserskaya
60. Surfaced card, green and
red.
Q. A.N. Pavlovich. Surfaced card,
Type SE-11H. green and red.
Cards in type SE-11 were overprinted for
I. A.Il'in Cartography SPB sale in the U.K. during WW1. On the left side of
Pryazhka 5. the reverse it reads "Russian Village Postcard,
1. With printer's name on the sold in aid of Russian Benevolent Fund." Found
picture side (the only ex- on SE-11G.1.b.
ample I can record of this in
type SE-11). Undivided OTMPLfUbE 1 CiC o.- trl t
back in green and red, or CAR PorPALE.lt lR
split-back in green and red, cb aLtL m._ rct a I
or gray-blue and red. m- Pm
2. With printer's name on the
address side at the right. In
green and red.
J. N.Kadushin Lithography SPB. i
Split and undivided backs, on
white or buff card. Printer's
name at right. Overprinted Type SE-11.
K. I.S. Lapin Printworks Paris
(Pech.I.S.Lapin Parizh). Prin- Type SE-12 A completely different style in
ter's name at bottom right, the form of a patriotic card, without
Shades of green and red. a picture on the other side, just a
L. A.Levenson Fast Print Com- blank card. The inscription remains
pany. Split and undivided backs, the same and is found above the
on surfaced and unsurfaced card. cross. The names of the Allies are
Printer's name at right. Blue- listed in sequence; Russia, France,
grey and red. England, Belgium, Serbia, Montene-
M. I.N. Pashkov Lithography gro and Japan. All in green with the
Moscow, Kuznetski Bridge. cross in red. From Golike and
Undivided backs in olive-green Vil'borg with printer's name at the
right. Dated 1914.
Rossica Number 117
25 October 1991

Type SE-12.

Type SE-13 A different style of emblem with B) Dressier Photo-typography
the inscription and the cross in a rec- and Typography Ptr., 2nd line
tangle mirroring the space for the 43. With the printer's name at
stamp. The stamp space has the the right. Found in green or
wording missing. "Postcard" in olive-green and red.
Russian and French. C) Union Ptg. B. Kazachii Per.
11. Printer's name at right. In
noIoSAn aAPTO'nIA bright blue-green and red.
CART E P. S'TA LE D) Lit. N. Kadushin Petrograd.
j -Printer's name at right. In
S-------green and red.
... ---Being both a religious organization and un-
der Royal patronage, the fall of the Monarchy
-_ and then the Bolshevik takeover brought an end
I to the production of these cards.
S-Any collector looking for a new (and cheap)
S.;. .. side-line would find in these cards a fascinating
field of interest. The picture sides include series
Type SE-13. showing Russian printing at its best. Many lead-
ing artists produced designs for the Community
A. Golike and Vilborg and the printing, by Ilin in particular, does them
1. with the address of
with the adres o full credit. The reverse sides show an interest of
printer at the right read-
their own, which I hope this article demon-
ing Petrograd Zvenigo- states.
rodskaya 11. Shades of
The listing offered here does not claim to be
green and red. complete, and it is likely that for each style there
2. with address just given are several new printers to add and perhaps new
as Petrograd. Has cen- colors. There are also likely to be other styles
worship inscription be- which I have not seen and, therefore, cannot
fore the name. Unsur-
fore the -record. If any member has anything new, I
faced off-white card in
would be very pleased to hear from him or her.
shade of brown and red. My thanks to Dr. George Murdoch and Philip
Robinson for their help in compiling the list.

Rossica Number 117
26 October 1991

THE SWISS WOMAN'S CIPHER

by Dave Skipton

It was a close call; the postcard in fig. 1 From the address and the apostrophes in the
barely avoided a return to the bourse dealer's text, it seemed likely the message was in French.
box. Of bland mien and pedestrian origin, the Enter Dick Dallair, Rossica's cryptographer
front of the card was a poor inducement to pay his extraordinaire and no slouch in the language of
$10 ransom. But the back of it! Now HERE was the Gauls. In a few days the cipher was solved,

OTEPLITOE IIHCLMO.

S... ........ o. a i........ ..

in what language? And was J ow r r rD_-7 V_3A J <_J tiC 3 terrorist message dis-
the sender distrustful of the < Russian postal administra- r-. r .i -.'

tion, with its notorious black -oa -4 A r c r jr inar Lr. j "Mon cheri, come Je suis
Figure 1. Ostro, Lomzh province to Srrz in the French canton ofVaud, Swerand. Posted on 20 August
(or 30?) 1900.
". .- .., /.f^ :.-,.
a puzzle. The text (fig. 2) r -a,,rr. t o -o and hopes for something
was obviously a cipher, but 73L njB ru o 0 _J7: ar. o. r%) like a spy's report or a
in what language? And was .ji >rro -avlJ ocA j < L u'r the sender distrustful of the f.- ro- a o< L>E r< j. Nsolved with it.
Russian postal administra- hCrJ i- uAL.no inr ,O,-LC.,
tion, withitsnotorious black o-o a tr chambers and direct links d L zc r_-v o..' mechante de ne pas encore
away w the cover. Thi avoir repondu a ta bonne
with the Department of rorac or voCr B va lettreetcarte. Voilalabuche
Police? Or was the expla- itno 'r LeJa : 1 0 rod.tr/ .: qui recommence pour toi
nation more innocent, an -i >ralV o 0- ULCYr 'r. uroI cheri, boncourage! Bientot
amateur cryptologist just hoJrwDra C >E(j70 .-V< L L :; Ns serons ensemble cheri,
having fun? Only breaking - the cipher could tell, so out 4 J Ano rr A l rO P viensdrCCeVO(i]r'itinerai
the cipher could tell, so out uJrvorv de mo[n] voxage (sic), c'est
came a ten-dollar bill and j. L delicieux! Je ne puis plus
a w t t c i attendre -adieu cheri bien
was a true "pig-in-a-poke" des baise
deal, and not until some
research had uncovered the Je t'ecrirai plus longuement
story that follows did I find -': i Pr le
out just how apropos that .__ ___ .... _
description was.
Figure 2. The cipher text.
Rossica Number 117
27 October 1991

(Translation: It had a colorful history. Thomas Jefferson
"M" darling, how naughty of me not to have replied knew of the Rosicrucian Cipher, and since many
yet to your nice letter and card. Here is the dolt who early American statesmen were Masons, they
is starting again for you, darling, take courage! Soon would have been familiar with the Freemason
we will be together, darling, how delighted I will be!
I have just received the itinerary for my trip. it is de- Cipher. It was used during the Revolutionary
lightful! Ican'twait-good-bye darling, many kisses War, and again when Northern POWs in Confed-
from your EE. I will write you more at great length for erate concentration camps employed it to slip
the (?) ." messages out. Freemasonry enjoyed a consider-
The two lovers were using a cipher that by able following in England and on the Continent,
1900 was already over 175 years old. It, in turn, so by the time this postcard was sent, the secret of
was based on a cipher that went back at least to its construction was known to many non-masons,
the time of Henry VIII, and probably to the even our pair of Swiss lovers.
Crusades. The original approach was set up like The sad thing is that very probably the two
this: felt their code was invulnerable to prying eyes.
ABC DEF GHI The fact of secret censors was well known in
JKL MNO PQR Russia and Europe, yet many held an unshake-
STU VWX YZ able belief in the stupidity of police in general,
(in its simplest form; the correspondents could, and Russian police in particular. Perhaps their
of course, agree beforehand on some other dis- cipher could have furrowed the brow of the av-
tribution of letters) and it looked like this when erage detective, but Russia's black chambers had
"written": excellent libraries of cryptologic literature, not to
I- Io ---I-| I= I =ROSSICA mention outstanding professional code-break-
ers. Some of them no doubt could have read the
The shape of the "cell" determined which message after only a few moments' study. My
group of letters was desired, and the positioning thanks to Dick Dallair for the code-cracking and
of the dot (-) within each "cell" determined which translation of the card!
letter was meant. This was the "Rosicrucian
Cipher," which is reputed to have withstood Sources Consulted:
cryptologic attack for centuries. 1) Wolfe, J.R.. "Secret Writing. The Craft of the
When the first Masonic Blue Lodge was Cryptographer," McGraw-Hill, NY, 1970, p.
officially formed in England in 1717, the "Ros- 49.
icrucian Cipher" was already very old, but since 2) Wrixon, F.B.. "Codes, Ciphers, and Secret
the adaptation of it which followed was used by Languages," Bonanza Books, NY, 1989.
the Free Masons, it became known as the "Free-
mason Cipher." Based on a tic-tac-toe board and
an X, the system also picked up the name "Pigpen From "Khronika" in "Zhizh' i Tekhnika
Cipher." A pig-in-a-poke indeed! The 26 letters Svyazi" No. 9-10, Sept/Oct 1924, p. 193
of the alphabet could be arranged in any fashion,
so long as both sides agreed upon the progres- Transit of International Correspondence
sion, but this cipher also worked on a shape-and- by Airmail through the USSR
dot approach.
BC a paL Transportation of a part of the Chinese mail
AB J L X Thus A transiting the USSR to Western Europe has been
DEIF M N_ S U W- Y =J established, using airplanes from Moscow to
H P [Jz B K6nigsberg.
|^K *
and so on.
Rossica Number 117
28 October 1991

Received From an Automated Mailbox

by M. Kosoi
(Translated from Filiteliva SSSR, June 1990 by Gary A. Combs)

Ninety years ago the United States intro-
duced the first automated mail device, intended
for the receipt of registered mail. When the
sender deposited the correct amount of money in
a slot in the automated mailbox, a slit opened for
the letter and a paper roll was extruded. On this
the sender wrote his name and the address of the
recipient. When the proper handles on the device
were turned, the sender was given a duplicate of
what he had written on the roll. This, with a serial
number on it, served as a receipt.
Similar automated mailboxes appeared in
Europe seven years later. At the World Postal
Congress held in Rome, the Hungarian delega-
tion demonstrated an automated device resem-
bling a mailbox with three openings: one for the
receipt of money, one for the letter, and one for
* issuance of the receipt. The receipt noted the Figure 1.
two small plates with German inscriptions. One
place of origin, the box number, the date andtwo small plates with German inscriptions. One
ber of the item received. In 19, these read: "For Registered Letters: In order to ensure
number of the item received. In 1909, these ,
acceptance of the correspondence, be sure to
mechanical devices were tested in Germany. acceptance of the correspondence, be sure to
affix the correct postage." On the other was: "In-
Naturally, each year that passed brought new
ra, r r structions: Open the door, insert the letter and
improvements, and it wasn't long before auto-
a i w l b a close the door. Turn the lever twice to receive a
mated mailboxes were capable of handling regis-
receipt which will appear in the lower slot."
tered correspondence to which postage stamps recent hch ll the oero
had already been affixed. When one placed the letter with the correct
Between 1910 and 1913, these automated postage for the weight and registration charge
into the automated mailbox and turned the handle,
mailboxes made their appearance on a trial basis into te ed a and ned e a
in St. Petersburg and Moscow. In St. Petersburg simultaneously a red square cancel was placed on
the letter and a receipt was issued.
they were located as follows: rail stations the letter a
Nikolaevskii (now Moscow), Warsaw and Tsar- Figure 2 (left) shows a registered
skosel'skii (Vitebsk); at the General Post Office; Iia- letter that was placed in a auto-
at the 3rd and 4th city post-telegraph offices. In 656 K2&2I mated mailbox at the Nikolaevskii
Rail Terminal in St. Petersburg. In
Moscow they were located at the [main] City R I
Post Office until 1923. Their use eliminated lines the upper part of the mark in Russian and French
and made it possible to accept mail during the appear theletter "Z" firstt letter in "zakaznoe -
hours when the post office was closed, registered), the name of the city "St. Petersburg,"
One such a d m x ( 6 and the first letters of the location of the auto-
One such automated mailbox (91x41x56
Si s a w kilograms) is mated mailbox "N.V.," for the Nikolaevskii Rail
centimeters in size and weighing 80 kilograms) is
cnme in* i an w h 8 At iTerminal. Below the text is the number of the
shown in fig. 1. On the [outside of the] box were

Rossica Number 117
29 October 1991

registered correspondence, which changed auto- with the name of the postal establishment accept-
matically with each new letter introduced, the ing the letter, a one-up number and the date (day,
month (first three letters), the day and year ex- month, year) (fig. 7 left). The text on this mark
pressed [using only] the last two digits of the was in Russian only. That distinguished it from
year. the the postmark on the letter, where the inscrip-
Mr. N. Luchnik, in his article on the rail post tions were in French and Russian. In every other
in Russia (Soviet Collector, 1974, No. 11, page way the texts were the same.
64) states: ". The red square [of the receipt Letters placed in an automated mailbox went
mark] appears on the stamp as well as any part of into a special box, from which they were periodi-
the envelope that does not contain the stamp..." cally removed for further processing. Postal
Such an allegation is, in my carriers made sure the franking was sufficient
3C k "tep i opinion, in error since the square and then cancelled the stamp with a handstamp of
RFtstKw6Y was never placed directly on the the postal establishment with the same date as
871 ,, ,3 stamp, but it could appear any that contained in the [automated-mailbox-ap-
place else on the envelope. Fig- plied] square marking. On the back of the letter
ures 3-5 (left) show the markings the mark "received by automated mailbox" was
of the Warsaw Rail Terminal, the applied. These handstamps can be found in a
___ll3 r 3rd and the 4th city post branches one-line violet mark (fig. 8) or in a two-line black
IR [ of Petrograd respectively. Post- mark (fig. 9). At the Warsaw Rail Terminal, the
321 anp23131 marks of the Nikolaevskii Rail text was different: "received from an automated
Terminal and the 3rd city branch mailbox" (see fig. 10).
displayed additional vertical and arTOMaTOM
31EltlU4, horizontal lines between the Rus- IIpH
Pfillll'o sian and the French to separate Figure 8.
842 142* s them. IpP MH 0
ABT OMATOM.'
While marking the correspon-
dence, the automated mailbox simultaneously Figure 9.
issued a receipt to the sender stating that "a letter
assigned the number below has been posted in the 1
automatic device" (see fig. 6).

Figure 10.
*
l-lan ,,wau*b Correspondence was logged in a correspond-
,.-..... ing logbook. That permitted the sender, if neces-
** -uw, on,. *sary, to make an inquiry using the number on the
i "-'"** receipt.
.nEPyPrib Research into the cancels of registered mail
"placed in automated mailboxes is undoubtedly of
33,, r t interest, inasmuch as it enables one to become
familiar with the first experiments in Russian
Figure 6. postal automatization.

3IRTEP6b As on the registered letters, the
331 WI'o receipt bore a red square mark

Rossica Number 117
30 October 1991

Russian Deltiology
(Part III)
Alexei Nikolaevich

by William Nickle

Alexei Nikolaevich was a popular subject exei with long girlish hair are shown in figs. 2-
on turn-of-the-century Russian postcards. He 4. Figure 2 was produced by the British Rotary
was born August 22, 1904, the fifth child and Photographic Studio. Figure 3 is of Russian
only son of Nicholas and Alexandra. Though he origin. The Stender Company of Copenhagen-
suffered from hemophilia, he appeared normal Stockholm produced the postcard shown in fig.
in the real life photographs shown on the post- 4. Figures 5, 7 and 8 were done by Rotary. The
cards. Perhaps his main claim to fame was the St. Eugeniya Society of Russia produced the
fact that he was the reason for the influence of postcard shown in fig. 6. Figure 7 shows Alexei
Rasputin in the poli- dressed as a Colonel of
tics of the day because the Nizhnii Novgorod
of Rasputin's power Dragoons. Figure 8 also
over Alexandra. Al- features the tsarevich
exei lived to be four- dressed in military at-
teen years old. He tire. Beagles of Lon-
shared the sad fate of don produced fig. 9
many of the Roma- from a royal photo taken
novs, i.e., an early and by Boissones and
brutal demise at the Eggler. Nicholas II
hands of the bolshe- L i enjoyed sailing aboard
viks. the imperial yacht
The postcards "Standart" and Alexei
shown here are from L is shown in a sailor shirt
Great Britain, Russia in figs. 10-12. Figure
and Scandinavia. The 10 is of French origin.
rare early photo The Rotary Photo-
shown in fig. 1 was graphic Studio pro-
done by The Rotary duced fig. 11 and fig.
Photographic Studio 12 was done by another
in London. The most British firm, Beagles
popular photos of Al- Postcards.

262 8 THE CZAREWITCH OF RUSSIA o... .o.e *c
Figure 1. Rare early photo by the Rotary Photographic Studio in London.

Rossica Number 117
31 October 1991

249 0 Tt CZAEwtT M -U l** I

Figure 2. Card produced by the British Rotary Pho- Figure 3. Russian origin card.
tographic Studio.

l i- l

a ~ ~ ~ L -y->-^.- ^

Figure 4. Postcard produced by the Stender Company of Copenhagen-Stockholm.

Rossica Number 117
32 October 1991

Figure 5. .A U.t P' B..,ir ..r
HLa'amr If,:pql B idl Kur
AJeKetA IIHKOxaeuvr..

Figure 6. Postcard produced by the St. Eugeniya
Society of Russia.

an. 'ot rI ToaRITC. o.. M ....fl C
S r .A o * T T 2AIWITCH ALEAS& USA. r .

Figure 7. Alexei dressed as a Colonel of the Nizhnii Figure 8. Once again in military attire.
Novgorod Dragoons.
Rossica Number 117
33 October 1991

..*mK CZAREVITCH OF RUSSIA. '
Figure 9. Card produced by Beagles of London from Figure 10. Postcard of French origin.
a royal photo taken by Boissones and Eggler.

IlII

SS M FIM. THE C2.REV1IOH OF RUSI. 'oT. T ,., CZSREVITCM OF RUSSIA ^^^
Figure 11. Postcard showing Alexei in a sailor's Figure 12. Postcard produced by Beagles, a British
uniform produced by the Rotary Photographic firm.
Studio.
,-r

HI F

Rossica Number 117
34 October 1991

Questions of a Cover

by Michael Ercolini

I have long been fascinated by the stories a What!? So begin the questions. The cover
cover can tell and the different solutions to the does not appear to be philatelic in nature. It
mysteries of a cover that diverse philatelic de- cannot be an altered cover from 1912 as the
tectives will deduce. This article features one of stamp and stationery were not issued until 1913.
those covers that has been gnawing at me for Could it be a simple error date in a seldom used
sometime. plug? Or, since the days and years are close, a
Initially, this appears to be a triple-weight transposition made earlier and not noticed? I
inland cover used in Finland. The postage is paid cannot clearly tell the arrival day, but it could also
by the 20k envelope (H&G #59) and a 1k (Sc. be the 11th. Let's just posit that for now.
#88, Gib. #126) stamp of the 1913 Romanov Now, where is KILO? Is such a fast arrival
series. Both the cover and the stamp were issued possible? KILO is in the greater metropolitan
Jan.2, 1913.' The postmark reads KILO q14HO, area of Helsinki, approximately 6 kilometers due
Sept. 11, 1913, and is a typical Russian-Finnish north of Westend (see map below3). KILO had
double-ring, bar-type cancel of 1894, with the both a railway and regular town cancellation.
addition of stars before and after the date. It is Thus, it is close by and had, at that time at least,
backstamped with a similar trilingual variety a railroad station where mail was picked up and
Helsinki receiving cancel of Sept. 1?, 1912!2 canceled.

10,an "

Hi s ale.' r"K

KILO postmark computer enhanced. Miessoorl I.* *
Hl:iil,,cduslin sulja-alue 'l If l I 1kr
mt/ in Adhaoimen H I EISINKI

J:4 n a h .. HELSINGFORS.

'f 121 Map showing location of KILO.

"..^ \Why triple the postage? This would mean, if
\ proper, that the cover weighed anywhere be-
\ tween .9 oz. to 1-1/4 oz., or nearly so. That is not
an unreasonable amount to have been carried
Helsinki arrival marking on reverse of cover. without leaving obvious evidence. (One would

Rossica Number 117
35 October 1991

need a stiffener of some kind, and a coin or button References:
or some such, and a small paper for the message,
and, voihl!). But, is there some evidence? The 1) Gibbons, Europe #3, second edition Dec.,
postmarks on the front are rather light, and on the 1974, listed the date as Jan. 2, 1913, for the
back only partially complete, as if the contents stamps. I am guessing all the stationery
provided padding and bulk and nonuniformity? was also issued on that date.
Evidence, or just wishful thinking? 2) FACIT, Special 1988 catalog of Scand. P. F-
There is the question of the Romanov use it- 17.
self. According to the postmaster's letter of 22 3) Provided by S. Turunen, a collector who
Oct. 1913 to St. Petersburg, the stamps had not viewed the cover.
yet been delivered. Certainly it would have been 4) Romanovs in Finland by Rev. Leonard Tann,
possible to have obtained the stamps from other as pub. in Yamshchik #11.
retail outlets.4 The issue was popular and in use 5) FACIT ibidd) at P. F-21 states that the 1k, 2k,
throughout the Empire. While it is true that, 3k, 4k, 15k, 20k, 35k, 50k, and 1r., "MAY
especially for early uses in Finland, they are hard (bold type in original) have possibly been
to locate, they do exist and in sufficient quantity contained in ordinary deliveries to the
that most, if not all, references do not question Finnish GPO. There is, however, no evi-
their usage. Clearly, there can be no doubt of dence at all on this." Elsewhere on this
their validity in Finland.5 Rev. Tann does, how- subject Facit refers to stamps and stationery.
ever, make the point that since so few postally 6) Das fehlende Glied, by Sven Fagerholm,
used stationery items are known, they must be Helsinki, 1969.
presumed to have been brought in, or, enclosed 7) There are about a dozen of you I've pestered.
within correspondence for a reply. Thanks for your comments and sugges-
As I mentioned, we know that Russian stamps, tions for further research (esp. to S. Turunen,
regardless of where they might have been pur- Rev. L. Tann, and G. Shalimov).
chased, were valid in Finland during this time I
period. They were legally and properly used on
mail entirely within Finland itself and on mail to Nw A L B
other destinations outside of Finland. In one Ne Ar L e Between Sinkiang
survey of this period (1889-1918), more than and Kazakstan Opening
60,000 Russian stamps used in Finland were
examined. Of those examined, only 5 were listed Moscow, Jan. 18
as used in KILO.6 None of the 5 known KILO Soviet newspapers report that a new air
cancels are on a Romanov issue stamp. service will shortly be inaugurated between
So, what is it? I have asked quite a number of Kazakstan and Sinkiang, Western China.
collectors7 and have received no definite answer. The projected air route will extend from
Most agree that the cover in question looks genu- Alma Ata, the capital of the Kazakstan Repub-
ine, but... So, is this a mystery that will remain lie, through Urumtsi to Hami at the eastern
unsolved? Will this cover forever hold its secret extremity of Sinkiang.
locked within itself? I hope one or more of our Charged with the management of the new
readers may provide the answer. I look forward air service, a Soviet-Chinese joint aviation
to hearing from you. corporation known as the "Hami-Ata Aviation
Company" will be established.
Michael M. Ercolini
Box 778 -Domei
Daly City, CA. 94017-0778 Sino-Soviet Aviation, Jan. 20, 1940

Rossica Number 117
36 October 1991

Siberian Spa Resorts

s by P.E. Robinson
There is an old joke that in Siberia winter is own "vremennoe" post offices, which were open
12 months of the year and the rest is summer. In during the summer months. In Primorsk oblastt"
fact, Siberia enjoys a short summer, which in there was ANNENSKIYA MINERAL'NIYA
many areas can be very warm. I well remember VODY, situated on the Amur river, about 80
arriving at Khabarovsk in June 1980, to find the miles upstream from Nikolaevsk-na-Amure.
city basking in the sun and the mercury sizzling Deposits of iron ore in various parts of Zabajkal
in the high 80s. I shared a hotel with a group of gubemiya have given rise to a number of chaly-
tourists who had come fully equipped with fur beate springs, of which those at DARASUN and
coats ... YAMAROVSKIYA VODY had vremennoe of-
Siberians have always taken advantage of fices, though the Darasun office became a per-
their short summer to "take the waters" at spa manent one from October 1896. Yenisei gu-
resorts, of which there are a great many in Sibe- berniya also had a chalybeate spring at SHIRO
ria. They reached their zenith in Tsarist times, (near the lake of the same name) and in Irkutsk
when, at the more famous spas, luxurious facili- guberniya there was a vremennoe office at the
ties were provided for the wealthy clients who ARSHAN spring.
came from many parts of Siberia and beyond. Of the five spas that had temporary offices
Nowadays the waters are just as clear, even if the before (and in most cases after) 1896, postmarks
facilities are rather more prosaic, and many people from only two of them have so far been recorded,
believe in the health-giving properties of the namely Annenskiya and Yamarovskiya. Figure
mineral water. One of the most famous spa 1 shows the postmark from the former resort,
resorts is at the Arshan spring, in the Sayan inscribed ANNENSKIYA MINERAL. VODY
mountains, south-west of Irkutsk. The naturally- PRIM. OBL./P.T.O. a single example of the
carbonated water from the spring contains a postmark has been recorded. Figure 2 shows a
variety of minerals, and it is bottled and sold all postcard (written in old Latvian) sent from
over the region, where it is said to be good for Yamarovskiyainl915,withapostmarkinscribed
digestive disorders. YAMAROVSKIYA VODY ZAB. An illustra-
Many of the spas are situated at sizable towns tion of the postmark is also given.
or villages such as Usole and Makkaveevo which, I feel sure that postmarks from more of these
even in Tsarist times, were well served by the Siberian spa resorts must have survived, and I
postal system. Many of the spas, however, were would be very interested to hear of any newly-re-
in more remote areas, and some of them had their corded ones.
BCKIPHIUH II1TOjIMII coK)31, POCCIR
SQTICPI TOE UiCbMO T "f cbXol
S- OPRossia N. 1517i

ig137 October 1991r

37 October 1991

Fake China Overprints

by Norman Epstein
Overprints on stamps have been around as *,.
long as there have been stamps. Almost every
country in the world has used them for one reason
or another. The Russian Empire was no excep- C"U Inc OFNUI OVERPNT
tion. Overprints were extensively used, particu-
larly in the years of transition from the empire to Figure 1. Wisewell illustration.
the Soviet Union. Figure 2 represents an enlargement of the sus-
For one reason or another there have been at- pect blue overprint used on the cover. Using the
tempts to produce fakes of every overprint, re- illustration listed in fig. 1 as a guideline, one can
gardless of country, in an attempt to either sell or see that all areas are subject to suspicion. This is
use stamps in a false manner. The exact reason the first clue as to their lack of authenticity.
cannot always be ascertained; however, money is c.
usually the reason.
Overprints were normally used during rela- '
tively short periods of time or for a specific event. (. I..05
Usually the number of copies can function as a \
barometer to the number of attempts to fake the
overprint. The fewer copies produced, the higher ,ia MAPOK'b.
their market value.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to
speak with many of the acknowledged masters of i.
our hobby. From these individuals I have learned Ha- '
many things that may have taken me many more 75 / -
years to figure out myself. One of these items is "..
the subject of the KHTAI overprints on the stamps
of Russia used between 1899 and 1916.
The topic of this article is three covers that I Figure 2. Fake overprints.
acquired a few years back with fake overprints. I
knew they were fake and purchased them as The stamps used are the 5 and 50 kop. of the
fakes. But how did I know they were fakes? I 1902-1905 issue. The cancellation dates reflect
know very little Russian and have an extremely that they were used in 1905. That checks. Now
difficult time reading any text associated with a to the Russian. In the lower left hand corner, the
postal item. amount listed for the transfer is 55 kop. That
Determining whether an overprint is fake can checks. The second thing to look at is the cancel.
be guess work or based on knowledge. One of the One would expect a cancel from somewhere in
documents that I have referred to for the past 35 China. Instead, the cancel is from Orel, which is
years is an article by Mr. E. Wisewell in Rossica a long distance from China! Now we have two
Journal Number 45. His analysis is probably the conclusive pieces of evidence that can lead to
most thorough on the subject to date. He lists 15 only one opinion the overprint is fake.
areas where discrepancies can be determined This example was fairly straight forward. Others
between genuine and fake overprints. Figure 1 can be far more complex. Imagine checking all
represents a copy of his illustration on the 15 items for the correct size of 16.8mm x 2.8mm (all
areas to check. except the "A." "
Rossica Number 117
38 October 1991

Siberia-New Varieties

by George Werbizky

Civil War issues (1917-1922) are rich in On one side of the stamps (not shown here),
varieties and continuous study is rewarding since the second period is missing. Unless more
new ones are usually found. In this short article, stamps with missing period are found, the miss-
new varieties are commented on that have been ing period should be considered spurious.
found in the following overprints: T K
The Kharbin Issue
A. Overprints applied by the forces of Ata-
man Semenov During the occupation of Two primary sources of information about
Chita in 1920 (Scott Far Eastern Repub- the Kharbin issue are the classic work of Tchil-
lic Nos. N1-4), inghirian and Stephen (T&S) Stamps of the
B. The Kharbin "Cents" overprints of Russian Empire Used Abroad, part five, and a
1920. summary article by E.M. Osbom, "The Harbin
Ataman Semenov Issue Surcharges of 1920," published in the BJRP. No.
66, March 1989. It should also be noted that
As could be expected, the 'P. 5 P.' overprint, Rossica No. 45 has an excellent listing of post
Scott No. N3, varies in position. It is found offices in the article by W.S.E. Stephen "Rus-
shifted to the right as well as shifted to the left. sian Post Offices in Manchuriya." Complete
(See fig. 1) sheets are not known to exist and, therefore, the
positions of the varieties are unknown.
I ASR i T&S lists known cancelled stamps of this is-
sue at the time of publication of part five
(1959)[Ed. note: Neither do they acknowledge the exis-
tence of Scott Offices in China No.78, on which the Hailar
cancel is found.]. Now we can add two more
cancellations found on the Kharbin issues not
"listed by T&S: that of XAillAPb: Hailar, fig.
S571 in T&S, and 5iOMblHb: Yaomyn', fig. 639.
Figure 1. Overprint shifted to the left and right. Both of these stations were on the Chinese-
Eastern Railway. Mr. P.E. Robinson, author of
However, the 'P. 10 P.' has a different variety. the book "Siberia Postmarks and Postal His-
Instead of the traditional round period after the tory of the Russian Empire Period" helped to
letters, fig. 2 illustrates a square period. The identify the Yaomyn' cancel since only a partial
position of the period varies from the first 'P' to impression, a composite at that, is available.
the second 'P.' It is clearly seen on the offsets on Since only the last three letters are available -
the back of the stamps. blHb- there were only two possibilities:
C5OCYHblHb Syaosuifyn' and Yaomyn'. The
first is to long a name for the portion of postmark
available, so the choice was clearly the second
station. T&S state (p. 453) that, for Yaomyn',
;U, J -. *, "No examples (of Kharbin cancelled issue) re-
S' corded yet: RR/RRR." A partial date '21 is
S" visible. This indicates late usage and thus may
Figure 2. Square periods after 'P.' be a favor cancel.

Rossica Number 117
39 October 1991

Since both varieties occur on several de-
nominations, they are not spurious. All were
found on loose stamps. Whole sheets are not
known. Thus, it is impossible to determine its
j position in a sheet. The following lists my
N,4 ,findings:
S Partially broken 'n' : 2, 3 and 4 perforate
I and 10 imperforate.
Thick 't': 5o, perforate and imperforate.

The 'large period' variety was found after
examining over 100 loose stamps. It is shown in
Figure 3. The Hailar and Yaomyn' (lightly en- fig.6 along with normal period.
had ce s fig.6 along with normal period.
hanced) cancels.
T&S and Osborn list known varieties of the
overprint itself. All denominations were over- .
printed with the same setting of the word "Cent." '
in the second line. The first line contained the
value and was changed as required.

C C C'Lttl 11
; n in i w l .n

Figure 4. T&S and Osborne varieties.
Figure 6. 'Large' and normal period after 'Cent.'

All of the varieties shown in fig. 4 are from Given the conditions under which the Civil
S. Given the conditions under which the Civil
T&S, except the "Broken n," which is from the ,
War issues were created, these varieties are
article by Mr. Osborn. To these I can add three probably not the last ones to be found. I am
probably not the last ones to be found. I am
more: a partially broken 'n' only the right-hand c t k
g is b n tk n l w d.rs confident that keen eyes and patience will result
leg is broken; thick normal 't', which differs in more new material.
from T&S's "Antique" as well as normal 't', and i
large period after "Cent."

From "Khronika" in "Zhizn' i Tekhnika
Svyazi" No. 6, June 1924, p. 164.

S In accordance with a proposal from the Italian
S Postal Administration, and in conjuction with the
S u resumption of sea communications on the Trieste-
"--" Odessa-Batum line by ships of the Lloyd-Triestino
SCompany, transportation of international pack-
ages between the USSR and Italy and countries
beyond Italy will be established on the aforemen-
tioned route. This will greatly reduce postal
Figure 5. Partially broken right leg in 'n' and thick
't' vertical stoke twice as wide as that of normal't' expenditures in sending these packages, which
as shown in T&S. currently are sent via a roundabout path through
Latvia and a string of Western countries. 0
Rossica Number 117
40 October 1991

Persian Consular Office in Baku

by Gordon Torrey

While Russian Post Offices Abroad are a Farsi handstamp reading "Postes Consulaires
well known aspect of Russian Persanes-Bacou." To the left is aTehran arrival
philately, foreign post offices in datestamp of 23 April 1920.
Russia are practically unknown. This type of mail apparently was carried by
One example of these is that of diplomatic pouch to Tehran. The circular hand-
the Persian Consulate in Baku stamp to the right of the Bacou marking is that of
following the First World War. the Persian government showing the "Lion with
The Russian Communists seized this city in Sword"(coat of arms of Persia). The Farsi in-
late 1919 after General Dunsterville's British scription is illegible.
Forces withdrew. During the winter of 1919 and Arrival dates on other covers in the author's
the spring of 1920, the Persians set up ar- possession are:
rangements for the sending of mail to Persia. The 10 February 1920 to Tehran,
cover illustrated in fig. 1 shows the reverse side 14 February 1920 to Tehran,
of a cover with a Persian stamp cancelled by the 21 February 1920 to Isfahan,
Consulate with a circular bilingual French and 23 April 1920 to Recht,
3 October 1922 to Recht.

Figure 1. Reverse side of cover showing Persian Consular handstamp.

Rossica Number 117
41 October 1991

Mail for Ostarbeiters in WWII

by George G. Werbizky

In Rossica No. 74, 1968, Benjamin R. In occupied parts of the Soviet Union, the
Beede wrote an excellent article civilian population was not allowed postal, tele-
titled "Ostarbeiter Mail: An In- graph or telephone services. This total curtail-
troduction." Mr. Beede's ar- ment of all means of communications was unique
tide covered the history, rules among all the occupied countries.
and regulations that governed In war-time Germany, there were 3 postal
postal correspondence. No fol- systems in use:
low-on article appeared as prom- A. The Reichpost (State Post) for Germany
ised by the author. I hope this proper and the civilian population.
article will serve that purpose. B. The Feldpost (Field Post) military per-
sonnel, as is the case with all armies, used
Introduction the Field Post.
C. The Dienstpost (Service Mail) for Ger
In order to sustain it's war machine, Nazi mans and German non-military and para-
Germany conscripted millions of laborers from military personnel.
occupied territories to work on farms and in in-
dustry. It is estimated that close to 6 million were In the occupied territories, German civilians
forcibly deported by 1944. The majority of the used the "Dienstpost" Service Mail, while mili-
work force came from what the Germans termed tary personnel used the "Feldpost." Correspon-
the "Ost" (East) Belorussia, Russia proper, the dence between laborers in Germany and relatives
Ukraine and "Generalgouvernement," as the back home was handled by the Dienstpost. Mail
Germans renamed Poland. The work force con- in both directions had to go through "Starostas"
sisted of men, women and teenagers. (village bailiffs), mayors and labor offices, where
Workers wore distinctive patches over the it was initially censored and controlled."2
left breasts on their outer garments. Those from This method of mail delivery lasted until
the Soviet territories (Belo- March 1943. After March, cor-
russia, Russia, Ukraine) wore ....respondence was possible only
a blue cloth patch measuring if the individual used specially
5 x 5.5 cm with the letters prepared postcards. The same
"OST"printed in white; Poles mailing and receiving restric-
wore a patch roughly the same H tions remained in force, and
size with the letter "P"; Jews the postcards continued to be
wore a patch approximately handled by the Dienstpost.
twice the size of the "OST"
patch with the Star of David.
Figure 1 is a drawing of the
"OST" patch.

Figure 1. Actual-size drawing of the mandatory "OST" patch worn over the left breast.

Rossica Number 117
42 October 1991

Pre-Special Postcard Period (Prior to March 1943)

After the occupation of the Soviet and Polish At o'clock at Labor Office Pskov
territories, people destined to work in the Reich Room No. 21
were required to report to local labor offices You must have with you Labor passport
specially established to handle the exodus of
workers. No exceptions were allowed. Ordered by
In IcKOB (Pskov), while the issuance of local Signature
stamps was permitted3, the individual was no- Pskov Labor Office"
tified with a pre-paid locally-issued postcard (see
figs. 2 and 3). When the inhumane
treatment of the workers became ta Pskau
known, fewer people were willing to ]
go. Therefore, mass deportations C '"
became the rule.
The note attached to the postcard
is worth mentioning. The translated _. /_., -3
text is as follows: "Certificate .7
Krasnogorskaya Str., House No. 5 -
the Addressee departed for village
24/IV signature." Another post- g F o L 4.
card, not shown here, carries a more
ominous note: "The addressee has
typhoid and is in the hospital."
Obviously, both postcards were not
delivered to the intended victims and
were returned to the Labor Office. Figure 2. Front of Pskov Labor Office postcard.
Used cards are not difficult to find. However,
ones with such notes attached are rare. A3RU ZMT d. .t*. Y. 't
VnPABDEMHE TPyfA A (cj)
Since the notice cards had to be surrendered fME TPY
when one reported to the Labor Office, they were si.we, . .ost ica ,
available to whoever was in charge. Slava Pol- AIMI-e
chaninoff states in his article published in Novoe --_ *_,*A Tpy
Russkoe Slovo Dec. 17, 1978, that Dr. Schulz "am. l"rad"
took with him labor office post cards and sold MabdK- d'-
Hren c co6otl JM ipenuaa am i^-wa<
them after the war. Dr. Schulz was the head of the
labor office and was very influential relative to no popo
the local ncKOB stamps. Germany proper cared .. Ar"-t
more about how many live bodies there were to
work rather than how many postcards existed. Figure 3. Reverse side of the Pskov Labor Office
That is why these cards are relatively easy to find. postcard.
The reverse side translates as follows: As indicated in the lower left-hand comer,
"Labor Office Pskov 24.4.42. the postcards were printed by Army printing
You are requested to appear Immediately, in shop number 48, in 1941. All the postcards have
case of non-appearance, you the same design and are light green in color. The
will be brought in by the police earliest date in my collection is Dec. 23, 1941.
(handwritten) The latest is May 5, 1942.
Rossica Number 117
43 October 1991

Postcards sent by registered mail were ad- russia into the Ukraine. Therefore, we see the
dressed to those that did not report in response to anomaly "Pinsk (Ukraine)." The Dienstpost
the first notice. handled the letter as evidenced by the Pinsk
cancel on 9-8-42. The "Ab" in the
Circle is a censor mark, which stands
S /'for "Abwehr Berlin"; Abwehr was
a German Intelligence service.
There were at least 15 offices in the
"4 Third Reich that were used for the
Censorship of mail. The 2nd letter
Always indicated the location of the
INSk censorship office.4 The two covers
illustrated in figs. 5 and 6 are typi-
Scal items from that period. The
first one is dated 25-11-42, and the
second one 10-4-43. This is approximately the
Figure 4. Cover from Belorussia to Germany. Note time when special postcards for Ostsarbeiters
overprint "UKRAINE" on the stamp, were introduced.
Figure 5, a normal postcard, is addressed to
The cover shown in fig. 4 is from the village Peter Krostschuk in Bodenteich, at the "Firma
of Smerdyacha, which is located in the Ivanovo Dasecke" near Hannover. It was written by his
region of the territory of Pinsk. It is addressed to sister. The postcard carries no censor markings,
Stefan (STEPAN) Paschko, who, in all prob- which is unusual.
ability, was working for a farmer named "Mr. A Feldpost card, fig. 6, with the Feldpost
Paul Stiewe." The stamp is cancelled with a crossed out, has two censor's marks: a round one
Soviet-type canceller with all wording removed with the eagle and word "GEPR1FT" (checked)
except the date. In addition, a temporary "Janow and a green Roman numeral VII. This censor
tiber (via) Pinsk (Ukraine)" handstamp was placed mark "definitely represents a working group"
on the stamp. The Germans incorporated Belo- (i.e., a censorship office).3

Postkarte

< .U.tb r ^ ^ ", -- /"7 t^'^

L44 October 199
ro ^^~t( *I^/TYL(U.4 C ^dY~B: c....a l _om ......-. .......

CK4Go uzyv rjitee/.fl-H~u,^ J*WW _- .__an :.__ ................

Figure 5. Postcard from Ukraine to Germany. Note: stamp overprinted "UKRAINE."

Rossica Number 117
44 October 1991

""".*i f3oehtin 3 '**

4 d I2 .............. .. .... a
/l.iW.e do Infetiof/y't JS i3g11

,. ^w o ym.. wx*- A l e l d e -d e. w** .* ** *** **. *

. f,.f, ,.-.. .. -e'

Figure 6. Postcard from the Ukraine. Note the censor mark to the left of the stamp, and the second mark, a
Roman VII, also that of a censor. Again the stamp is overprinted "UKRAINE."

Special Postcards (post March 1943)

There are five different postcards known that agricultural organization. Such cards could be
were specifically prepared for use by the unfor- used until the end of May 1943, against payment
tunate laborers. The earliest one known to me is of normal postage. Senders had to show their
shown in fig. 7. The other postcards are either labor cards. Large camps received their cards
shown or described in this article, directly from the Labor Front." As a reference,
._i... Mr. Beede gives Reichspost. Amtsblatt der
.... P, Reichspost-ministerium. 19/1943, 15 Janu-
p.Aa.. .&*jata a Gbqielr M PVJ
:'-. ^IWl.hxY ary 1943, p. 40. No illustrations were pro-
i( t...... vided, and I have only a poor copy.
I', .t lud, c ,e&rba- ", ry The Easter card m ust be a variant of the
type card illustrated in fig. 7. The address
Sna_ side is identical to the one shown in fig. 7.
______ The other side depicts a pastoral scene with
-"oe rtwo young men seated and enjoying a pic-
.----- nic. A smaller drawing on the left shows a
=-_- -' -group of men and women under a swing.
P-. i...r The text in Russian reads: "HACXAJlbHblfI
SPHBET H3 FEPMAHHH!" Easter Greet-
Figure 7. Bilingual postcard. Note "R" in the lower ings from Germany.
left-hand corner, which stands for "Russisch" "in A similar card, illustrated in fig. 8, apparently
Russian." Cards in Ukrainian had the letter "U" in the was issued later. The date is unknown. The
same place for "Ukrainisch" "Ukrainian." .
same place for "Ukrainisch" "Ukrainian.address side is the same as that of fig. 7, but in

In his article, Mr. Beede mentions a special Ukrainian. The front is in three colors: people are
postcard: "As a great concession, special Easter red, text is gray, and houses are black. The text
cards were given to the Ostarbeiter, two to each "BEIHKOIHblH nPHMBIT 3 HIMELEHHH!" means
worker. These cards had a colored Easter picture. "Hearty Greeting from Germany." In all proba-
They were given out by the Labor Front the ability a Russian version of this postcard also
Reichsnihrenstand (National Food Estate), an exists.
Rossica Number 117
45 October 1991

"' .' ". : that the recipient was probably a Ukrain-
S.-. ian living at "Cam p U krainian" and
S.. working in the French Drocourt com-
mune located in Pas-de-Calais depart-
ment of Northern France!6
"Another postcard, fig. 10, ad-
dressed to another inmate at the same
camp, has additional interesting features.
The 6-pf. stamp is cancelled with what
appears to be a Soviet canceller with all
"/ wording but the date removed. The Di-
-. ,, ,..." enstpost frequently used Soviet cancell-
Figure 8. General greeting card. From the R. Pol- ers mutilated in some way, until regular
chaninoff collection. The reverse side is the same as fig. German cancellers would arrive. Note also the
7, but in Ukrainian. French postage-due stamps that were not neces-
S sary since the 6-pf. rate was
sufficient. This suggests that
POSTKARTE FUR OTAR
STWORT a working arrangement be-
tween the Dienstpost and the
l OT KA French Postal System was in
S. effect. One would assume
SEN. E sDthe Feldpost handled the mail
since "In the so-called enemy
_._ ,occupied territories of Bel-
gium, France, Greece, Yugo-
', slavia and Albania, the high-
i est authority and power was
,.. Ui]iN- vested in the ranking military
SEA -MOT. -Ar PISperson. There was no room
C for the German Dienstpost.
Soldiers mail, official and
Figure 9. Reply portion of postcard cancelled on party mail, and mail from private companies had
March 17, 1943.
March 17,1943. to go through the Feldpost offices." (ref 2., p.11)

Further regulation of the mail was accom- The camp address is in French. Who man-
plished with the issuance of two-part postcards aged the camp? The text on both cards is warm
designated for the "Laborers from the East." (see and touching simple people writing to their
fig. 9) One part of these cards was used to send loved ones.
mail and the other part was a receipt card for the Another example of Ostarbeiter mail from
mail sent. Here only the name of the sender is the collection of Rossica member R. Polchanin-
given in the return address and the camp seal off is illustrated in fig. 11. The example is an an-
forms a part of the destination. The postcard was swer card dated April 1?, 1943, and addressed to
censored by the military "Oberkommando der an inmate in a Russian camp. Figure 12 illus-
Wehrmacht" (high command of the Armed trates a postcard with both parts intact. This
Forces) and checked for invisible ink with two particular example is listed by Michel as No.
diagonal blue lines. These lines appear as long P310. Both halves of the postcard are pre-paid
black smudges on the illustrated postcard. with a 6-pf. imprinted stamp. The requirements
The address on the reply portion indicates remained the same in terms of camp seal, writing
Rossica Number 117
46 October 1991

SRBEITER y .1 "

.- .- ftI -si '

Figure 10. Card handled by German and French postal Figure 11. A postcard to a
systems. The French canceller is indistinct, but "...de Calais" Russian camp.
can be discerned.

R.uaeb: a Potkarte
O-peunuwl : mit Antwet *
P40%r eacra.olr> I rxoj fft

pU3tajliter Apclr
___ An, Ko
an.E
e -- -------------

___ GebbeIt:

Aiqrbdaat:
_______ ______________ Ypa.paqn:
___ _________- Bmpo pya:
Figure 12. Trilingual postcard with reply.
aRossica Number 117
47 October 1991
g 1lstard w
postaiisNumb Amr11

47 October 1991

Absender:
Hazaene:' Posteirte.
p nBnusb: mit Antwort

Lagerstempel
jMt it uer
An, Homry:

__________________________ StreDc:
Bya.uumi: ----------
|rin:
Knit:
Pailo:
Ditenpout-.
amt older _________
GOblet:
_____________________________ Gdbils~t: ---------
Ypm apatl:ni
BSpo Ypy:

Figure 13. Example of a post-war Ostarbeiter card.

on lines only, etc. The card is in three languages: References:
German, Ukrainian and Russian. One side of 1. Polchaninoff, R., "Ostarbeiter Mail,"
each card is shown: front of the sender's portion Novoye Russkove Slovo, N.Y., USA,
and reverse of the reply portion. December 31, 1978. (N.R.S. is a Russian
In 1944, when the German Army retreated language newspaper.)
from all "OST" territories, the ostarbeiter cards 2. Schultz, Dr. H., Deutsche Dienstpost
were separated into their parts and sold for regu- 1939-1945, p. 26, published by Post-
lar use to anyone at the post offices (see comment stempelgilde "Rhein-Donau," 1953,
in Michel catalogue) in Germany proper. West Germany.
No examples of mail from Germany to the 3. de Stackelberg, Dr. K. N., "The Set of
occupied territories is shown in this article. I do Postage Stamps for Pskov, 1941-1942.,"
not have a single example to illustrate. Collec- Rossica No. 56, 1959, USA.
tors in the Soviet Union may have saved a few of 4. Riemer, Karl-Heinz, "Die Uberwachung
these items, although it would have been danger- des Auslandbriefverkehrs wirend des II.
ous to have such items after WWII. Weltkrieges durch Deutsche Dienst -
The same card was used after the war in the stellen," (A Handbook on German WWII
French occupied zone of Germany. (see fig. 13) Censorship) 1979, West Germany.
It was revalued and the 6-pf Hitler stamp oblit- 5. Polchaninoff, R., "Ostarbeiter Mail,"
rated. Novoye Russkoye Slovo, N.Y., USA,
Final Remarks December 10, 1978 issue.
6. Merriam-Webster New Geographical
Although life in the Soviet Union under the Dictionary, "Drocourt, Commune, Pas-
dictatorship of Stalin was brutal, and life in the de-Calais Department, N. France, 9 miles
Third Reich for foreign laborers was no different, NE of Arras."
many citizens of the Soviet Union living in Eu- 7. Tolstoy, Nikolai, "The Secret Betrayal,"
rope preferred to remain in Europe when the war Charles Scribner's Sons, New York,
ended. Yet they were forcibly repatriated by all 1977.
the Western Allies except Liechtenstein.7
Therefore, to Liechtenstein I say "4ecTb H C.nana
JHxTeHnMTeflHyl" Honor and Glory to Lichten-
stein!

Rossica Number 117
48 October 1991

A Call to Arms The USSR's Eighth Stan-
Sdard Postage Stamp Issue
by Leon Finik
m by L. Aronin
The lengthy series of 30-kop. stamps in [From Filateliva SSSR, Nos. 4 and 5, 1988 -
the "republic arms" of Feb. 1947 was capped by Translated by Richard A. Dallair]
a single 1-ruble stamp (Scott #1120), bearing the
USSR coat-of-arms. No mention is made in The stamps of the Eighth Standard [defini-
Scott's of a second printing, and the Soviet tive] Issue were in circulation from October
"Catalog of USSR Postage Stamps 1918-1920" 1948 to April 1961. There were several print-
just says 1,000,000 were printed. [Ed.Note:Michel ings, which resulted in a large number of varie-
agrees.] But take a look at the CTO stamp's ties.
selvage in fig. 1; a bold "2-ot THPAK" (2- The USSR Postage Stamp Catalog for 1918-
printing) would seem to be proof enough that 1980 is almost the only widely available source
there were indeed at least two runs. As only the of information about standard stamps. How-
1-ruble in this set was done lithographically, is it ever, descriptions of many standard issues in the
possible to determine which printing is which catalog are very meager, and from them it is
without the aid of this selvage? The CTO cancel difficult, and sometimes impossible, to deter-
date is mostly illegible, but it may be 1950. mine any one variety. In addition, collectors
The problem is determining whether or not have examples which were actually in postal
the 1,000,000 figure cited includes more than circulation, but are not found at all in the catalog.
one printing lies in the way stamps are ordered in Lately, many collectors have come out with
the USSR. For instance, 1,000,000 mint stamps research articles in the pages of Sovietskii Kol-
may have been run off for postage use within the lektsioner [Soviet Collector] and Filateliya SSSR
country, with a relative few sent to the stamp [USSR Philately] in which the varieties and the
trade abroad. Those stamps destined to receive methods of determining them are specified. All
CTO postmarks COULD be ordered long after of that material, as well as some new finds, have
the initial "official" run, thus driving the total been brought together here.
printing above 1,000,000.
Does anybody have such a stamp with "1" Offset Issues with Large and Small Size
printing" (or "3d1" or "4,") on it? Comparison of Designs
these might help to answer this question.

"-2 ?-THPA3
No. 1379 [Scott No. 1343], 15 K.- MINER AT
END OF MINE TUNNEL (April 1949); Size of
Figure 1. design 15 x 22 mm. It has all shades of gray,
I from light to dark.
Rossica Number 117
49 October 1991

A Call to Arms The USSR's Eighth Stan-
Sdard Postage Stamp Issue
by Leon Finik
m by L. Aronin
The lengthy series of 30-kop. stamps in [From Filateliva SSSR, Nos. 4 and 5, 1988 -
the "republic arms" of Feb. 1947 was capped by Translated by Richard A. Dallair]
a single 1-ruble stamp (Scott #1120), bearing the
USSR coat-of-arms. No mention is made in The stamps of the Eighth Standard [defini-
Scott's of a second printing, and the Soviet tive] Issue were in circulation from October
"Catalog of USSR Postage Stamps 1918-1920" 1948 to April 1961. There were several print-
just says 1,000,000 were printed. [Ed.Note:Michel ings, which resulted in a large number of varie-
agrees.] But take a look at the CTO stamp's ties.
selvage in fig. 1; a bold "2-ot THPAK" (2- The USSR Postage Stamp Catalog for 1918-
printing) would seem to be proof enough that 1980 is almost the only widely available source
there were indeed at least two runs. As only the of information about standard stamps. How-
1-ruble in this set was done lithographically, is it ever, descriptions of many standard issues in the
possible to determine which printing is which catalog are very meager, and from them it is
without the aid of this selvage? The CTO cancel difficult, and sometimes impossible, to deter-
date is mostly illegible, but it may be 1950. mine any one variety. In addition, collectors
The problem is determining whether or not have examples which were actually in postal
the 1,000,000 figure cited includes more than circulation, but are not found at all in the catalog.
one printing lies in the way stamps are ordered in Lately, many collectors have come out with
the USSR. For instance, 1,000,000 mint stamps research articles in the pages of Sovietskii Kol-
may have been run off for postage use within the lektsioner [Soviet Collector] and Filateliya SSSR
country, with a relative few sent to the stamp [USSR Philately] in which the varieties and the
trade abroad. Those stamps destined to receive methods of determining them are specified. All
CTO postmarks COULD be ordered long after of that material, as well as some new finds, have
the initial "official" run, thus driving the total been brought together here.
printing above 1,000,000.
Does anybody have such a stamp with "1" Offset Issues with Large and Small Size
printing" (or "3d1" or "4,") on it? Comparison of Designs
these might help to answer this question.

"-2 ?-THPA3
No. 1379 [Scott No. 1343], 15 K.- MINER AT
END OF MINE TUNNEL (April 1949); Size of
Figure 1. design 15 x 22 mm. It has all shades of gray,
I from light to dark.
Rossica Number 117
49 October 1991

Main Characteristics [of 1379]: -r.
"* Traverse (or vertical) hatching lines are mis-
sing in the white field of the miner's lower
lip;
"* The lower part of the vertical hatching lines
depicting the miner's temple are of different
length, as though the miner's temple is
"crooked". ...* ...

No. 13 15 K M AT ED OF No. 1380 [Scott No. 1344], 20 K. FEMALE
No. 1379-1, 15 K. MINER AT END OF
COLLECLIVE FARMER WITH SHEAF (April
MINE TUNNEL(January 1957); Size of design COLLETIVEFARMERWITHSHEAF (April
minimum of 14.25 x 21 mm, maximum of 14.5 1949); Size of design 15 x 22 mm. Color vari-
- minimum of 14.25 x 21 mm, maximum of 14.5
ous shades of dark green.
x 21.25 mm. Rich, colorful shadings from gray
to black. No. 1380A, 20 K. FEMALE COLLECTIVE
i Character s [f 1 : FARMER WITH SHEAF (July 1950); Size of
Main Characteristics [of 1379-1]:
design 15 x 22 mm. Color various shades of
S olive green. The only difference between Nos.
"* There is an entire series of traverse (or verti- oi n on i n
) h g ls in te w e f o t 1380 and 1380A is their color (the difference in
cal) hatching lines in the white field of the
miner's lower lip; color is readily apparent).
"* All of the vertical hatching lines depicting the
No. 1380-1, 20 K. FEMALE COLLECTIVE
miner's temple are aligned in a single hori- FARMER WITH SHEAF (August 1955);
zontal line. FARMER WITH SHEAF (August 1955); Size
of design minimum of 14 x 20.75 mm and
No. 1 -A, 15 K. M AT ED OF maximum of 14.25 x 21mm. Color various
No. 1379-1A, 15 K. MINER AT END OF
MIN TUNNEL(November 1957); The design shades of olive green. Stamp No. 1380-1 differs
MINE TUNNEL(November 1957); The design
MN .from No.1380 in size and color, and from 1380A
size is the same as that of No. 1379-1. The color in siz
only in size.
is black. It has not been catalogued.

Differences between No. 1379-1 and 1379-
1A:

"* There are letters in the inscription "POCHTA
SSSR" [USSR postage] and very thin, barely
discernible letters in the word "kopeek"
kopeckss];
"* The background behind the miner's helmet is
black, but on No. 1379-1 it is gray and has No. 1381 [Scott No. 1345],25 K. -AVIATOR
No. 1381 [Scott No. 1345], 25 K.-AVIATOR
thin hatching lines which are easily seen with (April 1949) Size of design 14.4 x 21.5 mm.
(April 1949) Size of design 14.4 x 21.5 mm.
the naked eye.
the naked eye. Color dark blue/blue.

Main Characteristic [of 1381]:

One of the cords of the parachute strap over
the right shoulder-strap buckle has three
turns, which are shown as three light hatch-
ing lines.
Rossica Number 117
50 October 1991

No. 1381A, 25 K. AVIATOR (July 1950); Main Characteristic [of 1382]:
Size of design 14.4 x 21.5 mm. Color grayish
blue. The [identification] tag on the first of the
two plant sheathes located behind the scien-
No. 1381B, 25 K. AVIATOR (August 1953); tist on the left side of the design has no
Size of design 14.4 x 21 mm. Color bluish inscription on it the tag is blank.
gray. Nos. 1381A and 1381B differ from No.
1381 only in color, and all the remaining charac- No. 1382-1 30 K. SCIENTIST AT MICRO-
teristics are the same as those of No. 1381. SCOPE (August 1955); Size of Design 14.25 x
21 mm. Range of color shades of brown from
No. 1381-1,25 K.- AVIATOR (August 1955); light brown to dark brown.
Size of design minimum of 14.25 x 21mm, Main Characteristic [of 1382-1]:
maximum of 14.3 x 21.2 mm. Color blue black.
On the [identification] tag there are two hor-
Main Characteristic [of 1381-1]: izontal lines depicting a two-line inscrip-
tion.
SOne of the cords of the parachute strap over
the right shoulder strap buckle has two No. 1382-1A, 30 K. SCIENTIST AT MI-
turns, which are shown as two light hatching CROSCOPE (August 1955); Size of Design -
lines. 14.25 x 21 mm. Range of color light brown to
dark brown. This stamp has not been cata-
No. 1381-1A, 25 K. AVIATOR (August logued.
1955); Size of design minimum of 14.25 x
21mm, maximum of 14.3 x 21.2 mm. Color Main Characteristic [of 1382-1A]:
blue, light blue, dark blue.
The tag on the first of the two plant sheaves
No. 1381-1B, 25 K. AVIATOR (August has one horizontal hatching line on it depict-
1955); Size of design minimum of 14.25 x ing the inscription.
21mm, maximum of 14.3 x 21.2 mm. Color- sky
blue, grayish sky blue, grayish blue. Nos. 1381- All of the 40 K. stamps (No. 1383 [USSR State
1A and 1381-1B differ from No. 1381-1 only in Emblem and Flag]) of the Eighth Standard Issue
color, and all the remaining characteristics are can be divided into:
the same as those of No. 1381-1. 1. Two design types of the USSR state
emblem:

No. 1382 [Scott No. 1346], 30 K. SCIEN-
TIST AT MICROSCOPE (April 1949); Size of A. The stamps issued prior to 1957
design 15 x 22 mm. Range of color shades of have 16 ribbon turns in the em-
brown from light brown to dark brown. blem, symbolizing the 16 union
republics;
Rossica Number 117
51 October 1991

c.To the left of the [flagstaff] tip each of the
four background hatching lines nearest the
tip are broken off from below;
d.The middle line in the emblem on the fold
of the ribbon under the sun is broken;
e.In the [upper] frame under the letter "o" in
the work "pochta" [ postage] the bases of
the horizontal frame's triangular hatching
lines are separated, and the hatching lines
B. The stamps issued since 1957 have are separated from each other;
15 ribbon turns in the emblem, f. At the bottom of the left vertical frame
symbolizing the 15 union republics there are 11 hyphen-like hatching lines.
(the Karelo-Finnish SSR was trans- (On some copies of the stamp in a sheet, the
formed into the Karelo-Finnish topmost hyphen is not printed out, and in
ASSR and was incorporated into that case there are only 10 lines.)
the RSFSR).
2. Four types of printing methods: No. 1383-1 [Scott No. 1689], 40 K. USSR
A. Offset STATE EMBLEM AND FLAG (April 1954); 16
B. Typographical ribbon turns, symbolizing the 16 union republics;
C. Deep [?embossed or relief] Size of design 14.2 x 21.2 mm. Color orange-
D. Offset-reengraved red. Type II. The paper is wove and laid. Fifth
3. Three different types of cliches (depen- issue.
ding on the printing method and the
depiction of the USSR emblem). Main Characteristics of Type II [of 1383-1]:

The USSR Postal Department issued eight a.In the text of the inscription "Gosu-
different printings of the 40 K. stamp between darstvennyj gerb i flag SSSR" [USSR
October 1948 and April 1961.They were: 1948- State Emblem and Flag] the letters "o"
1950, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1958, and and "s" [c] are extended vertically;
1959. They all differ from one another in cliche b.The correctly-shaped, patterned tip [of
type and have their own varieties, the flagstaff] is connected on the left to
the flagstaff;
No. 1383 [Scott No. 1306], 40 K. USSR c.To the left of the [flagstaff] tip each of
STATE EMBLEM AND FLAG (16 October the background hatching lines nearest the
1948); 16 ribbon turns, symbolizing the 16 tip is not broken;
union republics; Size of design 15 x 22 mm. d.The middle line in the emblem on the
Range of color red to dark red. Type I first fold of the ribbon under the sun is not
issue, broken;
e.In the frame under the letter "o" in the
Main Characteristics of Type I [of 1383]:
word "pochta" [postage] the bases of the
a. In the text of the inscription "Gosudarstven- horizontal frame's triangular hatching
nyj gerb i flag USSR" [USSR State Em- lines are not only fused together, but they
blem and Flag] the letters "o" and "s" [c in are joined by one of the accentuated
Russian] are rounded; lines;
b.The patterned tip of the flagstaff is de- f. At the bottom of the left vertical frame
formed on the left it does not reach to the there are nine hyphen-like hatching lines.
flagstaff;
Rossica Number 117
52 October 1991

No. 1383a [Scott No. 1689], 40 K. USSR f. At the bottom of the left frame there are
STATE EMBLEM AND FLAG (July 1950); 16 11 hyphen-like hatching lines. We are
ribbon turns, symbolizing the 16 union republics; calling this variant of characteristic
Size of design minimum of 14.5 x 21.5 mm, Type III. It has not been cataloged.
maximum of 14.8 x 21.9 mm. Color orange-
red. Type I First issue. It has not been Note: This stamp type was not described in
catalogued. Stamp No. 1383a differs from 1383 the 1983 catalogue, and we are conditionally
only in color and size. All the remaining charac- designating it No. 1383A.
teristics are the same as those of No. 1383.
No. 1383B, 40 K. -USSR STATE EMBLEM
Note: Stamp No. 1383a was carried in the 1958 AND FLAG (December 1952); 16 ribbon turns,
and 1976 [Soviet] catalogs, but was dropped for symbolizing the 16 union republics; Size ofdesign
no reason from the 1983 edition of the GFK minimum of 14.5 x 21.5 mm, maximum of 14.8
[State Philatelic Office] catalog. x 21.8 mm. Color light red. Type II. Fourth
issue. Not cataloged.
No. 1383-la, 40 K.-USSR STATE EMBLEM
AND FLAG (July 1950); 16 ribbon turns, sym- Notes:
bolizing the 16 union republics; Size of design 1. Stamp No. 1383B differs from 1383-1
14.2 x 21.2 mm. Color Pink. Type II fifth only in size (it is larger) and color (light
issue. Stamp 1383-la differs from stamp 1381- red instead of orange-red).
1 only (pink instead of orange-red). 2. This stamp type is not in the 1983
catalog, and we are conditionally des-
No. 1383A, 40 K. -USSR STATE EMBLEM ignating it as No. 1383B.
AND FLAG (July 1950); 16 ribbon turns, sym-
bolizing the 16 union republics; Size of design No. 1383-II [Scott No. 1689a], 40 K. -USSR
minimum of 14.3 x 21.3 mm, maximum of 14.8 STATE EMBLEM AND FLAG (Spring 1957);
x 21.8 mm. Color light red. Third issue. 15 ribbon turns, symbolizing the 15 Union Re-
publics; Size of Design 14.5 x 21.5 mm. Color
Main Characteristics of Type II [of 1383A]: pinkish red. Type III. There is a large and
diverse range of colors. The paper is wove and
a.In the printed inscription "Gosudarstven- laid. Sixth issue.
nyj gerb i flag SSSR" [USSR State Em-
blem and Flag] the letters "o" and "s" [c] No. 1383-IIA [Scott No. 1689a], 40K. -USSR
are rounded; STATE EMBLEM AND FLAG (1957); 15
b.The correctly-shaped, patterned tip [of the ribbon turns, symbolizing the 15 Union Repub-
flagstaff] is connected on the left to the lies; Size of Design -15 x 22 mm. Color pinkish
flagstaff; red. Type III. The paper is wove and laid. Sixth
c.To the left of the [flagstaff] tip each of the issue. This stamp is rarely encountered.
background hatching lines nearest the tip is
not broken off; Note: Stamp No. 1383-IIA differs from 1383-II
d.The middle hatching line in the emblem on only by being larger in size.
the fold of the ribbon under the sun is not
broken or thinned out;
e.In the [upper] frame under the letter "o" in
the word "pochta" [postage] the bases of
the triangular hatching lines are fused to-
gether and make a closed chain;
Rossica Number 117
53 October 1991

No. 1385B, 1 R. USSR AIR FORCE AIR-
CRAFT AND BANNER (December 1948).
Same as above, but with laid paper.

[Ed. Note: The Soviet Standard issues of the 1940s and
1950s are often overlooked and, more often, mis-cata-
logued. Michel, Scott, the USSR Postage Stamp Catalog,
as well as others do not agree on all aspects relating to the
stamps i.e., color, date of issue, etc. The 8th Standard
issue is an excellent example. Mr. L. Aronin covers the
No. 1384 [Scott No. 1347], 50 K. 8th issue in Filateliya USSR. It is at least a 3-part article,
V.I. LENIN MAUSOLEUM AND KREMLIN of which we have recovered 2 of the parts to date. I
decided to use the article rather than wait for the last part
SPASSKI TOWER (April 1949); Size of design with the hope that one of our members will have it. If any
- 15 x 22 mm. Color Pale blue. member has the final partss, please send me a copy so we
Sco d wh a can complete this subject. Thanks. And lastly, I have
Note: This stamp should not be confused with a
Never seen a 40-kop with 16 ribbon turns. Can any
similar stamp from the Seventh Standard Issue: members) help me?]
"* The stamp of the Seventh Standard Issue: U
Itaglio printing; blue color tones gradu-
ally changing to light blue; no noticeable The Caboose Almost!
hatching lines; the contours of Spasski
Tower are not sharply delineated; and the by Gary A. Combs
stamp is line perforated 12 1/2. The cancellation reads "nlOlT. BAFOHb"
"* The stamp of the Eighth Standard Issue: across the top; serial number 1 on both sides;
offset printing; all details of the design "BAPUJABA PAIHMHH-b" on the bottom. The
are rendered with fine, sharp hatching datestamp is the crossed-date type and is dated
lines; combination perforated 12 1/2. June 1, 1913.

No. 1385 [Scott No. C82], 1 R.[Ruble] -USSR

Preliminary leg-work indicates that Radimin
was a terminal on the Markovskij spur from War-
AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT AND BANNER saw. The line passed (from Warsaw) through
(December 1948). Size of design 22 x 34 mm. Praga(Stal'naya station), Targuvek, Marki,
Color grayish-blue. Wove paper. Combination Pustel'nik, Struga to Radimin for a total distance
perforated 12 1/2. of 19 versts (from Praga). According to the 1915
Postal Guide, Radimin had a post-and-telegraph-
No. 1385A, 1 R. USSR AIR FORCE AIR- office located at the rail terminal.
CRAFTAND BANNER (December 1948). Size I am very interested in receiving comments,
of design 22 x 34 mm. Color grayish-blue. facts, etc. from any member on this cancellation.
Wove paper. Line perforated 12 1/2.
Rossica Number 117
54 October 1991

It May Quack Like A Duck,

But...

By Dave Skipton and Leon Finik

In mid-1989, the U.S. philatelic commu- labels, and not duck or waterfowl stamps as we
nity learned that the USSR would soon issue its know them in the United States. If erinophilia is
first "duck stamps" and "waterfowl stamps" your collecting interest, then have at them if you
(fig.1). The Unicover Corporation of Cheyenne, wish.
Wyoming is selling these in mini-sheets and in- In the United States, duck stamps are REVE-
dividual stamps (figs. 2-3) through its "USSR NUE stamps, intended to be affixed to hunting
Stamp Agency," and they are indeed pretty. licenses, and they have expiration dates. Many
Rossica members should be aware that if they collectors who don't hunt also buy them, and all
buy these sheets or "stamps," they are buying that money goes to support Departments of Natu

I urto Ce~*e Cheyr n. Wyoming 2000001 USA Telhone: (307) (4 -511 C ale: Unoowr Cey Tel: 9 10491079 UrlcMvr Chey

l.PRIORITrrY
June 20, 1989

Leon Flnik
Box 521
Flushing, NY 11374-0521

Dear Dealer,
EXTREEIELY URGF.NT. On July 1, 1989, the USSR will is.il Its first evur Duck Stamp. The
Firlt USSR Duck SLtap (face value: Rbls. 3.00) w-ill I.ature beautiful Mandarin Ducks.
Siwllta;--rusly, the USSR will issue a sot of three bLr.,-tiful Waterfowl postage
stamps.
As pi .,od ov.rleaf, the First USSR HMit Dick Stamp at..! Waterfowl stamps are issue
in mi st't- of nine staups each. Only 20,000 serially -tumbered mini-sheets of the
Fil.t US.-R Duck Statp will be printed (in total, that's only 180,000 stAmrs of tbic
is.1 '). The special Htl-i-shoets of the Waterfowl postage star.ps will a'-o 'e very
S; cited.
These stamps are valuablee through the Ajency at face value as full l..:-shee r
all four stamps Individually as a complete set In the attractive Presents:. -Ader
complete with Shc'gaid moults la.. lnfog.ttlon about thie starps and renowned Scvlet
artist Ivan Koslov, the stamps' de.igner. The Presentation Frldor is offered at the
Specifl Dealer Price. Also available ro Limit Edition Prints of tho "Fisst of
Country" USSR Dick St.ap. Each Print will be individually signed and numbered y t.he
artist, Ivan Koslov.
The First USSR Duck Stdmp will be highly sought after by collectors I, oo'autV
and unique asttus as a "First of Couetry" Duck Stamp. It is e real and u.e
collectt.-g c.-:,rt:anlty. You'll fi.nd d-tl.ls aroLd conv."lil o-!er bltl- ..n 1.,
ravorve side. Please order your FULL requirements of thftse desirable issues TODAI
before the stamps are sold out.

Sincerely yours,
USSR Stamp Agency

0t: BIsAGS Director Ceir
91177 Dircto r
Figure 1.
Rossica Number 117
55 October 1991

IDOCCKICKOE OBflECTBO OXPAHb nIPVPOAhl
-BAiS 50CIETY FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

OXPAHA BOAOFlAABAIOLUMX FThlU

CONSERVATION OF WATERFOWL

fPOCCi7l1CKO ObUJECTBO OXPAHbl nPlPOAb
^ RUSSIA SOCi'^1 FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
h* 12069

Figures 2 and 3.
Rossica Number 117
56 October 1991

ral Resources at the state level and conversation A '-
programs at the national level. Figure 4 shows a
recent Maryland license with stamps expired: a
$6 Maryland revenue and the $12.50 Interior
Department revenue. Without them on the li-

SFigure 5.

According to the short notice about these
labels in "Bulletin of the Rossica Society" No.
10, Nov. 1989, p.5., U.S. Federal Duckstamp
S186307./,' Program Coordinator Norma Opgrand also
,tAAoTns emphasizes that these "ducks" are not valid

Figure 4. stamps.. .They have no government function."
cense, if you're after waterfowl, you're poach- So, there you have it -there are ducks and then
ing, not hunting, and any game warden will be other are ducks...
delighted to meet you.
Now take a look at figs. 2-3 again. The alert
reader will quickly discern that the selvages
contain inscriptions in Russian AND English.
When was the last time you ever heard of U.S. n n rm ge
if y e ar y p Explanation from page 7:
duck stamps with Cyrillic on them? How many *Translator's note: "Postal Pakets" is a
governments sell their own revenues abroad?
direct translation from the Russian "nOCTb
Each of these stamps goes for three rubles a duck, AKETb," a term which, on the face of it, does
nAKETbI," a term which, on the face of it, does
but proceeds ostensibly go to the All Russia
not convey any sense of "closed mails." The
Society for Conservation of Nature (VOOP), not
ocety for Conservaton o atre not French version of this treaty, however, uses the
to a government department or ministry. It
term "Transit en Despeches closes," which in
doesn't appear that these labels are intended for t "Transit en De s closes" which i
English is translated as "Transit enclosed mails."
use on Soviet hunting licenses. What a shame it The 4-volume Dal' dictionary of 1880-82 car-
The 4-volume Dal' dictionary of 1880-82 car-
would be to break up such a pretty selvage, not to es the "Post Paket" as a package (bale) contain-
ries the "Post Paket" as a package (bale) contain-
mention the numbered sheets, and all just to put
ing letters going to one place ..."
one stamp in a hunting license booklet! n
There are indeed ducks on these sheets, but
then there's a rabbit on this 1990 National Wild-
life Federation label, too (fig.5). The NWF is a
worthy cause to support, and perhaps the Soviet
society is as well, but the NWF doesn't produce
revenue stamps, and neither does the VOOP.

Rossica Number 117
57 October 1991

The Rossica Library When the project is reasonably complete, a
computer printout of one, several or all subjects
can be generated and printed, or duplicate flop-
pies produced. It should be a great asset for
0 :philatelic researchers and specialists in particu-
"lar, and a good "road map" for collectors in
general. My thanks to Scott for his continuing
Assistance, and also to J.D. Myke, who labored
valiantly on the card index in the "Post Rider"
issues.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS.
by David Skipton
1. The texts of 16 Imperial Russian postal
What does a prehistoric fish do when it no- treaties concluded between 1843 and 1873 with
tices the pond is drying up? Well, if it wants to various European countries. This is a tremen-
survive, it's going to have to grow legs in a hurry dous resource for the postal historian, and we
and strike out for bigger waters. Since Nov. hope eventually to translate all of them for the
1990, the Library has been undergoing just such Journal. Three have been published already, and
a tedious evolution of limbs, for the "pond" is a fourth translation has been completed. This ac-
now exceedingly cramped. Efforts to produce a quisition we owe to the kindness of Joe Geraci,
card catalog (subject and author indices) by hand who tracked them down at the Smithsonian.
on 3"x5" cards could not even keep pace with the 2. Photo negatives of the 1915 Philips Atlas
influx of new material, let alone record all of the (Russian section), graciously donated by Her-
old. Seven file trays full and hundreds of hours man Z. Hirsch. The negatives are of excellent
later, it became apparent that it was adapt or go quality, and will produce good maps.
belly up. 3. "Udmurtiya v filatelii SSSR Katalog"
To that end, the Society obtained a "Book- (Udmurtia in USSR Philately Catalog), Udmurt
ends" program written specifically for small li- Republic Agency "Soyuzpechat'," 1986. A
braries; to John Dowd and Norman Epstein goes softbound handbook listing all postage stamps,
the credit for acquiring the software and manual, envelopes and datestamps issued in the USSR
and to Scott Allen for actually shoehorningg" the with an Udmurt theme. With the exception of
beast into our IBM computer. An even more two stamps, there are only a few postmark illus-
daunting task for Scott was to train the Librarian trations. Courtesy of Ricardas Vainora.
in its use (what does a prehistoric fish know from 4. Raimundas Lapas' BALTICA-90 silver
stamp tongs about "Bookends?"). But saintly exhibit of "Vilnius 1939-1941, Study of rates and
patience, endless repetition and judicious appli- cancellations," looks at the three postal admini-
cation of a rolled-up newspaper have worked stations of the city Lithuanian, Soviet, and
their wonders. The fish can now do the two- German. This kind donation by Mr. Lapas is the
step.[Ed. note: Well, at least he can plug it in, I think.] Library's first exhibit from that period, and I
At the time of this writing, 22 July 1991, there hope to expand upon our "fund" of 1940-1960
are 6,650 entries in the file, with no end in sight. Soviet and related-area photocopy collections.
A "guesstimate" of the total holdings in the 5. Some of Rossica's corporate memory has
Library, to include what is on hand now and what been restored thanks to BSRP Librarian George
will probably be added during the course of this Henderson's generosity. Nineteen of the twenty
project, would be 20-30,000, so one can see how Rossica bulletins issued between 1952-1954 are
much further the fish's stumpy legs must carry it. now available. They were the first publications
Rossica Journal Number 117,
58 October 1991

The Rossica Library When the project is reasonably complete, a
computer printout of one, several or all subjects
can be generated and printed, or duplicate flop-
pies produced. It should be a great asset for
0 :philatelic researchers and specialists in particu-
"lar, and a good "road map" for collectors in
general. My thanks to Scott for his continuing
Assistance, and also to J.D. Myke, who labored
valiantly on the card index in the "Post Rider"
issues.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS.
by David Skipton
1. The texts of 16 Imperial Russian postal
What does a prehistoric fish do when it no- treaties concluded between 1843 and 1873 with
tices the pond is drying up? Well, if it wants to various European countries. This is a tremen-
survive, it's going to have to grow legs in a hurry dous resource for the postal historian, and we
and strike out for bigger waters. Since Nov. hope eventually to translate all of them for the
1990, the Library has been undergoing just such Journal. Three have been published already, and
a tedious evolution of limbs, for the "pond" is a fourth translation has been completed. This ac-
now exceedingly cramped. Efforts to produce a quisition we owe to the kindness of Joe Geraci,
card catalog (subject and author indices) by hand who tracked them down at the Smithsonian.
on 3"x5" cards could not even keep pace with the 2. Photo negatives of the 1915 Philips Atlas
influx of new material, let alone record all of the (Russian section), graciously donated by Her-
old. Seven file trays full and hundreds of hours man Z. Hirsch. The negatives are of excellent
later, it became apparent that it was adapt or go quality, and will produce good maps.
belly up. 3. "Udmurtiya v filatelii SSSR Katalog"
To that end, the Society obtained a "Book- (Udmurtia in USSR Philately Catalog), Udmurt
ends" program written specifically for small li- Republic Agency "Soyuzpechat'," 1986. A
braries; to John Dowd and Norman Epstein goes softbound handbook listing all postage stamps,
the credit for acquiring the software and manual, envelopes and datestamps issued in the USSR
and to Scott Allen for actually shoehorningg" the with an Udmurt theme. With the exception of
beast into our IBM computer. An even more two stamps, there are only a few postmark illus-
daunting task for Scott was to train the Librarian trations. Courtesy of Ricardas Vainora.
in its use (what does a prehistoric fish know from 4. Raimundas Lapas' BALTICA-90 silver
stamp tongs about "Bookends?"). But saintly exhibit of "Vilnius 1939-1941, Study of rates and
patience, endless repetition and judicious appli- cancellations," looks at the three postal admini-
cation of a rolled-up newspaper have worked stations of the city Lithuanian, Soviet, and
their wonders. The fish can now do the two- German. This kind donation by Mr. Lapas is the
step.[Ed. note: Well, at least he can plug it in, I think.] Library's first exhibit from that period, and I
At the time of this writing, 22 July 1991, there hope to expand upon our "fund" of 1940-1960
are 6,650 entries in the file, with no end in sight. Soviet and related-area photocopy collections.
A "guesstimate" of the total holdings in the 5. Some of Rossica's corporate memory has
Library, to include what is on hand now and what been restored thanks to BSRP Librarian George
will probably be added during the course of this Henderson's generosity. Nineteen of the twenty
project, would be 20-30,000, so one can see how Rossica bulletins issued between 1952-1954 are
much further the fish's stumpy legs must carry it. now available. They were the first publications
Rossica Journal Number 117,
58 October 1991

of Rossica as it started up again in 1952, before Reviews of Literature
the appearance of Rossica Journal #44.
For some time now, Rossica Library articles In this section we try to render an opinion on
have concentrated on informing the membership recently published philatelic material from other
about what is available. In this section, I'd like to societies. Unfortunately, we do not have enough
list some of the things the Library needs, in the space to accommodate all the material presented
hope that some members will have duplicates or to us since the lastjoual. Therefore, rather than
can provide good-quality photocopies. to give the false impression that we chose only
1. "Filateliya SSSR": those we liked, we simply will not review any
.t Year l Year particular item in this issue.
5 1970 2-3 1982
1 1971 11-12 1983
7-8 1971 ALL 1984
8 1980 ALL 1987 Trivia
9 1980 ALL 1988
12 1980 ALL 1989
1-7 1981

2. "Russian Philatelist": #s 6-8.
3. "Sovetskii kollektsioner":

1-2 Jan. 1925
10 May 1925
Nov-Dec. 1925
2-7 1926 (Combined issues)
10-11 1926
1-2 1927
Aug.-Dec. 1927

4. "Sovetskii filatelist": Who are these men? Send

1-2 1922 answers to Dave Skipton.
1-10 1923 Whoever gets them all correct
3 1924
5-6 1924 wins a prize (still to be deter-
8 1924 mined).
3 1928

Once again the Library has grown due to the
generosity of its members and friends, and my
thanks and appreciation to the following: Adolph
Ackerman, Gary Combs, Leon Finik, George See 1you at
Henderson, Larry Silverman, Tony Speeckaert, CH- IC AGO 0 PE X '9 1!
Dennys Voaden, Howard Weinert and George
Werbizky.

Rossica Journal Number 117,
59 October 1991

New Members

Our membership now stands at 330 -22 new 1418 Noel C. Warr
ones since April journal! The new members are 21 Egremont Road
heartily welcomed and, if one of them happens to West Norwood
be your neighbor or a friend, personally welcome London SE27 OBH
them to our favorite hobby. United Kingdom
The new members are: 1419 Michael S. Humnicky
11234 Catalina Court
1409 William W. Fishcher, Jr. Cupertino,CA 95014-4737
1119 St. George Dr. USA
El Cajon, CA 92019 1420 Paul R. Uppington
USA 18 Eaton Close Fishponds
1410 Robert M. Wiesner Bristol BS16 3XL
9410 Battle St. No. 101 United Kingdom
Manassas, VA 22110 1421 Timothy A. Davis, Jr.
USA 1432 North 8th St. #6
1411 Bart Samyn Pekin, IL 61554
Klokkeputstraat 62 USA
B-8800 Roeselare 1422 Amil Chilese
Belgium 11334 Elm Street
1412 David H. Denbow Omaha, NE 68144
3281 Terra Cotta Dr. USA
San Jose, CA 95135 1423 Tony Siew Wah Yeong
USA Orchard Point
1413 C. Stetson Thomas P.O. Box 265
115 Nelson's Grove Rd. Singapore 9123
Lakeville, MA 02347 1424 Donald C. Podratz
USA 2441 15th Street
1414 Jeremy Busch Eureka, CA 95501
410 S. Main #5 USA
Geneva, NY 14456 1425 Michael A. Shirer
USA 346 S. Jackson Street
1415 Hans M. Kupec Green Bay, WI 54301
JurastraBe 30 USA
D-8411 Sinzing 3 1426 Dr. David H. Sharp
Germany 174 Laguna Street
1416 John E. Engle Los Alamos, NM 87544
10 Lloyd Rd. USA
Waterville, ME 04901 1427 Simeon Sarkissian
USA 930 Montgomery Ave., Apt. 40
1417 David White Rosemont, PA 19010
8945 Footed Ridge USA
Columbia, MD 21045 1428 Jacob Levitan
USA 2689 Waukegan Ave.
Highland Park, IL 60035
USA
Rossica Journal Number 117,
60 October 1991

1429 Francois Rochon Wanted: WENDEN stamps, covers, proofs,
500 Frangois #610 etc. Any quantity for plating purposes. Send for
* Verdun (ile-des-Soeurs) PQ exchange or requested price to:
Canada H3E1GH Victor Kent
1430 Christopher F. Grippo 5738 Harris Cutoff
1202 East Pike ST. #681 Mariposa, CA 95338-9759
Seattle, WA 98122 USA
USA
Expertization
Member-to-Member Adlets
One of the privileges of membership in Rossica
Rossica cannot assume any liability for trans- is one free expertization per membership year.
actions resulting from member responses to adlets Policy on these free expertizations is as follows:
nor get involved with mediating disputes. Only one free expertization per mem-
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 was begun in the
The regulations and prices are as follows: 1978 membership year, andprior mem-
"bership in the Society has no bearing.
Rossica adlets will have no limit per The item must be submitted on an offi-
se, however, members are requested to cial expertization form available from
use good judgment. Gary Combs or Gordon Torrey.
The price will be US $2 for adlets up to Return postage must be included.
25 words, and US 10 cents per word Only one item per expertization form.
thereafter.
Each adlet must include the name and Anyone wishing to avail himself of this service
address of the member placing the ad. merely has to write the Treasurer, Gary Combs,
"* No general buy or sell ads will be ac- or the Chairman of the Expertization Committee,
cepted as adlets. The journal makes Gordon Torrey, enclosing a legal size (4 1/4 x 9
other provisions for strictly commer- 1/2") stamped envelope for an expertization form.
cial advertisements. When submitting material for free expertization,
"* Adlet service is available to Rossica the owner must provide return postage for his
members only. material. Items submitted will be expertized by
All adlets will be accompanied by a Rossica members specializing in the various
check for the correct amount made out aspects of Russian philately.
to Rossica Society.
"* All adlets and checks will be mailed to Dealer-MemberAds
Gary A. Combs
8241 Chalet Court The Editorial Board of the Rossica Journal
Millersville, MD 21108 invites advertisements from our dealer-members
USA as well as non-members who conduct the occa-
sional auction or mail-sale with a strong offering
Wanted: Moscow cancellations. On cover, of Russian and related-areas material. The Jour-
loose stamps or CSQ. Send xerox, photo or item nal appears twice a year, and reaches over 325
with requested price. Gary Combs, 8241 Chalet members worldwide in April and October.
Ct., Millersville, MD 21108. Deadlines for submission of ads are February 15
Rossica Journal Number 117,
61 October 1991

for the April issue, and August 15 for the October The Russian Post in the Empire, Turkey, China
issue. We strongly prefer commitments for ads and the Post in The Kingdom of Poland by
in three consecutive issues to aid us in planning. S.V. Prigara. English Translation.
However, one-time ads for upcoming auctions or
mail-sales can be accommodated.

Rates: 1/4 page $35 per issue (for 3
issues)
1/2 page $65 per issue (for 3 IDA Mr
issues) ; l,.wlmt ,,
Urrlt HaLMbsa
1 page $100 per issue (for 3 issues) Ii i I &b C
S AM c00u0nca
For one-time ads: $52.50, $97.50 and $150,
respectively. 0 1

For outside back cover ads (full page only) -
$150, first come first serve (based on postmark
date). This is the standard upon which many studies
and conclusions have been established. Written
If you should desire to place an ad in the in 1941,the book is considered by many to be the
Rossica Journal, please notify the editor as soon authoritative guide for Russian postal history.
as possible, together with the text of your ad, the Any serious collector of Russian postal history
rate and number of issues, and a check in $US must have this book on his shelf. The translation
made payable to the "Rossica Society" drawn on can be purchased from the society President,
an American bank. Treasurer, Librarian or journal editor at the fol-
Thank You! lowing rates:
Non-Rossica member $40 postpaid
Gary A. Combs Rossica members: $35 postpaid
8241 Chalet Ct. Dealer rate: $24 per copy for orders of 5 or
Millersville, MD 21108 more.
USA
The Russian Posts in the XIX Century
FOR SALE by K.V. Bazilevich
The original work, published in 1927 in
In addition to back issues of the journal, the Moscow, is today almost impossible to find. It is
society has other items for sale. All items listed one of the most detailed overviews of the impe-
can be purchased through any officer of the rial Russian postal system to be found under one
society or through the journal editor. cover, and contains a wealth of information and
We normally send items at the "book rate" to illustrations. The translator has provided many
keep costs down. If this method is not satisfac- illustrations not in the original. If you want to
tory, please include sufficient funds to cover the learn about the whys and wherefores of old
type of postage desired. All checks must be in Russia's communications system, this book will
$US to be drawn on an American bank. This oblige.
NEW policy is a result of increased handling Intended as a companion to the Prigara transla-
costs charged by the banks and the fluctuating tion, the Bazilevich book will be a handsome
monetary market. addition to your shelf: 165 pages on semi-gloss
Rossica Journal Number 117,
62 October 1991

Imperial Russian Postal Placename List, Re-
verse Sort (1858-1915) compiled by David
Skipton.

Have you ever had a partial strike on a loose
THE RUSSIAN KnST IN THE X CINTURY stamp or cover, where the first few letters of
,iKV ,..., the placename are missing? If so, and you
collect imperial Russian cancellations, this
working aid is a must for you. It contains
18,187 postal placenames gleaned from ten
sources, ranging from the Prigara book to the
official 1916 Postal List. The Reverse Sort is
379 pages long, xerox, printed on one side
only, and unbound. It contains an introduction,
paper, casebound, with a purple-and-white dust an explanation of how to use the RS, com-
jacket. Members may order directly from the piler's notes, a list of cancellation abbrevia-
President, Treasurer, Librarian or Journal Editor tions, format explanation, a list of sources,
of the society. Prices are as follows: province and oblast' trigraph listings, a cyrillic-
latin alphabet conversion chart, and 361 pages
Non-Rossica member $50 postpaid of cross-referenced placenames. A must for
Rossica members: $45 postpaid the serious cancellation collector. Members
Dealer rate: $30 per copy for orders of 5 or may order directly from the President, Treas-
more. urer, Librarian or Journal Editor of the society.
Prices are as follows:
Non-Rossica member $45 postpaid
Compendium of the Table of Contents for Rossica members: $40 postpaid (Overseas
issues 44 through 116 orders please add $3 for surface mail on all
George Shaw has compiled a list of all articles orders.)
that have appeared in the Rossica Journal since
the 1950s. All proceeds beyond the cost of
reproduction and postage go to the society. This Do You Have an Item to Publish?
listing contains approximately 59 pages and cov-
ers all articles (in English) that have appeared. The Society retains a small reserve for the
An excellent index to your library. The cost is US sole purpose of publishing members' works. The
$5, which is very reasonable. This list will enable Prigara, Bazilevich and reverse sort were pro-
you to decide what back issues to purchase, if duced with Society funds. All publications have
your set is not complete. (Many of the issues can paid for themselves. Society Officers are very
be ordered through your editor.) Send check or interested in hearing from any member that may
money order to: have a monogram, book, etc. that needs to be
George Shaw published. Perhaps, the Society can be used to
7596-J Lakeside Village Dr. fund this effort. All sales from the publications
Falls Church, VA 22042 of these works go to the Rossica treasury to
USA benefit the Society. If you have such an item,
please forward it to the journal Editor for evalu-
ation. (for G.G. Werbizky- No commercial
literary awards are available.)

Rossica Journal Number 117,
63 October 1991

ARMENIA
POSTCARD 3K surcharges, 30 kop. POSTAL COVERS
1 in black $50.00
Postal fee increase to 50 kop. -
POSTCARD with additional 2k, MAIL SALES
3k, 5k, 10k $145.00
Scott very scarce 31, 32, 36
Cancelled ERIVAN
Cancelled ERIVAN "COVERS OF THE WORLD"
Postcard to Georgia Similar scarceCOVERS OF THE WOR
FRANKING cancelled TIFLIS $245.00
We have stamps and covers from March to Postal History Specialties
August 1920. Prices not related to catalog. Military & War Covers
P.O.R. Maritime, Railroad & Air Mail
ON HAND, a very fine selection of: Locals & Cinderella
Russia Armies Postal Stationery
Baltic and Caucasian, etc. etc.
For a SPECIALIST
For illustrated catalog send $1.00 to:
S. SEREBRAKIAN, INC.
P.O. Box 448 THEO. VAN DAM
Monroe, NY 10950 P.O. Box 8809
Anaheim, CA 92812

LD rpll S apmjs

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
Rossica Journal Number 117,
64 October 1991

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.
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
	Table of Contents
	Honored member, officers, and representatives...
	Life of the society by Dr. Gordon...
	Editorial by Gary Combs
	1843 postal convention between...
	1872 postal treaty between Italy...
	Red Cross charity cards from the...
	The Swiss woman's cipher by David...
	Received from an automated mailbox...
	Russian deltiology, part III: Alexi...
	Questions of a cover by Michael...
	Siberian spa resorts by P....
	Fake China overprints by Norman...
	Siberia - new varieties by George...
	Persian consular office in Baku...
	Mail for Ostarbeiters in WWII by...
	A call to arms by Leon Finik
	Eighth standard postage stamp issue...
	The caboose - almost! by Gary...
	It may quack like a duck, but......
	The Rossica library
	Reviews of literature
	New members
	Adlets
	Advertising

MILLISECOND	CLASS.METHOD	MESSAGE
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor	Application State validated or built
0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor	Navigation Object created from URI query string
0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.display_item	Retrieving item or group information
0	sobekcm_page_globals.get_entire_collection_hierarchy	Retrieving hierarchy information
0	sobekcm_assistant.get_entire_collection_hierarchy
0	cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregation
0	cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregation	Found item aggregation on local cache
0	item_aggregation_builder.get_item_aggregation	Found 'all' item aggregation in cache
0	system.web.ui.page.page_load (ufdc.page_load)
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor.on_page_load
0	html_echo_mainwriter.add_style_references	Adding style references to HTML
0	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Reading the text from the file and echoing back to the output stream
2	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Finished reading and writing the file