Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately

ROSSICA

No. 112 1988

The Journal of the

Rossica Society of Russian Philately

ISSN 0035-8363

THE JOURNAL OF THE
ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY

No. 112 for 1988

MANAGING EDITOR & PUBLISHER: Kennedy L. Wilson
EDITORIAL BOARD: George Shalimoff, Peter Michalove

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BARON CONSTANTINE de STACKELBERG,Gordon Torrey...................3

LIFE OF THE SOCIETY, Gordon Torrey................................4

MINUTES OF INTERIM BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING, Kennedy Wilson.....6

ADDLETS ....... ...................................................10

UKRAINPEX '88..................................................... 11

STRAIGHT TALK, Editor of Filateliya,
translated by Richard Dallair...................12

SOVIET POSTAGE STAMP PLAN FOR 1989,
translated from Filateliya by Richard Dallair...14

SOVIET CENSORSHIP AND OTHER MARKINGS, M. Shmuely.................17

FROM THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN POSTAL STATIONERY, Yu Myakota
translated from Filateliya by Michael Carson....42

F. G. CHUCHIN, Ian Roberts..........................................49

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FIRST MONEY ORDER FORM,
Daniel Levandowsky..............................50

THE LAID PAPER VARIETIES OF 1872-1884, David Jay.................52

FROM PAGES OF THE PAST, translated by Daniel Levandowsky.........60

ROSSICA BOOKSHELF................................................62

HONORED MEMBER

Joseph Chudoba

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

PRESIDENT: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive, Bethesda MD 20016

VICE PRESIDENT: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

SECRETARY: Kennedy Wilson, 7415 Venice St., Falls Church, VA 22043

TREASURER: Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11226

LIBRARIAN: David Skipton, 50-D Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770

AUDITOR: Leon Finik, P.O. Box 521, Rego Park, NY 11374

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane, Gorsley,
Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Lester Glass, 1553 So. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Alex Sadovnikov, P.O. Box 612, San Carlos, CA 94070

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SOCIETY

WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive,
Bethesda, MD 20016

NO. CALIFORNIA: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

MIDWEST CHAPTER: James Mazepa, P.O. Box 1217, Oak Park, IL 60304

GREAT BRITAIN: Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane,
Gorsley, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Anything in this Journal may be reproduced without permission.
However, acknowledgement of the source and a copy of the reprinted
matter would be appreciated. The views in this Journal expressed
by the authors are their own and the editors disclaim all
responsibility.

The membership dues are $20.00, due on January 1st for all members.
Application forms are available upon request from the secretary or
treasurer. Membership lists will be sent annually. Kindly make
all checks payable to:

ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY
c/o Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11226 USA

We have a number of back issues of the Journal for sale, both in
English and Russian language editions (some). These may be
obtained from Mr. Wilson.
Copyright 1988
The Rossica Society

HONORED MEMBER

Joseph Chudoba

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

PRESIDENT: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive, Bethesda MD 20016

VICE PRESIDENT: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

SECRETARY: Kennedy Wilson, 7415 Venice St., Falls Church, VA 22043

TREASURER: Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11226

LIBRARIAN: David Skipton, 50-D Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770

AUDITOR: Leon Finik, P.O. Box 521, Rego Park, NY 11374

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane, Gorsley,
Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Lester Glass, 1553 So. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Alex Sadovnikov, P.O. Box 612, San Carlos, CA 94070

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SOCIETY

WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive,
Bethesda, MD 20016

NO. CALIFORNIA: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

MIDWEST CHAPTER: James Mazepa, P.O. Box 1217, Oak Park, IL 60304

GREAT BRITAIN: Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane,
Gorsley, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Anything in this Journal may be reproduced without permission.
However, acknowledgement of the source and a copy of the reprinted
matter would be appreciated. The views in this Journal expressed
by the authors are their own and the editors disclaim all
responsibility.

The membership dues are $20.00, due on January 1st for all members.
Application forms are available upon request from the secretary or
treasurer. Membership lists will be sent annually. Kindly make
all checks payable to:

ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY
c/o Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11226 USA

We have a number of back issues of the Journal for sale, both in
English and Russian language editions (some). These may be
obtained from Mr. Wilson.
Copyright 1988
The Rossica Society

HONORED MEMBER

Joseph Chudoba

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY

PRESIDENT: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive, Bethesda MD 20016

VICE PRESIDENT: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

SECRETARY: Kennedy Wilson, 7415 Venice St., Falls Church, VA 22043

TREASURER: Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11226

LIBRARIAN: David Skipton, 50-D Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770

AUDITOR: Leon Finik, P.O. Box 521, Rego Park, NY 11374

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane, Gorsley,
Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Lester Glass, 1553 So. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035
Alex Sadovnikov, P.O. Box 612, San Carlos, CA 94070

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SOCIETY

WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE: Gordon Torrey, 5118 Duvall Drive,
Bethesda, MD 20016

NO. CALIFORNIA: George Shalimoff, 20 Westgate Dr., S.F., CA 94127

MIDWEST CHAPTER: James Mazepa, P.O. Box 1217, Oak Park, IL 60304

GREAT BRITAIN: Raymond Ceresa, Fairview Cottage, Quarry Lane,
Gorsley, Ross-on-Wye, Hereford BA9 7SJ, Great Britain

Anything in this Journal may be reproduced without permission.
However, acknowledgement of the source and a copy of the reprinted
matter would be appreciated. The views in this Journal expressed
by the authors are their own and the editors disclaim all
responsibility.

The membership dues are $20.00, due on January 1st for all members.
Application forms are available upon request from the secretary or
treasurer. Membership lists will be sent annually. Kindly make
all checks payable to:

ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY
c/o Norman Epstein, 33 Crooke Avenue,
Brooklyn, New York 11226 USA

We have a number of back issues of the Journal for sale, both in
English and Russian language editions (some). These may be
obtained from Mr. Wilson.
Copyright 1988
The Rossica Society

BARON CONSTANTINE de STACKELBERG

A longtime friend, former Vice-President (1974-1982) and
Honored Member of Rossica died of lung and brain cancer on
March 30, 1989 at 89 years of age. "Steno," to his friends,
was born in St. Petersburg in 1900 where his father was a
counselor to Czar Nicholas II. In 1917 after the Bolshevik
Revolution he was arrested and sent to Siberia but was later
repatriated to a family estate in Estonia. Subsequently he
fought in a calvary detachment of the Baltic Regiment against
the Russian Communists and was wounded in action. He was
awarded Estonia's St. George's Cross.

"Steno" studied commercial sciences at the University of
Munich and earned a doctorate at the University of Wurzburg in
economics and political science. He then worked as a banker
in Cologne and later London and in the late 1920s became
foreign manager of the London Financial News. He came to
Washington, D.C. in that capacity in 1940. In 1943 he joined
Trans World Airlines as an assistant to the Chairman of the
Board and in the late 1940s was assigned to Spain by TWA.

In the 1950s he was with the World Bank and with the
State Department's foreign assistance programs; then he became
an independent financial consultant. After that he was a
foreign representative of Chance Vought in Paris. In 1964 he
joined the Economic Development Administration. He retired in
1980.

The Baron was a Knight of Justice of the Johanniter Order
of the Knightly Order of the Hospital of St. John of
Jerusalem. This order was founded in 1099 during the First
Crusade to provide hospital care to the sick and wounded. In
order to provide protection to pilgrims to Jerusalem the Order
also established military and naval services. The Roman
Catholic part of the Order, known as the Sovereign Military
Order of Malta, is now headquartered in Rome. The Protestant
branch, usually referred to as the Order of St. John, is
organized in England, Sweden, Holland, and in Germany where it
is also known as Johanniter. It still operates hospitals, old
age facilities, and a roadside emergency service.

"Steno" was a gentleman with a warm, gracious personality
and impeccable manners; as mentioned in one publication he was
"an aristocrat in the best sense of the word."

The funeral service was that of the Hospitallers and the
eulogy was given by the French Ambassador to the United
States, Emanuel de Margerie. The Stackelberg and Margerie
families had known each other for three generations, since the
Ambassador's grandfather had served in St. Petersburg. The
church was full to capacity. Survivors include his wife,
Baroness Garnett Stackelberg of Washington, a son, Charles
Alexander "Sandy" Stackelberg of Brussels, two sisters in
Germany, and two grandsons. His stamp collection is being
retained by his son.

Gordon Torrey

Page 4 1988 ROSSICA 112

LIFE OF THE SOCIETY

by Gordon Torrey

The newsletter, produced and distributed by our Vice-President,
George Shalimoff, has kept our membership informed of Rossica-related
activities. I have very little to add. I returned from Praga '88
with pneumonia and still feel the effects. In early February I
participated as a member of the jury at SANDICAL in San Diego and had
a thoroughly enjoyable time. I judged also at SCOPEX '89, the local
State College, Pennsylvania exhibition. This gave me a chance to
visit APS headquarters and the American Philatelic Research Library.

Our San Francisco and Midwest Chapters have been busy. The
former had a meeting at WESTPEX (San Francisco) at the end of April
and two Rossica members won vermeil medals: Joseph Taylor with his
exhibit of Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War and Mike
Renfro with Russian Offices Abroad.

The Midwest chapter has just produced a splendid newsletter, and
the chapter is an active participant in the venerated Chicago-based
COMPEX exhibition, which is now located in Rosemont near where the
1986 International Philatelic Exhibition was held.

The Washington-Baltimore chapter met with the Czechs at
SPRINGPEX in nearby Virginia on the first of April. Henry Hahn spoke
on Czech Legion philately. The annual Rossica meeting will be held,
as usual, at BALPEX over Labor Day weekend.

George Shaw has performed the difficult task of contacting non-
Rossica members of the American Philatelic Society who collect Russia
in order to inform them of the advantages of Rossica membership.

I wish to remind you that we still have two Rossica publications
for sale: the old standby Prigara's The Russian Post in the Empire,
Turkey, China and the Post in the Kingdom of Poland at $37.00 to
Rossica members and The Russian Posts in the XIX Century by K. V.
Bazilevich at $45.00 postpaid to members. They can be obtained from
our librarian, our secretary, or me.

Two of our members, Peter Michalove and David Skipton, have
written Postal Censorship in Imperial Russia. This is not a Rossica
publication and the two-volume work is expected to be distributed in
June. Members interested in obtaining a copy should contact either
of the authors.

Several members already are planning to attend "London '90" next
May. Perhaps there will be a Rossica contingent in London which can
meet with our British Society colleagues.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 5

w FROM THE CHAPTERS

MIDWEST

The Midwest Chapter of Rossica has instituted a Newsletter of
its own, published four times a year and containing news of interest
to Rossica members in the Chicago area. Under the able leadership of
Peter Michalove, the newsletter starts out with an outstanding cover
on the front of each issue and then details social and philatelic
functions held by the chapter during the quarter.

Last September the Chapter held a meeting at INDYPEX, during
which Peter Michalove gave a brief account of his recent trip to the
Soviet Union. Tom Chastang won a silver at INDYPEX for his exhibit
on the third standard issue (workers' issue of the 1930s) of the
Soviet Union. Apparently, while at INDYPEX, the Chapter members
discovered the dealer who had bought Roger Koerber's entire Russian
stock, and pawing through that material kept them all out of the
aisles all day Sunday.

The Chapter has also decided to aim for a strong showing of
Russian and Soviet exhibits at INDYPEX next year, and I am sure they
would welcome such exhibits from Rossica members outside their
Chapter.

In November the Chapter hosted a booth at CHICAGOPEX where a
number of members dropped by, and several attended the Rossica
meeting. Mike Carson won a vermeil for his Soviet inflation exhibit,
and Tom Chastang also won a vermeil for his exhibit of the 1930s
workers' issue.

The next month, the Chapter met for lunch at a local Chicago
Ukrainian restaurant, where Bohdan Pauk showed part of his
Byelorussian collection.

In other news of members from the Midwest Chapter, Maria Hammell
won a silver at ROCKFORD '88 for her display of Ukrainian Tridents.
Adolph Ackerman won a gold at NAPEX for his Soviet airmails and a
silver and the AAPE award at StAmPShow for his Russian Arctic
exhibit. Mike Carson won first place at CUPEX for his inflation era
exhibit. Way to go!

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

The Northern California Chapter of Rossica met twice during the
past year, once in the fall at the Golden Gate Holiday Inn where they
heard a discussion of "Printer Errors : The Arms Issue". They also
met at WESTPEX in April 1989, and heard a presentation by Dr. Dale
Cruikshank on Zemstvos, "The District Posts of Imperial Russia."

Page 6 1988 ROSSICA 112

ROSSICA SOCIETY OF RUSSIAN PHILATELY
INTERIM MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MINUTES

An interim meeting of the Rossica Board of Directors was held at
1:00 p.m. on 29 January 1988 at the home of Howard Weinert, in
Baltimore, Maryland.

Roll Call of Officers

President: Gordon Torrey present
Vice President: George Shalimoff excused
Secretary: Kennedy Wilson present
Treasurer: Norman Epstein present
Auditor: Leon Finik present
Librarian: David Skipton present
Directors at Large: Alex Sadovnikov excused
Lester Glass excused
Raymond Ceresa excused

Members present: Howard Weinert, Denys Voaden, George Shaw

The meeting was called at the request of the President to
consider a number of matters relating to the management of the
Society which he felt should be discussed before the regularly
scheduled Annual Meeting to be held at BALPEX over Labor Day weekend.

Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer provided a report reflecting the status of funds
of the Society as of 31 December 1988, which appears at the end of
the minutes.

Following the Treasurer's comments on the 1988 Financial
Statement, it was suggested that the monies in the Bank Accounts,
with the exception of some minimal amount needed for cash flow, be
placed in interest bearing accounts. The Treasurer commented that
banks to which he had access in the New York area were very difficult
to deal with for small accounts, but he would look into the
possibility of placing some of the Society's funds in short term
interest bearing accounts.

The President inquired of the Treasurer if he had sent out dues
notices this year. After some discussion the Treasurer agreed to
send out dues notices to members who had not yet paid their dues for
1988.

The President asked why the Society sent out annual membership
cards. The Treasurer indicated that a current and up-to-date
membership card in a specialist society served as a philatelic
reference for collectors. It had to be sent out annually because it
would become worthless without a validity date on it and, in the case
of Rossica, it also served as a receipt for dues paid.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 7

The President next stated that he had received high praise for
Sthe latest issue of the Rossica Journal (111) from Henry Hahn, the
editor of the Postal History Journal, who felt that our latest effort
was "superb."

Next the President tabled a letter from Vice President George
Shalimoff, dated 12 December 1988, in which the Vice President made
several comments and listed several questions regarding the
management of the Society. The officers present discussed each of
the points in the Vice President's letter and agreed that the
president should respond for all the members, rather than having each
member respond separately.

George Shaw reported that he was working on two projects for the
Society. First, he was in the process of obtaining a computer
listing of all members of the APS who had indicated an interest in
Russian or Soviet philately on their applications to the APS. From
this, he would cull out the names of individuals who were already
members of Rossica and then send a membership application, copy of
the brief Rossica history, and a letter, inviting the remaining
people on the list to join Rossica. The Board endorsed this project
wholeheartedly and thanked George Shaw for his efforts.

George Shaw then requested permission to reproduce the tables of
contents of the back issues of the Rossica Journal, bind or staple
them together, and sell them to members so that all would be aware of
* previous articles in the Journals. There followed some discussion
regarding the cost of such a project, and it was approved by the
Board with the proviso that the cost to members be set so that it
would cover the actual cost of reproduction and mailing.

The President announced that he had talked to George Shalimoff
regarding the possibility of reworking the Lobachevski translation
and binding it into a single monograph for sale to the philatelic
community at large. The Secretary noted that he had discussed this
matter in more detail with George during a recent trip to California
and George had the matter under consideration.

Dave Skipton reported that thus far 196 copies of the Bazilevich
book had been sold, for a total income of $6,537.60. This
represented an 81% recovery of the total cost of printing and mailing
the book. He stated that he felt that by next year the expense of
printing would be totally recovered.

The President next noted that the latest copy of the Journal
(Rossica 111) had been printed by a new printer in Michigan and had
cost almost $1,000 less than the previous printer. However, he noted
that there were severe problems with some of the illustrations, and
the Journal had taken over two months to print. The Editor brought
the original camera-ready manuscript to the meeting so that the Board
could see what the original material had looked like in order to com-
Spare it with the final printed version. It was clear that consider-
able definition had been lost in the printing, making a number of
illustrations virtually unreadable. The Editor agreed to discuss
these problems with the new printer and see if they could be recti-
fied in the next issue. Otherwise, we will return to the old printer.

Page 8 1988 ROSSICA 112

The Treasurer made an impassioned plea for the reinstitution of
the $5.00 initiation fee, as well as the $5.00 fee for reinstated
members who had been dropped for nonpayment of dues. He pointed out
that there was a considerable amount of bookwork and cost associated
with the reinstatement of members, and with the removal of this fee,
there was no motivation for members to pay their dues on time. The
President pointed out that such a fee was not required by any other
philatelic society of which he was aware and that the rigid
application of it to old time members, particularly when no dues
notices were issued, had resulted in much ill feeling and several
resignations from the society. There followed a spirited discussion
which came to no resolution.

The President next stated that he had been receiving many
complaints regarding the Rossica Expertization Service. He felt that
the Society certainly had enough experts on just about any aspect of
Russian philately so that we ought to be able to expertise most
material sent in. However, he commented that errors had been made,
and he felt strongly that if the Society were to continue with an
expertizations service, an Expertization Board should be formed to
review the material sent in and pass on the judgments made. The
Chairman of the Expertization Committee responded that although he
was the only one to sign the expertization certificates used by
Rossica, each and every article submitted was seen by at least two
people before a certificate was issued. He stated that he had no
objection to the formation of an Expertization Board, as long as the
members were truly qualified.

Mr. Finik agreed that we should have an expertization board, but
he pointed out that a lot of fake material was coming out of the
Soviet Union now, and in some cases it was virtually impossible to
tell the good from the bad. He referred to cases where exchange
partners in the Soviet Union had provided material for exchange in
which nine of ten items were fakes or recent reproductions.
Apparently this material was being provided primarily for foreign
consumption, but it was fooling Soviet collectors as well. He said
it was not clear to him whether the government was releasing old
stocks of material from the archives or whether it was using valid
stocks of base material to actively manufacture bogus covers and
overprints.

After more heated and spirited discussion, it was agreed to ask
the Vice President for his opinion since he regularly corresponded
with many of the older Russian members and was aware of their
specialties and capability to expertise from their own material.

Finally, the President stated that he would not run for re-
election as President of Rossica and was seriously considering
resigning in the immediate future. He stated that his health had not
been good recently, and he sincerely desired to spend more time with
his stamps and less time administering an international specialty
society. He noted that a major contributor to his feelings on this
subject was the constant bickering, nit-picking, and squabbling among
the officers. He pointed out that he had held the job for fifteen
years now, and it was just not fun any more.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 9

* Various members of the Board expressed their surprise and dismay
at these comments by the President, and it was suggested that before
he made such a decision, he should consider the effect it would have
on the future of the Society. It was commented that there was no
obvious successor as the Vice President had initially declined
nomination to his office, citing press of personal affairs. The
President agreed that he would seriously consider his options and
would probably make a decision while he was on the West Coast at
SANDICAL during the next couple of weeks.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kennedy L. Wilson
Secretary

1988 FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Income Expenses
Dues $4,358.00 Journal
Journals 1,480.00 Printing $3,432.52
Ads 3.00 (includes reprints
Expertization 26.00 of Vols. 66-70)
Contribution 22.92 Typing 450.00
Postage 120.02 Postage 891.19
Books 6,062.35 Secretarial supplies 544.75
(Bazilevitch & Prigara) Bulletin Printing 135.86
Postage
Total Income $12,072.29 Camera System (film) 162.59
Legal Fees --
Computer Supplies 277.12
Set Asides for Replacement Library
Purposes Postage 372.03
Camera Systems 600.00 Supplies 684.54
Computer 5,000.00 General
Copy Machine 600.00 Printing 264.53
Book Publishing 8,017.46 Postage 1,040.38
Supplies 544.42
Total Refunds 27.50
Set Asides $14,217.46 Revenue Book 36.10
Exchange Checks 255.37

Bank Accounts Total Expenses $9,119.29
as of 31 Dec 1988
First National State
(First Fidelity) 964.20
Chemical Bank 13,600.48

O Total
Bank Account $14,564.68

Page 10 1988 ROSSICA 112

MEMBER-TO-MEMBER ADLETS

The purpose of the member-to-member adlet section is to allow
members to advertise special requirements and interests and to make
contact with fellow collectors for the acquisition of needed
material and information. The adlets are not designed for purely
commercial users, but as a service to individual collectors in the
pursuit of their philatelic inquiries. The rates have been kept
purposely nominal to cover printing costs only. Due to minimum
printing page format requirements and cut-off deadlines, Rossica
cannot guarantee that such adlets will be printed in the next
Journal issue, but all ads will be processed on a first come, first
served basis. Finally, since Rossica cannot assume any responsi-
bility for transactions resulting from member responses to adlets
nor get involved with mediating disputes, members are cautioned to
be fair in offering and honest in responding. Any material of
value sent through the mails should be insured for each member's
protection. The regulations and prices for adlets are as follows:
1. Rossica adlets will be limited to 6 Journal lines, each
consisting of 68 characters or spaces per line.
2. The price per adlet line is $1.00 per issue.
3. Each adlet must include the name and address of the member
placing the ad.
4. No general buy or sell ads will be accepted as adlets. The
Journal makes different provisions for strictly commercial
advertisements.
5. Adlet service is available to Rossica members only.
6. All adlets will be accompanied by a check for the correct
amount made out to Mr. Norman Epstein, Treasurer,
33 Crooke Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11226.
7. All adlets and checks will be mailed to Dr. Kennedy Wilson,
Secretary, 7415 Venice Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22043.

WANTED: Revenues and Cinderellas (Fiscals and all types of non-
postal labels, vignettes, etc.). Also correspondence and information
on this type of material for forthcoming catalog. ANDREW HALL,
P.O. Box 62, York, England YO1 1YL.

WANTED: Maximum Cards. Specially interested in pre-1980. Write
please? Description and price. Also collect coins and medals.
ELI A. HOMZA, 308 Scene Ridge Road, McKeesport, PA 15133.

WANTED: Tuva SG 115-119 either mint or CTO, no faults, also
correspondence with other Tuva specialists. M.A. SHIRER,
346 So. Jackson Street, Green Bay, WI 54301.

WANTED: Covers. Used abroad and imperial dotted numerals. Buy or
trade. Send description and price. M. R. RENFRO, Box 2268,
Santa Clara, CA 95055.

RUSSIAN REVENUES fiscalls, vignettes (labels), seals, locals
(zemstvo), fiscal paper and documents wanted. Imperial, States,
Armies, and Soviet. Will exchange or purchase. MARTIN CERINI,
21 W. 12th Street, Huntington Station, NY 11746.

WANTED: Turkish covers and cards before 1919 with Turkish franking.
ROBERT W. STUCHELL, 1027 Valley Forge Road, #211, Devon, PA 19333.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 11

A UKRAINPEX '88

Ukrainpex '88 was held on November 25-26 in Toronto, Canada. It
featured exhibits of stamps, postal history, banknotes, medals and
documents. It commemorated the millennium of Ukrainian Christianity
(988 to 1988). The Canadian Post Office concurrently issued four
Christmas stamps featuring icons found in the Ukraine and Western
Europe. A special Canadian Post office cancellation featuring a
trident, the years 988-1988, and Ukrainpex '88 was used during the
exhibition.

Mr. Val Zabijaka won the best of show for his excellent display
of covers and postcards mailed from the Ukraine to foreign countries.
Dr. Ingert Kuzych received the President's Award for his Taras
Shevchenko exhibit. Other exhibits by Rossica members which received
awards were:
Gold:
Ukraine-Zemstvo Stamps, Paul Spiwak
Tridents of the Ukraine, Dr. Ingert Kuzych
Vermeil:
Steamship Company Stamps of the Ukraine, Paul Spiwak
Silver:
Ukraine Topicals, Paul Spiwak
Ukrainian and Russian Currency Stamps, Paul Spiwak
Polish Occupation of Ukraine, Bohdan Pauk
Bronze:
Exhibition Stamps from the Ukraine, Paul Spiwak

Ukrainpex '89 is planned for Chicago, and in 1990 in will be
held in Montreal. Further information about the Ukrainian Philatelic
and Numismatic Society may be obtained by sending a self-addressed
stamped envelope to UNPS, P.O. Box 14163, Washington, D.C. 20044.

THE WES CAPAR AWARD

The Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society announces an
annual award to recognize and promote exhibits of Ukrainian material.
Beginning in 1989, the UPNS will present a WES CAPAR AWARD for the
best exhibit of Ukrainian philatelic and numismatic material.

Entries are currently being accepted for the 1989 Wes Capar
Award. One must simply exhibit material concerning the Ukraine or a
Ukraine-related theme in order to be eligible for this award.
Membership in the UPNS is not necessary to qualify. A copy of the
exhibit must be sent to the Wes Capar Chairman, Dr. D. P. Belesky,
P.O. Box 798, Beaver, West Virginia 25813. All photocopies become
the property of the UPNS and will be maintained as part of the
permanent Society archives.

The award is named after Wes Capar, the long-time editor of the
Society's newsletter, organizer of annual convention exhibits, and
"* the real spark plug of the UPNS. It attempts to recognize Mr.
Capar's tremendous contribution to Ukrainian philately and
numismatics and to continue his vigorous promotion of Ukrainian
exhibits. The award will be presented annually at the Ukrainpex
convention, which is held in October.

Page 12 1988 ROSSICA 112

STRAIGHT TALK

by the Editor of Filateliya SSSR

[from Filateliya SSSR, No. 7, 1988]
translated by Richard A. Dallair

Perestroika (restructuring) is increasing. Indeed, revolu-
tionary changes are all the more actively coming into our lives--
changes which perestroika has brought with it. The decisions of the
Party are speeding up the reform process in all areas of society.

And perestroika has come to us in philately. One of its first
manifestations has been the amalgamation of the USSR Ministry of
Communications' DIEZPO (Board for Issuing and Expediting Postage
Stamps) and the Central Philatelic Agency's Soyuzpechat (Main
Directorate for the Distribution of Publications). As a result, the
producer of postage stamps has also become their distributor. And
under the conditions of self-financing this is a most important
factor which compels us to work on a qualitative basis and take into
consideration the interests of the consumer--our interests and yours.

Perestroika has come to philately. And for the first time in
its history you will find in Filateliya a draft of the plan for
issuing stamps in 1989 and subsequent years. It is up to you to
discuss it, express an opinion, and make suggestions. It is up to
you to determine which stamps you want to put in your stamp albums
in order to fill- up your collections in the near future.

Perestroika has come to philately. And from the rostrum of the
plenary session of the VOF (All-Union Society of Philatelists), one
of the heads of the USSR Ministry of Communications has made a
statement about a forthcoming price reduction for a number of types
of philatelic products. And the VOF presidium is working out
proposals on lifting many foreign exchange restrictions.

And decisions are being made about issuing a postal-charity
series devoted to the cultural fund, the children's fund, and the
zoological fund.

And the members of Infilatelia have been informing the public
about discontinuing the notorious "small sheets" issues, thus turning
the page on what has been by no means a pretty chapter in the history
of Soviet philately.

Judging by the abrupt increase in mail to the editorial staff,
perestroika within the ranks of our Society is just taking its first
timid steps. In many sections work is being conducted by the usual
methods, being limited only to (stamp) "exchange" meetings and to
preparing exhibits "for events." Philatelists are still shy about
declaring themselves as a social force which has been actively
included in the perestroika process.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 13

SThe mail has also brought word about the first informational
middleman cooperatives. This matter looks promising for the long
term, and what is important is that it be in honest hands so that
smooth operators from the collecting side not get their hooks into it
(there are a few of them in our ranks--as attested to by the letters
we receive).

The editorial staff has been given the opportunity to recommence
issuing the Catalogue on a monthly basis. In contrast to previous
years, we will send information to press in the very last stage of
preparing the journal, thereby greatly increasing the effectiveness
of information about new issues. We have been informed by Yu. V.
Kaptilin, the Assistant General Director of the Chekhov Printing
Plant, that as of the new year, the journal will come out on the
fifth of each month. The journal's inserts and cover will be printed
on fine glossy paper, which will improve the publication's appearance
and, above all, the quality of the stamp illustrations.

[Signed] Yuli Bekhterev, Editor-in-Chief

EXPERT ZATION *

One of the privileges of membership in Rossica is one free
expertization per membership year. Policy on these free
expertizations is as follows:

1. Only one free expertization per membership year.
2. The privilege must be used during the membership year -
it can not be accumulated. The service was begun in the
1978 membership year, and prior membership has no
bearing.
3. The item must be submitted on an official Rossica
expertization form available from Norman Epstein.
4. Return postage must be included.
5. Only one item per expertization form.

Anyone wishing to avail himself of this service merely has to
write our Treasurer and Chairman of the Expertization Committee,
Norman Epstein, at 33 Crooke Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11226
enclosing a legal size stamped envelope for an expertization
form. When submitting material for free expertization, the owner
must provide return postage for his material. If he wishes the
material to be insured when returned, the fees for insurance and
any other special handling desired must be included. Items
submitted will be expertized by Rossica members specializing in
the various aspects of Russian philately.

Page 14 1988 ROSSICA 112

SOVIET POSTAGE STAMP PLAN FOR 1989
[published in Filatelia SSSR, No. 7, 1988]

translated by Richard A. Dallair

SUBJECT TITLE Quan- Value Date of
tity (kops) Event

I. National Holidays
119th Anniversary of Birth of V.I. Lenin 3 5 22 April
72nd Anniv. of the Great October
Socialist Revolution 1 5 7 Nov.
Workers' International Solidarity
Day 1 May Block 30 1 May
Victory Holiday 9 May 1 5 9 May
New Year Holiday 1 5 31 Dec.

II. Domestic and Foreign Policy of the
CPSU and the Soviet Government
Domestic and Foreign Policy of the
CPSU and the Soviet Government from
the Materials of the CPSU's 19th
All-Union Conference
1 5
1 5
1 5
Bicentennial of the Great French
Revolution 1 20 14 July

III. The Soviet Homeland
Bicentennial of Nikolayev's Status
as a City 1 5 Oct.
400th Anniversary of Volgograd 1 5
Let Us Preserve Nature and the World!
1 5
1 10
1 15

IV. Distinguished Figures of the CPSU
and the Soviet Government
Centenary of the Birth of P.E. Dybenko,
Soviet Military Commander 1 5 28 Feb.
Centenary of the Birth of S.V. Kosior,
member of the CPSU and the Soviet
Government 1 5 18 Nov.
Centenary of the Birth of Ya.K. Berzin,
Soviet Military Commander 1 5 25 Nov.

V. Distinguished Figures of the Communist,
Workers' and National Liberation Movement
Centenary of the Birth of Jawaharlal Nehru,
Political and Government Leader
of India 1 15 14 Nov.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 15

SUBJECT TITLE Quan- Value Date of
tity (kop.) Event

VI. Outstanding Figures in Soviet Science,
Culture and Art
Centennial of the Birth of V.I. Mukhina,
Soviet Sculptress 1 5 1 July
Centennial of the Birth of Ya. E. Virtanen,
Karelian Soviet Poet 1 5 8 Jan.

VII. Outstanding Foreign Figures in Science,
Culture and Art
Bicentennial of the Birth of James Fenimore
Cooper, American Writer 1 15 15 Sept.
350th Anniversary of the Birth of Jean
Racine, French Dramatist 1 15 21 Dec.

VIII. Russian Admirals
G.I. Butakov (1820-1882) 1 5
A.A. Popov (1821-1898) 1 10
G.I. Nevelskoi (1813-1876) 1 15
V.I. Istomin (1809-1855) 1 20
V.A. Kornilov (1806-1854) 1 30
S.O. Makarov (1849-1904) 1 35

IX. Science and Technology
Cosmonaut Day 1 15 12 April
Completion Phobos International Project Block 50
Sesquicentennial of Pulkovo Observatory
(Main Astronomical Observatory of
the USSR Academy of Sciences) 1 10 19 Aug.

X. National History
1 5
1 10
1 15
1 25
35

XI. Art
From the Collections of the Cultural Fund
1 4+2
1 5+2
1 10+5
1 20+10
1 30+15
Epic Literature of the Peoples of the USSR
Georgian SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic) 1 10
Azerbaijani SSR 1 10
Lithuanian SSR 1 10
Latvian SSR 1 10
Moldavian SSR 1 10

Page 16 1988 ROSSICA 112

SUBJECT TITLE Quan- Value Date of
tity (kop.) Event

Soviet Circus
1 1
1 3
1 4
1 5
1 10

XII. Arts and Crafts of the Peoples
of the USSR
Musical Instruments
Livenskaya Accordion, Psaltery,
Balalaika-Piccolo, Spoons. 1 10
Zhaleika (type of wind instrument),
Dulcimer, Lyre, Fife. 1 10
Gorban, Fife, Dulcimer. 1 10
Kobza (guitar-like instrument), Nait,
Buchum, Dulcimer. 1 10
Samovars
1 5
1 10
1 20
1 30

XII. Agriculture
Beekeeping 1 5
1 10
1 20
1 35

XIV. Flora
1 5
1 10
1 15
1 30

XV. Fauna
Fund for Aid to Zoos
Hare 1 10+5
Squirrel 1 10+5
Hedgehog 1 20+10
Badger 1 20+10
Marten 1 20+10

Letter-writing Week 1 5 October

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 17

i SOVIET CENSORSHIP AND OTHER MARKINGS

by M. Shmuely

Introduction

As far as I am aware, no exhaustive coverage of this subject has
ever been presented. The scope of this article is to endeavor to
give a general description of Soviet censorship, with illustrations
from my private collection. So that all the illustrations are in
compact and easy to read format, they have been reproduced on a
reduced scale.

The Period from the Revolution to the Second World War

During the period of the Revolution, the same censorship marks
which were used prior to and during World War I continued to be
utilized. Much has been written on this subject, and it is felt that
there isn't much to add. As an example, shown here in Figure 1 is a
letter sent from Riga to Moscow, arriving there on 27 July 1918. Two
further Moscow postmarks also appear, bearing the dates 30 August and
6 September in the same year. The letter was finally returned to the
sender, censored three times as witness the faint round mark, the
oval censor mark, and the resealing slip.

0.

Figure 1

# 'K^^^."-""

'^ '.**.. ..^1 ,.;

Page 18 1988 ROSSICA 112

Figure 2 shows a letter dated 7 March 1921 from the Meah
She'arim quarter of Jerusalem to Batum. It passed through Port Said
(9 March 1921 transit mark), and Istanbul (28 March 1921), arriving
in the Soviet Union where it was stamped with two marks "Pas de
Communications" (No communications) and "Retour a 1'envoyeur" (Return
to sender). The letter was sent back via Beirut (8 August 1921),
Jaffa (11 August 1921), and finally returned to Jerusalem on 25
August 1921, as shown by markings on the back.

r -d
/ : ;

To conclude this section I show a postcard sent on 7 March 1918
from Feodosia to Moscow. Notice in Figure 3 the oval shaped postmark
in negative with a numeral 8 inside. It this a censorship mark? I
don't know.

: .. Figure 3

A... ..l

"I .,

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 19

SThere was a period in which the defects of the envelopes were
indicated. This is not censorship proper, of course, but in our
capacity as collectors of postal history we are curious, and only for
the purpose of satisfying our curiosity do we submit the following
examples:

Figure 4 shows the marking "Regu par la poste en etat
defectueux: L'enveloppe dechirge avec les plis sales mas colles.
L'employe." (Received by the Post Office in a defective state:
envelope torn with dirty, badly glued folds. Clerk.) This postmark
was found on a letter dated 12 August 1933 send from Leningrad to
Berlin.

-'
I ,

"" f Figure 4
.1'a

Figure 5 shows a letter sent from Moscow to Tel-Aviv dated 12
March 1935. Its marking is "Requ a Moscou avec les soupapes mal
coll6es. L'employS." (Received in Moscow with the border improperly
glued. Clerk.) (Notice the unusual term "soupapes," literally
meaning a "valve" such as a valve on a motor car [something that
opens and closes].)

'.., -. -4 .
I -Figure 5

"0. 'i ,-, ,
"" I- .. i]

Page 20 1988 ROSSICA 112

The marking on Figure 6 reads "Recu au bureau de change Kiev-
Gare avec les soupapes salement colleges" (Received at the office of
the Kiev Station with borders improperly glued) on a letter dated 30
August 1940 from Sosnitza to Tel-Aviv. [An identical marking was
shown by R. L. Joseph in the Journal of the British Society of
Russian Philately No. 62. He, too, wonders whether such markings
really represent censorship of mail addressed abroad. Editor.]

i -. Figure 6

; ^, L ^

Figure 7 shows a cover with the marking "Re u au bureau
d'echange de Kiev-Gare en etat ....[endommage]" (Received at the
exchange office of the Kiev Station in a damaged state ....) on a
letter dated 18 March 1941 from Kolo-Lvova to Quiriat Haim,
Palestine.

;U -'ri b re.i- : ng B
ie i Figure 7

U__ "_ _
,,

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 21

Figure 8 is a registered letter of 27 March 1940 from Lvov to
Tel-Aviv with the same marking as that shown in Figure 7. It reads
"Regu au bureau d'echange de Kiev-Gare en etat endommage" (Received
at the office of the Kiev Station in a damaged state).

0

t4j
0 Figure 8

2 i*> *

The marking on Figure 9 reads: "Recu a Moscou avec les soupapes
mal collees. EmployS" (Received in Moscow with borders improperly
Sglued. Clerk). This was on a letter dated 1 February 1936 from
Lopatinski Rudnik to Vienna.

Figure 9

SFigure 10 shows a letter sent on 31 May 1934 from Tel-Aviv to
Rostov/Don and returned from the U.S.S.R. with the remarks "Inconnu"
(Unknown) and "Retour, Moscou, rebutS" (Return, Moscow, rejected).
It is interesting that there is no Rostov/Don postmark on the
envelope whatsoever; from Moscow there are two marks with date

Page 22 1988 ROSSICA 112

9 June 1934 and another two marks with the date 10 June 1934. The
envelope was returned to Tel-Aviv (postmarked 22 June 1934) and
transferred to Jerusalem (postmarked 23 June 1934). The Palestine
Post Office added a marking "Undelivered for reason stated on the
cover." I have no explanation for all of this.

Figure 10

', '

From the same period, I have in my collection a soldier's
postcard which was censored in an army unit, shown in Figure 11. It
was sent 22 March 1931 from Alma-Ata to Pavlovsk and the censorship
mark reads: "Deputy Commander, Kaz. Krai D3, of the Teaching and
Education Unit."

S. Figure 11
IS t 1'. k*

postcard which was censored in an army unit, shown in Figure 11. It

/i -- / '"P

/* *
-1t

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 23

Period from the Beginning of World War II to the Entry of the
U.S.S.R. into the War

Censorship postmarks are extremely scarce in this period. Three
examples are known to me:

Figure 12 shows a letter dated 10 January 1940 from Leningrad to
Tel-Aviv with the censorship marking in Russian "Examined by the
Communications Commissariat of the U.S.S.R."

Figure 13 shows a postcard dated 9 April 1940 from Voroshilov-
grad to Kostusovo, in the Sverdlovsk District. The censorship stamp
reads: "Examined by Military Censorship."

__t-e4 t LSTOB
C -,
,JAJ -I w o OS* I .-"

't- Kx)a .Z_ .
4 o K,.vy' ..

"y oT---- "-- -2{}--- "--1

OTIPALIRHTE C0OIO KOPPECDOHAERURHI) C BEOMAIEHE 0 BPYMERNH

Figure 13

Figure 12

Figure 14 is a letter dated 29 November 1940 from a field post
office in the Russian zone of Poland to the United States. There is
a resealing slip in Russian stating "Verified by the Censor." This
form of censorship continued during and after the war.

Page 24 1988 ROSSICA 112

/
3J 5- .......... .... ,Ila i -.

o / __ Figure 14

The Double Circle Marks

With the entry of the U.S.S.R. into World War II, more and more
censorship marks came into use, and they continued after the end of
the war as well. Particularly frequent were the "Double Circle
Marks" where the words (in Russian) "Military Censorship USSR"
appear between two concentric circles and in the middle the number of
the censor, a dash and a letter or two, representing the initials(s)
of the principal city where the censorship was done. The detail on
some censor marks known to me are as follows:

Figure 15 shows a registered postcard sent on 21 May 1943 from
Chardgu to Tel-Aviv. The censorship mark has the letter "A" for Ask-
habad, the Turkestan Republic's principal city. Figure 16 is also a
registered postcard from Borovoe to Tel-Aviv, bearing a censorship
mark with initials "A-A," for Alma Ata in the Kazakhstan Republic.

6..MUM UA* -z/ '

;"i ,- 5 '-, "- ?, ,-. ., ,..'."- .,. "-... .,,. .-. -

Figure 15 Figure 16

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 25

Figure 17 shows a postcard sent on 18 September 1944 from
Makhach Kala Dagestan to Tel-Aviv with initial "B" for Baku on the
censor mark.

Figure 18 is a registered postcard dated 23 April 1945 from
Erivan, Armenia to Tel-Aviv. The censor mark has the letter "E" for
Erivan.

3 ^ 3 ^iy TO 'R HAPT014KK A*
OFKAP rnA '.-TO:f t MiFO'-i
0OAR KAF, MA CST LE

L MIHIE PA3bOPqMBlE noPeCA BC

Figure 17 Figure 18

Figure 19 is also a postcard dated 8 December 1944 from Kharkov
to Tel-Aviv. The censorship initial in "K" for Kiev.

Figure 20 shows a registered postcard of 1 October 1945 from
Leningrad to Nice, France with censorship initial "L" for Leningrad.

OBAR KAPTOqH
/ 2 TE POSTAL -.- .- ART Z-.

N rF r

d .c tO- .. C clloc C 0
NnoInPt"Cc1 t no a u 0PTCO K1 HP I*BEAtE'I PAfN H CAPB AM M.i

Aa A Wr.e, e ti" ;

Figure 19 Figure 20

Page 26 1988 ROSSICA 112

In Figure 21 we see a registered letter of 28 July 1944 from
Moscow to Tel-Aviv. The censor mark has the letter "M" for Moscow.
This censorship mark is the most frequent one found. It must be
assumed that mail from various places passed through Moscow on its
way to its final destination and was censored during the passage. I
personally know of numbers on this marking going up to 101.

EFRA:M -:Ac;A ;
UPHILATCLIA"
4. Harnmahbir Streer /
TELAVIV, Palestine 4

Figure 21

Quite often many letters from one place of origin appear to be
examined by the same censor number suggesting, possibly, some sort of
distribution plan of this mail as it passed through Moscow. For
example, some censorship numbers and the district of origin are
listed here.
6 A.S.S.R. 30 Moscow
10 Altai 31 Karaganda
14 A.S.S.R., Moscow 32 Moscow
15 T.S.S.R. 39 North Kazakhstan
16 Turkmenia, Kirghizia 41 Moscow
17 South Kazakhstan 45 D.A.S.S.R.
19 Krasnoyarsk, Samara 51 Altai
20 Novosibirsk 55 Kharkov
21 Kazakhstan 56 Moscow
23 North Kazakhstan 92 Tyumen
25 Karaganda 101 Chelyabinsk
29 Moscow

And, or course, there are many, many more. A special article
dedicated to the censorship from Moscow appears in order, and it is
hoped that it will be written by one of our colleagues or a fellow
Soviet philatelist.

Figure 22 shows a Polish postcard of 15 July 1945 from Radzyn,
Poland to Stavropol, received 4 January 1946. The censor mark
initials are "Mk" for Minsk.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 27

Jo pracy nod odbwo.wa Wcrir.'wy
) A `RFOCZTOWA

A Figure 22

Mr. Karl Rist wrote an article on the subject of the censorship
postmark "O" for Odessa. (See Mitteilungs Blatt No. 19 der
Bundesarbeits-Gemeinschaft Russland/UdSSR.) To my regret, I do not
have such a mark.

Mr. Andrew Cronin wrote about the "R" Soviet censorship mark in
Rumania in Rossica Journal No. 55 and also showed an illustration of
it. He described two letters sent in November 1945 and January 1946.
SI do not have this mark either.

Figure 23 shows a letter from Riga to Palestine dated 15
November 1945, and censored in Riga mark "R-a."

A postcard dated 24 January 1944 from Karshi, Uzbekistan to
Palestine (the sender forgot to state the name of the city, Tel-Aviv)
and censored in Tashkent -censorship mark with initial "T" is shown
in Figure 24.

In terms of diameter, this form of marking exists in two sizes:
the small as in the example "K" (Figure 19) is 28-29 mm in diameter,
and all the others range between 34 and 36 mm.

S Figure 23

Page 28 1988 ROSSICA 112

fnO'TOBAR KAPTOHKA
CARTE POSTAL

-7 ^y c .... .-';" '- '

HA KA7KAOM nOqTOBOM OTIlPABJEHHH IHmHTE CBO OBPATHb

do r texC.f .dieur

Figure 24

Double Circle Military Censorship Marks on Patriotic Cards

Illustrated here are two patriotic postcards sent to the Jewish
Agency in Palestine which I feel are quite interesting.

Figure 25 shows a registered postcard dated 31 July 1944 from
Mglin, A.S.S.R. The censor mark in 14/M.

I Hk --. C -. l <^

i4. Bo ..H OC ..P I' ...1 .. .. ....

Figure 25

Figure 26 is a postcard dated 19 February 1943 from Talde-
Kurgan, Kazakhstan. The censor mark in 21/M.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 29

SI 10 q 0 B o "*...+.

RAPTr A

Niri~~-t *-O ... r.. A ic-AT, r.. r m a
iiKyda
Figure 26

Straight Line Military Censor Marks

In the upper part of this mark there appears vertically the
Emblem of State. Then there is written in Russian "Examined by
Military Censorship"; sometimes there appears an additional line
relating to the censor's location and finally a number. Some
Examples are shown here.

Figure 27 shows the reply part of a U.S.A. postcard sent on 23
September 1941 from Gorki to New York, Censor 125.

Figure 28 is a letter dated 16 June 1944 from Dsino, Novosibirsk
to Military Post Office 66452. The censor's mark is No. 00511.

-OS'A&. (.A -F.p ^,tr
JIVErSAL PO'*l UNOt 1
..0 STATES OF AMERICl

S^ ,

Figure 27 Figure 28

Page 30 1988 ROSSICA 112

Figure 29 is a postcard of 13 June 1943 from Monstnaya to
Kostoussova in the district of Sverdlovsk. The mark contains an
additional line on the Sverdlovsk spot and the number 100.

Figure 30 is a registered letter dated 2 March 1945 from Djala-
Abad, Kirghizia to Palestine, censor No. 207.

I1OHTCiG''^ KAPTOLH'A
G CARTE POSTAL

I "'. t

, | '. / > _ .. .-/./. -' *' ... ...;..

Figure 29 Figure 30

from Buinaksk, Makhach, Dagestan to Svislock, Belorussia. Censor No.
20323.

Figure 31

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 31

Figure 32 is a letter of 10 August 1945 from Valmiera, Latvia
to Saldus. Censor No. 26160.

Figure 33 shows a letter of June 1944 from Sloboskoi in the
district of Kirov to Donbas with censor No. ...08.

Figure 34 shows a postcard to Switzerland from Gorodenko, also
with censor No. ...08.

;9:"> rlrl 'L ') -r 3F3

I4.V;iBtA ;O Y .ug#GI.. a

."ir -r', ,,, ,,- Od,,-,, .

-

CARTE POSTAL
Figure 32 ... ,Figure 3.3

MHTE CARTE H POSTAL3P E

FiJure 34. '

,_ ,'b i- .r 2

""o -'-. ... .. Figure 33

flHMJHTE 'PABHJIbHblE, TO SHME H PA3BPIHBbtE AAPECA "

Figure 34

Page 32 1988 ROSSICA 112

Figure 35 is a letter of 8 August 1944 from Buinaksk, Dagestan
to Svilotch, Belorussia (lifted stamp). The sensor number here is
No. 03863.

Figure 36 shows a letter dated 17 August 1942 from Field Post
Station 981D, No. 4 "Sort Punkt" (Sorting Station) to Saru-Agatch,
Kazakhstan. The censor's mark reads "Examined by Military Censor
4/98."

Figure 35

|! 9 -, 1 I
fo. -".- -
0 ,, *,yS ^ :,:. ; -.; ..... ..

; ., ., ,,

Figure 36
r .*

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 33

Anglo-Soviet Iranian Censorship

In Rossica Journal No. 55, Mr. R. A. Sklarevski wrote a short
article on this subject, relating to 20 envelopes. He states that
there are bilingual English-Russian markings, and he divides them
into three groups:

Type I large letters and an irregular circle;
Type II large letters;
Type III small letters.

Three illustrations of the above are submitted:

Figure 37 is a registered postcard of 26 December 1942 from
Djalal-Abad, Kirghizia to Teheran. The English censor mark is No.
29.

Figure 38 shows a registered postcard from Diuzak-Samarkand to
Iran. The English censor mark is No. 53 and, in Russian, a large
censor mark (number illegible). It is apparently a Type II.

ALE
S-^- ... --

;8 :i Figure 37

ill flP iibml m PAsBop
*F "Figure 38
/S^^E"^ i ^
^BJ lOIgEnPteabM^TS~lEH A3OPtegAflga.-?
^^^9 > .^>'"~I 'i~ i-~l|.1 ..- .... ni..i n^aji^ Syam-

Page 34 1988 ROSSICA 112

Figure 39 is a registered letter of 28 September 1942 from
Teheran to Jerusalem. The English censor mark shows No. 29 and the
small mark in Russian is No. 16. It appears to be a Type I.

21* A J ';
I C. -- --

A .
s f i. r (-

Figure 39

Polish Forces Censorship

On August 14, 1942, General Anders signed an agreement with
Stalin for the establishment of a Polish Army, under the direction of
General Anders, with Headquarters at Buzuluk. This army reached a
strength of 120,000 men. The history of its postal service has been
On'
Stalin4 fo h sabiheto a PoihAry ndrte ietino
Genra Ades, it Haduarer a Bzulk.Ths rmyrechd
stent o 2000 e. h hsor f. it otlsrviehsbe

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 35

told by Messrs. M. A. Rojanowick and A. Droar in issues 43 and 44 of
the British Journal of Russian Philately. Those interested in the
details will see them there.

Briefly, in August 1942 the Polish Army was still in the Soviet
Union and subsequently went through Persia on its way to Palestine
and Egypt. I have in my collection two postcards from Djalal Abad,
Kirghizia, but they bear no censorship marks.

Figure 40 shows the censorship mark of General Ander's Army in
the U.S.S.R. as given in the above mentioned article.

CENZURA WOJSKOWA nIoP^oo
__Boni' YC IA'oo
12 2

B.C. 5

CEN Figure 40
TRALNE

B. C. w 3 REJ.B.C.. 4 REJRC.W
Censor mark founo o Polh Forces mail I. ensor mak applied t G.H.Q. Buazulak. 2. Typical
So ter military censor mark applied to mail between Polish military mrs. 3, 4. 5. Polish military rceor
handstamps Tipes I. II and III. 6. Polish censor handstamp msed c. Diala-Abad.

I have in my collection a few tens of letters from the time of
stay of this Polish Army in the Middle East, but this has no
connection with Soviet censorship. To complete the picture of this
Army, Figure 41 shows a registered letter from the Army's No. 118
Post Office Unit, censored by the Polish Army's censor No. 107.

"ThiS "re hs -wervd fort
O ,.ci m.,r ,-. RESIST E LETTER.
THms Lrnrt utM s OvgsT AI OraOmei owr "we
Potr OrfC1 TO 1I4 RiLarllo. aM a Rlca r
8OTA. me IT,
THE AOO MUST BE
WRITTEN THIS SIDE A

/ /. Figure 41

,) c /If

':t PAID.

Page 36 1988 ROSSICA 112

Later on, the Polish Brigade was created within the framework of
the Red Army and, in connection with that, we have a patriotic cover
(Figure 42) sent on 9 February 1945 from the No. 63423 Post Office
Unit to Molikar Ola. Notice the censor mark is in Polish, censor No.
243, which in its form is similar to the straight line military
censor marks in Russian except that in its upper part there appears
the emblem of Poland. That form of censorship mark continued in use
in Poland as shown here:

Figure 43 is a Polish postcard dated 15 July 1945 sent from
Radzyn to Tel-Aviv, bearing Polish censorship mark No. 1881.

Figure 44 is a Polish letter of 17 August 1945 sent from Lublin
to Tel-Aviv. The Polish censorship mark is No. 2060.

Please also see the Polish postcard in Figure 22, bearing the
Polish censor mark No. 1587.

tsy: do pracy nad odbudowa Worzawy
KARTA POCZTOWA
.. BoHHcoeO

CueprTh HeMOMHRKM OKynaHTaMI "/I :P ""/ "

Ky..--.- --
L'' -, I
..7.iI.. J(q--am-- ---S. XC e -) /

S -* .--. .- -Figure 43
-, .- ..F

-i. S \** : /.-. -' ;

,44 no 2 a. .... T.ao.T. ro i .

Figure 42 :

Figure 44
Figure 44

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 37

Soviet Censorship in the Soviet Zone of Germany

Figure 45 shows a letter sent on 21 December 1948 from Rostok to
Tel-Aviv, bearing a censorship mark in Russian "Soviet Zone -
Military Censorship 5313."

F^^- M e

"-" A v i V.

Figure 45

Censorship in Prisoner of War Camps in the U.S.S.R.

Figure 46 shows a letter on a Red Cross form. It was sent from
the No. 7183 Prisoners of War Camp to Cluj, Rumania. The censor's
mark is diamond shaped and contains in Russian the words
"Examined Military Censorship 452."

For more information, one may read the article "Kriegange-
fangnenpost der UdSSR" (Prisoner of War Mail U.S.S.R.) by Mr. K.
Rist in issues No. 17 & 19 of the publication "Arge Russland/UdSSR."

Page 38 1988 ROSSICA 112

1-1

| R w r n.. -- i 1 .....,,.

MNom iJ pr... e .r de r. ,
' ......,..^7^.,.. ._ .o.,,, ^ -,...

Figure 46

Customs Inspection

In the Baltic Republics, there are known marks of the Customs
Inspections. Although this does not relate to military censorship, a
few examples are submitted below.

Figure 47 is a registered letter of 24 November 1968 from Kaunas
to Tel-Aviv. Two markings in the frame freely translated read:

1) Must be returned. Vilnus Custom Office
2) Opened under Ministerial Regulations, Section 60 of the
Convention, Operator....," and a handwritten addition stating:
"It is forbidden to send money. Signature. Date 28 November
1968."

F i.;-, \' d .

erFigure 47

Figure 47

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 39

Figure 48 is a registered letter of 6 June 1966 from Riga to
Belgium. In the framed marking, one can read "Riga Custom Office.
Must be returned to sender. Cause: "Forbidden enclosure" and in
handwriting: "It is forbidden to send stamps beyond borders."

VA'.DIMARS M. LAURSONS
KANTORA EILA 19-3
RIGA 2
R. S. S. DE LETTONIE
RUSSIA

,, Figure 48

Figure 49 shows a registered letter of 2 November 1955 from Riga
to Czechoslovakia, which was examined in Czechoslovakia. On the
Czech resealing slip there appear the words "Opened. Custom
Inspection." It was returned to the sender. (This photograph is
submitted for the purpose of comparison with other Eastern block
countries.)

SC .iq 19ss

Figure 49
to Cechsloaki, wich as xamnedin zechsloaki. O th
Czc eeln lp hr pertewod Oee.Cso

Page 40 1988 ROSSICA 112

The Wolter Classification

In his book "Die Postzensur" published in Munich in 1966, Mr.
Kurt Wolter briefly refers to the Soviet censorship (without
submitting any illustrations) and introduces the three following
classifications:

1. a. Three lines: Emblem of Country
Examined by Military Censor
Number

b. As above, but including two numbers, one below the other.

2. Four lines as in 1. b. above, but in the third line a
location is mentioned.

3. Double Circle 22 x 34 mm, Military Censor / USSR / M.

4. Diamond-shaped. In the outer portion there is a text in
Russian; in the inner part: International / Exchange
Service.

5. 21 mm, emblem; upper part: Soviet Military Censorship, and
in the lower part, three wave shaped lines.

Wolter also wrote about a resealing slip. His classifications
apparently coincide with the following figures in this article:

l.a. Figure 28
l.b. Figure 36
2. Figure 29
3. Figure 21
4. Figure 46
5. Figure 13
Resealing slip Figure 14

Summary

As stated in the introduction, the material in this article is
submitted as a survey and does not purport to give an exhaustive
picture of the history of Soviet censorship markings. In particular,
the "three triangle" marks have not been discussed. These may not
even be censor marks for sure, but they have been discussed in this
context so frequently in Rossica and the BSRP that they are noted
here.

The shapes of the markings in the illustrations were not
described in the text. They are self evident.

The dates referred to in the illustrated items are those
appearing on the postmarks.

To complete the information, members are kindly requested to
forward to the author photocopies of material in their possession
which are not referred to in this article along with any relevant

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 41

information. Should the desired assistance be given, it will then be
possible to complete the elements missing here in some future issue
of the Rossica Journal.

[Ed. note: The Editor apologizes for the poor quality of the
reproductions in this article. They are, unfortunately, all taken
from xerographic reproductions of the original material and in
several cases are simply unreadable. The publication of this article
was held up some time while attempting to obtain better quality
reproductions, but those presented were the best obtainable. KW]

*NOTICE*

For recent issues of the Rossica Journal, several members have
complained that they did not receive their journals. In order to
minimize this situation, we ordered new, hardier mailing
envelopes and had them printed with a return address and
guarantee of return postage. The U.S. Postal Service will
neither forward nor return undeliverable copies of our journal
unless forwarding or return postage has been guaranteed.

As it turns out in the case of previous Journal issues, some
members who complained of not receiving journals had new
addresses and had not so notified Rossica. It is your
responsibility to keep Rossica informed of your correct, current
address. If a Journal addressed to you is returned to Rossica
because you have changed address and failed to notify us, you
will have to pay an additional $2.00 for postage and handling to
get your journal remained. It costs us (at present rates) $.90
for the return postage, $.25 for your new address or notification
that your forwarding order has expired), and an additional $.90
to remail your Journal to you. (Rates quoted for US member.)

More recently, there has been an increase in members writing to
complain that they did not receive some previous issue of the
Journal, usually one mailed several months to years ago. Rossica
makes every effort to insure that every member gets the Journals
to which he is entitled. As a result, when we receive the first
request for a back issue which did not arrive, we tend to send a
replacement out by return mail, even if the Journal was not
returned by the U.S. Postal Service. However, some members seem
to feel they can replace several back issues by this method at
the expense of the Society.

The U.S. Postal Service is really pretty efficient, and we have
yet to have a Journal returned that is their mistake. We have
even had Journals returned from overseas. Consequently, we assume
that they return every Journal that is not delivered. Thus the
Society assumes that if a mistake is made, it is ours and hence
we mail out the first replacement, no questions asked. However,
if no Journals are returned, and a member complains of a string
of back issues which he claims were not delivered and wants
replaced (usually one at a time), a certain amount of suspicion
creeps into the mind of the Publisher. It will take a lot more
justification to get a second Journal replaced than it does the
first one. Be advised.

Page 42 1988 ROSSICA 112

FROM THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN POSTAL STATIONERY
(The "closed letter" or "sekretka")

by Yu. Myakota

(Translated from Filatelia SSSR 12/83, by Michael J. Carson)

As postal stationery the "sekretka" officially appeared in 1879
in France and was used by the Paris pneumatic post. For ordinary
postal cards "sekretki" were first issued by Belgium in 1882. They
entered postal circulation in Russia in 1890.

The "sekretka" (Figure 1) was a sheet of thick postal paper,
folded in half, measuring 140 x 168 mm. It was perforated 7 mm. from
the edge. A layer of gum was applied to the upper or lower selvedge
separated by perforation. On the face, in the upper left corner, was
the state coat of arms; on the right, the postage stamp; and between
them the inscription "zakrytoye pis'mo" (closed letter) or "pis'mo"
(letter); and in the center of the lower detachable part the
explanation: "To open tear the edge along the perforations." The
inner part was intended for the letter.

*|| 3ANPUTOE IUCIMO..

... ..... ...... .. ....... .

.. ......................... ......................... ....

Figure 1

The denomination of the stamps on "sekretki" corresponded to the
postal tariffs for the transmission of a letter: local 5 kop.;
intercity 7 kop.; international 10 kop.

Originally the "sekretka" (letter card) was perforated
separately on each of three sides. The perforation lines intersected
at right angles, and the edges of the letter card had six tearing
points. During postal processing they could be unintentionally
damaged, which cast doubt on their very purpose--maintaining the
secrecy of the letter's contents. Therefore the second and later
issues, including the 1890 issues, were prepared by a new method,
which kept the glued letter card intact to a greater degree. They
were perforated on all sides simultaneously, the perforations did not
intersect, and they were rounded in the lower part. Thus only two
tearing points were formed (Figure 2).

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 43

S 31iim ona. -gsCaed

*--n* ****---- ------------- ----... ..*.*..

Figure 2

The type of perforation on letter cards which have passed through
the mail can be determined by laying it on a corresponding letter
card which has not been used. Letter cards of the first issue are
very rare. They are perforated 14, 12, or 12 x 14 compound.

In the period from 1890 through 1909 letter cards of the second
issue were issued in two printings, which differ from one another by
i the presence or absence of a dotted background in the central part of
the imprinted stamp.

In 1895 the first letter card for the Russian post in the Levant
was issued (Figure 3) with the text in Russian and French, and with a
stamp of the "Vostochnaya korrespondentsiya" type on the face.

-------- --a
I
3-

i ....M...'... .................Tl ll... .. .....

im 00 W-

Figure 3

In 1909 (the fourth issue) the inscription "Zakrytoye pis'mo"
was changed to "Pis'mo" (Figure 4). Beginning with the fifth issue
the note "To open tear the edge along the perforations" was not
printed (Figure 5).

Page 44 1988 ROSSICA 112

I .

Figure 4

On the stamps of several printings in the years 1900-1913,
designated for use in the Russian post offices in the Near East and
in China, corresponding typographed overprints were made: a new
denomination in Turkish currency and the diagonal word "Kitai."

S CEMIPHUAf nOMTObIft COO3-b
UNION POSTAL UNIVERSELLE
POCCIR -RUSSIE
HCbMO--LETTRE

........... ........... .....

S ..... .. .. .. .. ...... .......... ........ ......

Figure 5

In 1905, as an experiment for the St. Petersburg address bureau,
two types of letter cards were issued: inquiry and response. The
texts on them are analogous to the texts on the address bureau postal
cards. The letter card for local inquiry with a 5 kop. stamp was
sold in the postal division for 14 kop. Intercity inquiry letter
cards were sold for 18 kop. This clients paid all at once the cost
of the response letter card (they were in the address bureau) and the
cost of services for delivery of information 4 kop. Address letter
cards were in circulation a short time and are extremely rare.

After the October Revolution unused Russian postal stationery,
except for the 1913 issues with portraits of the tsars, were used for
postal circulation as ordinary forms through 1925.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 45

r. n.. 1 -2.7 ... T ..I. .. ..... T.... .

Figure 6

In August 1922, the post of the R.S.F.S.R. issued a series of
charity stamps "Philately for children." 80% of the sum realized
from their sale was allowed to a fund for the benefit of homeless
children. Along with postage stamps, postal stationery was also
overprinted, including two lettercards of the sixth and seventh
issues. They were sold at the Moscow post office on 19 August, 1922
(Figure 6).

LIST OF LETTER CARDS

I. Basic Issues of Russia

A. 1890, First Issue. Perforations intersect at right angles.

1. 5 kop., violet stamp, white paper, perf 14, (Fig.l)
a. Perf 12
b. Perf. 12 x 14

2. 7 kop., blue stamp, yellowish paper, perf. 14
a. Perf 12

3. 10 kop., blue stamp, gray-white paper, perf 14,
explanatory note in Russian only.
a. Perf 12
b. Perf 12 x 14

4. 10 kop., blue stamp, gray-white paper, perf 12,
explanatory note in Russian and French in one line.

B. 1890, Second Issue. Perforation corners rounded, perf. 12.

5. 5 kop., violet stamp
6. 7 kop., blue stamp

Page 46 1988 ROSSICA 112

7. 10 kop., blue stamp, note in Russian and French (Fig. 2)

NOTE: Separate printings of this issue are distinguished by
the presence or absence of a dotted background in the
center of the stamp.

C. 1909, Third Issue, New denomination overprinted in
connection with the lowering of local postage from 5 kop. to
3 kop.

8. 3 kop. on 5 kop. (No. 5), diagonal overprint in black
ink.

D. 1909, Fourth Issue. On letter cards for local and intercity
mail the inscription "Zakrytoye pis'mo" is changed to
"Pis'mo." Coat of arms in a frame of leaves.

9. 3 kop., carmine stamp, white paper

10. 7 kop., blue stamp, pale yellow paper (Fig. 4)

E. 1913, Fifth (Jubilee) Issue

11. 3 kop., carmine stamp

12. 7 kop., lilac-brown stamp i

13. 10 kop., blue stamp

F. 1914-1915, Sixth Issue. No. 14, 15 are repeat of fourth
issue. DIFFERENCES: gray-blue paper, no note on tear-off
margin.

14. 3 kop., carmine stamp

15. 7 kop., blue stamp

16. 10 kop., blue stamp (Figure 5)

G. 1916, Seventh Issue. Overprint of new denomination in
connection with raising postage rate for intercity letters
from 7 to 10 kop.

17. 10 kop. on 7 kop. (No. 15), horizontal overprint in
black ink.

H. 1926, Eighth Issue. Double letter card with paid response.
174 x 106 mm. Blue-gray paper. Not put into postal
circulation.

18. 10 kop., blue stamp

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 47

II. 1905, Letter Cards of the St. Petersburg Address Bureau. On the
face at the lower left is a colorless relief imprint of the seal
of the St. Petersburg address bureau.

19. 5 kop. Inquiry (local). Red overprint of address bureau
text on No. 5.

20. 5 kop. Response (local). Black overprint of address
bureau text on No. 5.

21. 7 kop. Inquiry (intercity). Red overprint of address
bureau text on No. 6.

22. 7 kop. Response (intercity). Black overprint of address
bureau text on No. 6.

III. Issues for the Russian post in the Near East (Russian Levant)

23. 1895, 10 kop. Stamp design of "Vostochnaya
korrespondentsiya" type, carmine and green, straw-
colored paper (Fig. 3)

24. 1900. Diagonal red overprint "1 piastre" on 10 kop. on
No. 7.

25. 1913. Diagonal red overprint of new denomination 1
piastre on 10 kop. on No. 13.

IV. Issues for the Russian post in China
Diagonal overprint "Kitai" on stamp of letter card.

A. 1905. Red overprint

26. 7 kop. on No. 6

27. 10 kop. on No. 3 and 3a

28. 10 kop. on No. 4

29. 10 kop. on No. 7

B. Black overprint

30. 7 kop. on No. 10

V. 1922. Charity Issue to Benefit Homeless Children
Typographed black overprint "Filateliya-detyam. 19 avgusta
1922 g." (in two lines) and of the R.S.F.S.R. coat of arts on
the stamp.

31. 10 kop., blue, on No. 16 (Fig. 6)

32. 10 kop. on 7 kop. No. 17

Page 48 1988 ROSSICA 112

The post of the U.S.S.R. issued only one stamped letter (Figure
7) in May of 1928. It is typographed on paper with an all-over
watermark in a pattern of five-pointed stars and inscriptions "Pochta
SSR" in languages of peoples of the U.S.S.R. The imprint is green.
The folded card measures 140 x 84 mm. On the obverse side

--- -- ........................-.......m ------ -- drf y :

a i
a

g 3AKPblTOE nHCbMO
I EITA LETERO

Ky : .... ...........

S.......... ........ -

Koxy: ....... ........... :.. .....

Figure 7

are printed the state coat of arms of the U.S.S.R. (1923 design),
stamp No. 286 (Scott No. 389), the 8 kop. of the second standard
issue (sculptured head of a worker), the inscription "Closed letter"
in Russian and Esperanto, and an address pattern in four lines with
explanatory text under the lines. On the reverse side is a place for
the return address. Cost--9 kop.

"*NOTICE*

The Secretary has received a letter from Rossica member
Dr. J. Lee Shneidman, who is offering to attempt to revive the
New York Chapter. Anyone in the immediate area of New York City
who would be interested in meetings of a Rossica Chapter in New
York should contact Dr. Shneidman at 161 West 86th Street, New
York, NY 10024.

ROSSICA 112 19888 Page 49

F. G. CHUCHIN
(1883/1942)

by Ian W. Roberts

F. G. Chuchin was a professional revolutionary who came from a
peasant family. He joined the Communist Party in 1904 and was
imprisoned and exiled to Siberia for his activities.

After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, he played a leading part
in the campaign to abolish illiteracy in the Soviet Union. At the
same time he became Chairman of an Expert Commission in the National
Commissariat of Foreign Trade which was seeking ways of raising hard
currency to counter the effects of the famine caused by bad harvests
in large parts of Russia in 1921. Chuchin hit on the idea of using
the interest of foreign collectors in Russian stamps for this purpose
and proposed that a state monopoly in philately should be created.
Through his friendship with N. K. Krupskaya, he was able to obtain
Lenin's approval for his proposal, and the appropriate decree was
published on 30th December 1921.

The following year Chuchin wrote a pamphlet entitled "By Saving
a Postage Stamp, you are giving a piece of bread to a Hungry Person."
The financial success of the new venture was immediate, and even
SLenin found time to save postage stamps and send them to the newly-
created Soviet philatelic organization.

Other activities followed such as the publication of catalogues
and periodicals, as well as creating links abroad and organizing
exhibitions. The print-run of the catalogues was not large (only
3,000 copies).

However, Chuchin did not want to stay with philately forever,
and eventually in 1927 he gave up his work in the field. He had
always wanted a higher education and, as early as 1923, he had begun
to study at the Institute of Red Professorship. Within a short time,
he himself was teaching, and he also wrote a study on Marx's theory
of value. His next post was Pro-Rector of the Moscow Zoological
Technical Institute, and in 1929 he edited a symposium of the
proceedings of the V Congress of this Institute. As a result of
family problems (including ill-health) and tuberculosis contracted by
his wife, he had to give up work in 1931.

He was a member of the Society of Old Bolsheviks, and he was
fortunate to survive the purges which took place in the '30s after
Stalin came to power. He died in 1942.

Soviet philately did not recover until after the Second World
War. The Chuchin era was a fruitful one and was a remarkable
achievement for a man of Chuchin's background.

Page 50 1988 ROSSICA 112

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FIRST MONEY ORDER FORM

by Daniel W. Levandowsky

Just as the philatelic press today announces new postal services, so
did the Russian philatelic magazine "MARKI" (Stamps) in 1896. Issue
No. 12 of that magazine illustrated the newly introduced form to be
used for postal and telegraph money orders beginning January 1, 1897.
The entire page of the announcement is shown here in slightly reduced
size.

The heading on the top line reads "Transfer." On the second line the
words "by post" or "by telegraph" were to be written in. On the
third line the sum for rubles and kopeks was given in numerals and on
the next line the sum was completely written out on top of the shaded
area. The name of the receiver follows, along with his address. At
the bottom was a space for "Official Remarks." At the left was a
detachable coupon with the sum of the order and name and address of
the sender.

On the back there is an inscription "For official remarks",indicating
that "the sum of rubles kopekss were handed out over the
signature in the receival book under entry no. ."

The form is 182 x 130 mm and printed in blue. The very last sentence
on this page reads "The stamp of a new type (we will give an example
in one of the coming issues), a 15 kop., is blue with a red screen
(Unterdruck)." "Unterdruck" is German for "background." As we can
see, the illustrated form does not have an indicium but simply a
space for stamps with corresponding text.

In the 1928 Ascher Postal Stationery Catalog this form without a
printed stamp is indicated in a note preceding the first listed money
order form, a card with a printed 15 kopek indicium in blue on a
background of blue dots. Similar listings of this blue 15 kopek card
are given in Prigara's The Russian Post in the Empire, Turkey and
China and the Kingdom of Poland and in Higgins and Gage World Postal
Stationery Catalog. However, the 1928 Chuchin catalog of Greater
Russia indicates the first money order card to have a blue stamp on a
red dotted background. So right from the beginning there is no
agreement on the description of the first issue of the money
order form with indicium.

From D. Skipton's translation of The Russian Post in the XIXth
Century by K. V. Bazilevich we learn that the money order was
established in 1897 after lengthy study. There was reluctance to
introduce the money order, fearing the loss of revenues from
insurance charges for sending money by post. At first the money
order was limited to 100 rubles and only accepted for cities where a
Finance Ministry office was located so that the post and telegraph
offices could obtain adequate funds, if necessary, to pay for the
money orders. In 1897 there were 717 such cities. In 1898 each
order was still limited to 100 rubles but multiple orders could be
addressed to the same place. By 1899 money orders were widespread
throughout the postal system.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 51

18Iw r. A. 12 M .\ Al It I .M 12 il

S BjaHKH aeHexmLix nepeBOAOBL.

BioAsue st ynorpe6Keaie ri I anaupa 1897 roA. a 6uai A.1x nepecoxa .enerI no unoi Rne
no Teerpa'sy nmkrv ra T oii nuAs:

OTPf3HOHi KYnHMO. n EPEBO,'b.
JMtoev

0 -. ... ,... 1
M _*: r" i. ""-ip p"M* ). ^

.... j re6Mua OMJI-k -Hl,. '

0IaAinc *a o...opork. H
humm ma 060PMEt.

OTP'3HOW HynmOH.

B udOao p946 xon. nod, porn ncy

oa no.4ytamne.ioi-. C0uZb, 6a cmam 111b 1nodb Ai
S^jJultIta I Anbiin maitultw f ).m *
PasuBpi Cjana 1S2X 130 xx., ustin neqaTn canifi.
Mapl. aoBaro o6paitn (o6pais .AUAIIum Bi OAHOXn 1131 C.IL t cTbAVqo .'b ), rb 15 ron., cunia
Sci pacmuo ctrKom (UTiter.lnck).

Page 52 1988 ROSSICA 112

THE LAID PAPER VARIETIES OF 1872-1884

by David Jay

The vertically-laid paper (henceforth, VLP) kopek varieties
issued for the empire (Scott #19b-28a) and the Offices in Turkey
(Scott #12a-19a and 20a-22a) and the horizontally-laid paper
(henceforth, HLP) 3 1/2 Ruble variety of 1884 (Scott #39a) for the
empire raise an interesting series of questions. Why and under what
circumstances were they issued? The tabulation of cancellation dates
below shows that their issuance was systematic and intentional, not
the result of random errors in orientation of the paper. Several
reasons may be advanced to explain the changes in paper orientation,
but these explanations suggest additional questions concerning the
paper making process. Finally, why are there no VLP variants for
other contemporary issues printed by the state printing office on the
same paper (e.g. Scott #29 and 30 and the early stamps of Bulgaria)?

Dates of Use
The Empire

Available information concerning the dates of use of the laid
paper varieties is summarized in Tables 1 and 2. This information
has been assembled from material in my own collection, from
information graciously provided by George Shalimoff and Mike Renfro,
and from auction catalogs. The most useful catalogs were the Harmers
October 1985 Norman Epstein sale, the Kronenberg March 1985 Russia
Auction, the Kohler (Wiesbaden) catalogs (1983-88), the Harmers 1974
F. T. Small auction and the Harmers November 1975 auction (the last
two provided in xerox form by George Shalimoff). Some of the VLP
stamps are scarce on cover, and the small size of the stamps relative
to the cancels renders it difficult to obtain useful information from
loose stamps. The use of mute geometric dot number and city post
cancels, and the various mute cancels of the Offices in Turkey
exacerbate this problem. The best information is, therefore,
available for the original 1k to 30k stamps (Scott #19c to 25a),
which are relatively common on cover. Pairs, strips and blocks were
counted as single usages in compiling Table 2.

By far the most common and the first to appear of the VLP stamps
was the 10k (Scott #23a). The earliest uses I have been able to
confirm are 25 July, 18 September, 19 September and 6 October 1871.
The first is a fascinating 14k franking from Wesenstein to Vienna
that includes the V-background error on the 3k (Scott #20d) as well
as the 10k VLP. The second is two 10k singles on a letter from
Berdyansk to Constantinople belonging to Mike Renfro. The third and
fourth are covers from the Small collection that both have St.
Petersburg cancels. The next two are loose singles with December
1871 cancellations, one a TPO. Use of the 10k VLP becomes quite
common in January 1872, and most of the remaining examples of the 10k
were used in the first half of 1872.

Use of the 1, 3, 5, and 20k (Scott #19c, 20c, 22c and 24a) also
is concentrated in the first half of 1872, beginning in the first
quarter for the 1k, 3k and 5k and sometime in late 1871 for the 20k.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 53

TABLE 1
EARLY AND LATE USE OF THE LAID PAPER VARIETIES

A. Stamps for the Empire

Denomi- Scott Earliest Post Last Post
nation No. Date Office Date Office

1k 19b 11 Feb 1872 Kharkov 2 Jan 1875 Mariupol

3k 20c 26 Mar 1872 TPO 21-22 8 May 1875 Riga

5k 22c 18 Jan 1872 Arensburg ? ? 1873 Riga

10k 23a 25 Jul 1871 Wesenstein 28 Jan 1873 Warsaw

20k 24a ? ? 1871 5 Nov 1873 St.
Petersburg

30k 25a 1 Apr 1872 Pavlograd 22 Feb 1878 ?chinsk
1 Apr 1872 Kharkov

2k 26a ? Apr 1876 ? Nov 1877

8k 28a 5 Feb 1876 ? Feb 1879 St.
Petersburg

7k 27b 8 May 1879 St. 19 Apr 188?
Petersburg

3 1/2R 39a ? ? 188?

B. Stamps for the Offices in Turkey

1k 12a 10 May(?)1873 Latakia ? ? 1881? Latakia

3k 13a ? ? 1872

5k 14a 10 May 1873 Latakia ? ? 1881? Latakia?

10k 15a 16 Jul 1873

Constantinople

8k on 10k (bk) 16a
8k on 10k (bl) 17a
7k on 10k (bk) 18a
7k on 10k (bl) 19a
1k 20a
2k 21a ? ? 1881 or 1884
7k 22a

Page 54 1988 ROSSICA 112

In total, only about 15% of the 1k to 20k VLP stamps recorded in
Table 2 were used after 1872. The 10k differs from the others only
in that scattered usage occurred in summer and fall of 1871. Thus,
an initial pulse of use was followed by scattered late uses over a
period of several months to years. I would interpret the initial
pulse as being the period during which the stamps were on sale at
various post offices. The scattered late uses would then result from
storage of some of the stamps by the postal administration, post
offices or individuals.

TABLE 2
FREQUENCY OF USE BY STAMP AND YEAR

Year 1k 3k 5k 10k 20k 30k 2k 8k 7k

1871 6 1

1872 12 11 16 29 16 4

1873 2 1 1 1 5 1

1874 3 5

1875 1 2 2

1876 2 3 2

1877 1 2 2

1878 1 1

1879 4 3

The 2k and 7k on VLP (Scott #26a and 27b) may, when more data is
available, follow the same pattern as the 1, 3, 5, and 20k on VLP.
The 30k on VLP (Scott #25a) definitely does not follow this pattern
and the 8k on VLP (Scott #28a) may also not do so, once more examples
are tabulated. The available 1872 uses of the 30k VLP demonstrate
conclusively that it was printed no later than spring 1872. I
suggest that the reason for the delay in use of the 30k lies in a
sufficiency of 30k stamps then available at post offices--one sees
covers with the 30k of the previous issue (Scott #18) well into the
1870s. Furthermore, no new 30k was issued when the 10 and 20k were
re-designed in 1875 (Scott #29 and 30), again suggesting the
sufficiency of the supply of the 30k stamps. No explanation for the
temporal distribution of use of the 8k is apparent.

It is surprising neither that the 10k VLP stamp was the first to
appear nor that some of the first uses are in the St. Petersburg
area. The 10k stamp paid the basic fee for a one lot letter, postal
usage was greatest in St Petersburg, and the stamps were printed
there. I surmise the 1k to 30k stamps were all printed at the same
time, the 10k was brought into use at those offices where the basic
10k stamp (Scott #23) was in short supply almost immediately after

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 55

printing, and the other values were sent a few months later to
various offices as needed, until the entire printing of VLP stamps
was exhausted. By this theory, sufficient 1, 3, 5, 20 and 30k stamps
on HLP were available in St. Petersburg, because all the early uses
of these values that I have seen were outside St. Petersburg. This
theory is also consistent with the idea that a few offices were
supplied with bulk of the VLP stamps, and that these offices received
VLP stamps of several denominations. As a result two and three color
VLP frankings are not as uncommon as one might suppose from the price
of the basic stamps.

July 1872 letter from Odessa to Styrie, Austria, with an oval purple
"frankirovano" (paid) on the front and Vienna and Bruck? routing
stamps on the revee.

Figure 2

See, for example, Figure 1 showing Ik, 3k, and 10k VLP stamps on a 14
July 1872 letter from Odessa to Styrie, Austria, with an oval purple
"frankirovano" (paid) on the front and Vienna and Bruck? routing
stamps on the reverse.

*- '*f !1 *.'. '

'" ... "^ ^. S L ... ,

Figure 2

Page 56 1988 ROSSICA 112

Likewise notice Figure 2 showing 5k and 20k VLP and 3k VLP on a 9
February 1872 letter from St. Petersburg to Paris, with a boxed paid
mark in red and red and blue Prussian transit marks. The letter (in
English) thanks a Paris firm for the opening of a credit line.

Figure 3

In a striking contradiction to the above pattern for Scott #23a,
I have a piece with two 10k VLP canceled 15 July 1921 in
Svetipovini(?), Mogilev (Figure 3). This item was sent via Moscow
(1 August 1921 oval Moscow Expeditsia cancel indicative of
censorship) and New York (12 September 1921 Registry Division cancel)
to Washington, D.C. (15 September 1921 purple "registered" receiving
stamp). The 10k VLP stamps were definitely not valid at this time,
and it cannot be determined without a complete cover whether they
were accepted, despite their lack of validity, as paying postage.
Invalid stamps rejected as postage were frequently obliterated by
hand, but this practice probably was not universal, and a canceler
might have been used instead. One may also wonder whether these VLP
stamps were brought out to the post office counter because of a
shortage of current stamps, "liberated" from a stamp collection or
simply found in an office desk drawer. Finally, the Svetipovini(?)
Mogilev canceler is curious in its use of the old "e", three years
after the alphabet was changed.

It is curious that VLP varieties do not exist for the 10 and 20k
(Scott #29 and 30). These were first released in July 1875. Perhaps
they were printed only once and were not in production when the VLP
varieties of the 2 and 8k (Scott #26 and 28) were printed in late
1875 or early 1876. The various imperforate varieties on VLP of
Scott #19 to 28 (as summarized by John Wilson in 1941 and reprinted
in Rossica in 1975) should also be mentioned. These are more common
used than mint, but again legible cancels are hard to find in
catalogs. The only such cancel I have tabulated is on a 1k (Scott
#19f) and is dated 19 November 1872.

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 57

Finally, the HLP 31/2R (Scott #39a) is, according to Wilson, an
extreme rarity. I have seen three defective copies listed in auction
catalogs, two used and one mint. No fully legible cancels appear in
any catalog I have seen.

Offices in Turkey

Insufficient data is available for the Offices in Turkey VLP
issues to draw much in the way of conclusions regarding the period of
use--in numerous instances, not even one datable cancel is available.
I suspect on the basis of a single 3k (Scott #13a) used in 1872 that
Scott Offices in Turkey #12-15a were printed in 1871-72 at the same
time as the VLP issues for the empire and about the same time that
the basic stamps Scott #12-15 were first printed. I further suspect
that the later 1, 2 and 7k VLP stamps for the Offices in Turkey
(Scott #20a to 22a) were printed at the same time as 7k VLP stamp for
the empire (Scott #27b) in 1879.

The Offices in Turkey 8k and 7k Constantinople surcharges on VLP
(Scott #16a to 19a) are quite scarce. I have been able to confirm
the existence of the 8k on 10k (blue surcharge; Scott # 17a) and the
"fat" 7k surcharges in black and blue (Scott #18a and 19a). The 8k
surcharge is described in the British Journal of Russian Philately
"Used Abroad Chronicle" in volume 33. One of the two 7k surcharges
appeared in the 1975 Siegel auction of the Polon collection, the
other in the Kronenberg 1985 Russia auction. Their existence is
evidence that the pattern of usage of the VLP stamps in the Offices
in Turkey differs substantially from that in the empire. That is,
virtually all recorded uses of the 10k on VLP for the empire (Scott
#23a) are in 1871-1872, but the existence of the surcharges on Scott
#15a to make Scott #17a to 19a requires that substantial numbers of
this stamp must still have been available in Constantinople in 1876
and 1879. That the "thin 7" Beirut overprints (Scott #19c,d)
apparently do not exist on VLP suggests that any possible supply of
VLP 10k stamps delivered to Beirut was exhausted by 1879.

In compiling the data for this article, I encountered three
instances of VLP stamps (Scott # 12a-15a) on covers from Latakia.
Material from Latakia is by no means common in this period, and that
so much of the available VLP material is from this office is
extraordinary. One possible explanation is that the VLP stamps Scott
#12a-15a were delivered to the foreign offices at a time when the
Latakia office was short on several values of stamps, and so it,
therefore, received a large fraction of the VLP stamps.

Bulgaria

The early stamps of Bulgaria were printed in St. Petersburg by
the Russian state printing office on the same laid, watermarked paper
Sas the Russian issues discussed previously. The stamps involved are
"Bulgaria Scott #1-5 (May and June 1879), #6-11 (April 1881), #12-18
(1882), the overprints #19, 20, 20A, 21-21D and 22 (1884-85), 23-24
(1885) and 25-27 (1889). Not even the first Bulgarian issue is found
on VLP, despite the fact that it appeared in the same month

Page 58 1988 ROSSICA 112

(May 1879) as the 7k on VLP (Scott Russia #27a). The only paper
variety I have seen on the early issues of Bulgaria is a defective
used 50c (Bulgaria Scott #4) on pelure paper, similar to that used
for the postage due stamp Scott #J12 (1894).

Hypotheses

The data in Tables 1 and 2 are consistent with the idea that the
printing and issuance the VLP varieties was the result of deliberate
technical changes in the printing process, and not simply a
consequence of random errors in orientation of the paper in the
printing press. The affirmation of this hypothesis does not exclude
the possibility that VLP stamps were also occasionally produced by
random errors in the printing process. The argument against this
second hypothesis is based on the non-existence of material that
would confirm it. If this were an important mechanism for the
production of VLP varieties, one would expect to see at least some
VLP stamps between 1866 and mid-1871, again between 1883 and 1902 and
on the Finnish issue of 1891. The absence of random VLP stamps from
these periods argues against the randomness of the VLP issues in
general.

Can it be determined at this late date why the VLP varieties
were issued? Let me suggest several hypotheses. The first is that
several paper making machines were in use over time, some with the
wires that create the lay of the paper oriented vertically, some with
these wires oriented horizontally. A variant of this hypothesis is
that the paper making machines were periodically repaired, with the
orientation of the wires being changed from time to time. This
hypothesis can only be valid if the paper from which the sheets used
for printing the stamps was rectangular (not square) and was always
cut in the same way. If the paper was itself square, then any change
in the orientation of wires in the paper making machines would be
irrelevant, because it would not constrain the cutting of the paper.
The above-mentioned Bulgarian issues show at least three different
watermark patterns, the difference being in the distance between rows
of watermark letters and relationship of letters in vertically
adjacent rows (Krtsch, 1909). These differences may imply that three
different paper machines were in use, or that the same paper machine
was repaired several times, changing the position of the watermark
but not the orientation of the wires creating the lay of the paper.

I do not possess enough complete sheets (four blocks of 25 for
the kopek values, a single block of 25 for ruble values) to know if
similar variations are found on Russian stamps of this period, but
presumably, they are. My one complete sheet is of Scott #70 (the VLP
7R stamp). This sheet is about 25 x 30.4 cm. The margins are
sufficiently ample that the orientation of the stamps could easily be
changed from vertical to horizontal, still leaving ample margins.

Interestingly, the Lobachevski catalog (Shalimoff translation,
Rossica 94/95) gives the dimensions of the VLP ruble issues of 1884
as 22.5-23.5 x 23.5-24.0 cm, nearly square and smaller in both
dimensions. This may imply that the paper making machines changed
size between the 1884 and 1902, or that sheets were cut differently

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 59

from a much larger piece of paper. I take the shape of the sheets
and ample margins to be a refutation of the above hypothesis--a
nearly square sheet much larger than the block to be printed could be
fed either way through a printing press. Nor, considering the large
margins, was economy of paper use a consideration in this period.
Can any reader provide further information concerning production of
the paper use to create the VLP and HLP issues?

The second possibility is that the change in the lay of the
paper had nothing to do with constraints of paper size, but was used
as an internal accounting device of some sort. This hypothesis is
favored by the fact that VLP variant stamps seem to have been
produced only once for each denomination and not at all for the
Bulgarian stamps and other relatively short-lived issues (e.g. Scott
29 and 30).

Finally, the 3 1/2R (Scott #39a) HLP variety was part of the
first issue in the large format used for Ruble stamps. In this case,
it is possible that the HLP variety was produced as an experiment
early on, before the paper orientation had been decided. This would
suggest that cancellations in 1884 should be found on some examples
of this stamp.

The author would greatly appreciate information from other
collectors on this topic. My address is 7206-6th Ave NW, Seattle, WA
98117 USA.

References

Krtsch, H. "Notes on Russian Watermarks," etc., Gibbons Stamp
Weekly 10: p. 184-186, 1909.
Lobachevski, V. V. "Imperial Postage Stamps of Russia issued
1857-1888" (Shalimoff/Trbovich translation), Rossica 94/95:
p. 11-94, 1978.
Tchilinghirian, S. D. Used Abroad Chronicle VI, British Journal of
Russian Philately, 33: p. 10-14, 1963.
Wilson, J. "The 19th Century Issues of Imperial Russia,"
Rossica 88: p. 6-45, 1975.

*NOTICE*

Rossica has received a request from a Soviet, living in Latvia,
who wishes to correspond with exchange partners from the United
States. He is an engineer-technologist at a house building
plant. He collects mint complete sets of stamps, minisheets,
FDCs and envelopes. His themes are animals, fishes and fishing,
transportation (ships, planes, cars, trains). He has large
stocks of stamps of USSR, Eastern and Western Europe, Mongolia,
Kampuchea, Vietnam, N. Korea etc. for exchange.

Any member of Rossica desiring to enter into such an exchange
relationship, please contact the Secretary. First letter
received from a member will be sent the original letter from the
Soviet exchange requestor. Please do not respond unless you are
serious about becoming an exchange partner, and intend to
respond. The Soviet will be sent the name and address of the
member who responds and receives the letter.

Page 60 1988 ROSSICA 112

FROM PAGES OF THE PAST

(A letter originally printed in the Russian journal "MARKI" (Stamps)
#11, p. 156, December 1896)

Translated by Daniel W. Levandowsky

Tiflis (From our correspondent)

When I arrived in Tiflis 17 years ago, there were already a few
stamp collectors, no more than six or eight. No stamps were sold in
any shops in town at that time. Now, however, almost any stationery
store has notebooks with stamps, given to them on commission in part
by stamp dealers in the Capitals (St. Petersburg and Moscow) and in
Odessa, in part by the local stamp collectors. The great majority of
customers for these stamps (mostly sold for 1 kop. to 40 kop.) are
the local schoolboys, who regrettably do not follow any collecting
system but jump at the attractive stamps, such as Borneo, Labuan,
Guatemala, etc. And the local merchants take advantage of this,
charging a price of 20 or 25 kop. for a 2 cent Borneo stamp (a deer)
which costs 5 or 6 kop. in Odessa.

People of a more solid age do not buy stamps in the local
stores. They add to their collections with the help of foreign stamp
associations of which they are members. Or they gather Persian
stamps locally which they send to foreign countries for exchange.

Speaking of Persian stamps, about ten years ago building a
collection by means of trading Persian stamps was very profitable and
handy. The greatest part of Persian foreign correspondence was and
is today conducted with the Caucasus. [In Tiflis, Persians ran the
fruit and local candy stores. All rug merchants were Persian. They
also operated saddle and leather shops, and did silver and gold
filigree work on weapons, etc., mostly in the Maidan market area.
DWL] Local Persian merchants who received letters from home were
happy to sell the envelopes with stamps on them for 10 kop. to 30
kop. per hundred. But as time went on, there appeared in Tiflis a
number of branch offices of different foreign commercial houses.
Agents of these offices began buying up the stamps from the Persians,
who, noticing the greater demand, began raising the prices, and some
even started sales of stamps themselves with foreign countries. I
know of one Persian rug merchant who goes twice a year to Germany and
Austria on rug business. Each time he takes with him 50-60 thousand
Persian stamps.

Because of all this, the prices now for used Persian stamps of
the common kind have increased here to 2-4 rubles and more per
hundred. One must keep in mind when one buys such a bundle that
always 30% of the stamps are rejects, such as parts of stamps very
cleverly glued together to appear as one, or with defects such as cut
off perforation teeth, or heavily obliterated, etc.

In view of this, at the present time building a collection by
means of exchange of Persian stamps is only profitable for those

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 61

collectors who managed to accumulate a large number of such stamps in
the past, when the stamps were cheap.

A year or two ago when the prices for Persian stamps became very
high in Tiflis, there was still a chance to buy them for a relatively
low price in Baku, but today speculation has arrived even there.

[The writer's name is Vladimir Grabovskii, a stamp collector and
minor stamp dealer in Tiflis who placed small ads in the journal
"MARKI." DWL]

"* IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR OVERSEAS MEMBERS *

The Treasurer has requested that henceforth, overseas members
make every effort to pay their dues with checks or money orders
which are payable in U.S. dollars drawn against U.S. banks. The
Society has made every attempt to avoid placing a surcharge on
dues from overseas members. However, it is completely
unrealistic to expect the Society to absorb a $25.00 minimum bank
fee to change a dues payment of $20.00 into U.S. dollars.

There are a number of ways around this problem. Overseas members
can establish an exchange relationship with a U.S. member, and
forward stamps in exchange for the U.S. member paying the
overseas member's dues in U.S. dollars with a check drawn on a
U.S. bank. Similarly, overseas members can pair with U.S.
members with each member paying the dues of both partners to a
national society (e.g., the U.S. member pays both his own and the
overseas member's dues to Rossica, while the overseas member pays
the dues of the U.S. member as well as his own to one of his
national societies). Any difference in dues can be offset by an
exchange of philatelic material agreeable to both.

Any overseas member having trouble finding a reasonable solution
to this problem, please correspond with the Secretary, and we
will try to work something out. Bank transfer and exchange
charges should not be cause for members to resign.

NOTICE *

The Society has available for purchase all back issues of the
Rossica Journal beginning with Rossica 66. Cost to members is
$7.50 for single issues, and $15.00 for double issues. Cost to
non-members is $10.00 and $20.00 respectively. Copies may be
* obtained by forwarding a check in the proper amount, plus
postage, to the Secretary at 7415 Venice Street, Falls Church VA
22043 USA.

Page 62 1988 ROSSICA 112

THE ROSSICA BOOKSHELF

[Editor's Note: In Rossica 111, the Editor once again fell asleep at
the terminal. The book review of OOST EUROPA FILATELIE in that issue
was erroneously attributed to David Jay. The real reviewer of that
Journal was Peter Michalove. My sincere apologies to both Mr. Jay
and Mr. Michalove. KW]

THE TRIDENT ISSUES OF UKRAINE, Parts I-V, by C. W. Roberts and Dr. R.
Seichter, reprinted by the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic
Society, 200 pages, 1988. Available from M. Shulewsky, P.O. Box 279,
Kensington, CT 06037, $19.50 postpaid.

The series of books on Ukrainian trident overprints released by
Cecil Roberts and Rudolph Seichter truly represents a well-crafted
labor of love and remains the unsurpassed English language study of
these stamp issues. Originally Mr. Roberts released five books
between 1948 and 1956 in which he not only covered the stamp
overprints created by the six main postal districts of Ukraine but
also overprints of postal stationery and special issues, e.g., local
trident overprints. In this effort Mr. Roberts was assisted with the
illustrative talents of another dedicated collector of Ukraine, Ian
Baillie, was well as Rudolph Seichter, the long-time head of the
Ukrainian Philatelic Society in Germany.

Soon after this series was completed, it became obvious that the
first two books, issued in small editions, should not only be
reprinted but updated. It is these two revised editions of Parts I
and II, along with the earlier editions of Parts III-V that have been
reprinted by the Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society. A
decision was made to copy the books, and they are without any
alternations. Thus the reader will find all the original check and
price lists included. While long since out of date, they still serve
a useful purpose in indicating the relative value of stamps and their
rarity.

It is hoped that this reissue of these catalogs will prove as
useful and valuable to collectors of Ukraine as did the previous
editions.
Ingert J. Kuzych

RUSSIA ZEMSTVOS, by F. G. Chuchin, reprinted by John Barefoot in his
series of reprints as European Philately 15, 92 pages, 1984.
Available from J, Barefoot Ltd., P.O. Box 8, York Y03 7BE, England,
$17.00 surface, $22.00 airmail.

This document is a modern reprint of Chuchin's early seminal
work on Russian Zemstvos. It contains Chuchin's original text, with
hundreds of added illustrations. It is the only "easy to use"
Zemstvo catalog available in English and includes an index and maps.

John Barefoot

ROSSICA 112 1988 Page 63

SLETTLAND, HANDBUCH: PHILATELIE UND POSTGESCHICHTE, Harry v. Hofmann
Verlag, Hamburg, 1988. Parts II/III, The Stamps. Available from
Harry v. Hofmann Verlag, 2000 Hamburg 52, Postfach 52 05 18, West
Germany for DM 68.

This volume contains parts II and III of the definitive study of
the stamps and postal history of Latvia by Harry v. Hofmann and many
collaborators. Part V, dealing with postmarks, has already been
published, so there remains only part IV to complete the work. At
that time, Latvian collectors will be as well served as Estonian
collectors are now by the outstanding Hurt and Ojaste handbook.

Covered here are the stamp issues from September 1920 through
the Soviet Latvian stamps of 1940, signaling the end of Latvian
independence. This volume also deals with the Smilten provisionals,
the Elley local issue, essays, the railway newspaper stamps, stamps
for the tuberculosis fund, and finally private and bogus issues.

The information given for each issue is comprehensive, to say
the least. Varieties, plate flaws, printing information, watermarks,
perforations, sheet layout, numbers issued, and forgeries are
tabulated and described. The stamps are valued on a point system,
and the equivalent catalog numbers in Michel, Yvert, and Zumstein
(but not Scott and Gibbons!) are given. One of the most remarkable
features of the work is the beautiful quality of the illustrations
throughout, making it accessible to those without a knowledge of
German.

This is an indispensable work for the Latvian collector. Even
those who do not specialize in Latvia will find a great deal of
information relevant to Russian philately and a model of philatelic
research.
Peter A. Michalove

"ZAMETKI KOLLEKTSIONERA" (Notes of a Collector), by R.V. Polchaninov,
Zaria Publishing, Inc., London, Canada, 1988. Paperback, 278 pages,
numerous illustrations, in Russian. Price $15.00 postpaid. Books
may be ordered from the author at 6 Baxter Ave., New Hyde Park, NY
11040.

"Notes" is a fascinating and most unusual book, encompassing the
fields of numismatics, medal, book and badge collecting, scripophily,
philately, deltiology and erinophilia. The author and long-time
Rossica member is especially well-versed in these fields of Russian
collecting, having written the "Collector's Corner" in the popular
New York Russian language newspaper "Novoe Russkoe Slovo" since 1968.
Over a thousand articles later, the author has chosen some of the
best and most intriguing in compiling this work.

SThere are many stories about the goings-on behind the scenes of
Various issues and events, from the Vlasov Post to parodies on Soviet
stamps, from the Russian Scout Post (Razvedcheskaya Pochta) to Soviet
Gulag scrip. There is a wealth of little-known facts to be mined
here, and when you read this book, you'll be introduced to a

Page 64 1988 ROSSICA 112

range of collecting societies, clubs, and one-man endeavors that may
surprise. Our own Rossica Society is present (a translation of this
section appeared in #108/109), as is the Soviet VOF, the Russian
Numismatic Society, the Friends of the Russian Book Society, and a
host of others. The impact of politics on collecting and exhibiting
is a frequent theme, and the reader will come away from this book
with a better sense of how a socialist political system affects our
hobby. For instance, catalog-watching in the Soviet Union will often
show who is in or out in the Party pantheon, as this or that stamp
disappears from or suddenly reappears in the listing.

Since "Notes of a Collector" is written in Russian, it will pose
considerable problems for non-Russians-speaking philatelists, but for
those fortunate enough to read the language, this book comes highly
recommended. It will grace any collector's shelves, and many of the
sections on philately would make interesting articles for the Rossica
Journal. Congratulations are due Mr. Polchaninov and Zaria
Publishing for a first-class book!

David M. Skipton

NOTES FROM COLLECTORS

The regular feature of the Rossica Journal entitled "Notes from
Collectors" lost out in this issue in the race for space. It
will be continued in the next issue, and all comments and notes
received from collectors since the last issue will appear there.

There have been an number of interesting comments and responses
regarding the article by Ivo Steyn entitled "The Nikolaevsk
Affair" which appeared in Rossica 111. Unfortunately, Rossica
has not been able to obtain the author's permission to reprint
these notes in all cases. Rather than string out these comments
in the next few issues of Rossica, I have chosen to publish them
in one issue so that the future researchers in this are will have
all the comments together. Thus the "Notes from Collectors"
section in Rossica 113 will contain all comments and responses to
the Steyn article which Rossica has permission to print. If you
have been considering a comment, have evidence to shed on the
subject, or just want to make a philatelic comment, please be
sure to get that information to the editor ASAP. KLW.

	Front Cover
	Table of Contents
	Honored Member, officers of the...
	Officers of the society
	Representatives of the society
	Baron Constantine de Stackelberg...
	Life of the society by Gordon...
	Minutes of interim board of directors...
	Addlets
	Ukrainpex '88
	Straight talk, editor of Filateliya,...
	Soviet postage stamp plan for 1989,...
	Soviet Censorship and other markings...
	From the history of Russian postal...
	F. G. Chuchin by Ian Roberts
	Announcement of the first money...
	The laid paper varieties of 1872-1884...
	From pages of the past, translated...
	Rossica bookshelf
	Notes from collectors

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