Russia Imperial Arms stamps: 1917 imperforate 20 kopeck

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Most catalogues give the impression that Russia's imperforate Arms stamps were issued together during the life of the 1917 Provisional Government. It's possible, but their distribution and use was clearly piecemeal, bit by bit. Some places got them (probably less favoured places like Ukraine) and some didn't. I have written about this before on this Blog.

The document above is interesting because it is the earliest use I can record of  20 kopeck imperforates - at Tula, 1st March 1918 - a year after the Provisional Government came to power and four months after the Bolsheviks overthrew it.The stamps are used on an Enquiry form [ Nachforschungsanträge]  regarding a missing Registered letter to Helsingfors.

It's noteworthy that they were used on a form rather than for postal purposes - maybe they were used at a desk or counter whose clerk had access to a pair of scissors.

Compare:

From 28 February 1918 to 14 September 1918, the Tariff for sending an inland postcard was 20 kopecks. Cards franked at this Tariff are quite common, though often enough 5 kopeck Kerensky cards are used, uprated to the new Tariff.

I have 31 cards in my collection franked at 20 kopecks. Not one has a 20 kopeck imperforate franking it. One has a 20 kopeck perforate; four have 20 /14 kopeck surcharged stamps; and leaving aside the uprated cards, there are 9 franked with combinations of lower value kopeck stamps: 5 use 2 x 10 kopecks; 2 use 4 x 5 kopecks; 2 use 15 + 5 kopecks. All these stamps are perforated.

No sign of the 20 kopeck imperforate. Over to my readers: your job today is to show a 20 kopeck Tariff card franked with a single imperforate and / or to show a 20 kopeck imperforate used before 1st March 1918.

12 October: We have a Winner! Alexander Epstein has sent me this image of a 20 kopeck imperforate correctly used in Yaroslavl guberniya in July 1918. Terrific item! I am confident that this is not something which you can find any time you like: 

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Russia's Imperial Arms Imperforate Stamps 1917 - 1922: a Theory

I have Blogged before about the distribution of Russia's Imperial Arms imperforate stamps, issued from 1917 on as Emergency supplies. Today I was looking at a big collection (Peter Ashford's) of Dashnak Armenia surcharges. I realised that it is only at the end of 1920 / beginning of 1921 - when the Bolsheviks entered into or  formed the government of Armenia - that certain imperforate values become available in Armenia, notably the 20, 35, 50 kopeck and 7 rouble.

This led me back to my Theory. Let's assume that the imperforates were all produced in 1917. But they weren't all distributed in 1917. That's the first part of the Theory.

If perforate stamps became available - either from fresh printings or from supplies found in a cupboard - then those were distributed in preference to imperforates, which were a nuisance at the post office counter. So if you look at mail from Petrograd or Moscow, the busiest post office counters, then you see that low value Imperforates come into use early (1917) and then disappear - perforated stamps make a comeback. That's the second part of the Theory. In principle, you could probably establish rough periods of use. I would start with the 5 kopeck as an example.

Just as important, I think that some post office districts got preferential treatment and that others had imperforate stamps dumped on them. Petrograd and Moscow are the most obvious districts likely to have been favoured. That's the third part of the Theory.

So where were the stamps dumped? The biggest receiver was Ukraine - and it is possible that this happened as part of some bigger deal at the end of 1917 / beginning of 1918 between the Bolshevik postal authorities in Russia and the government postal authorities in Ukraine. That's the fourth part of the Theory. The evidence for this claim is the fact that postal use of higher value kopeck imperforates though not common anywhere occurs earlier and more frequently in Ukraine, both before and after Trident overprinting.

(In this connection, I actually have some doubts about the usual story of devalued Russian stamps being sold across the border in Ukraine as what we would now call "Postage", creating the need for trident overprinting in order to safeguard post office revenues. Were there really at this time  - mid 1918 say - dealers travelling from Russia to Ukraine to sell stamps for ordinary postal use at a discount on face value?)

Leave that aside. How does the story continue? As the Bolsheviks regained control of territory from the Whites, so they often had to distribute fresh supplies of stamps. For this purpose, unwanted stocks of imperforates - still held in the distribution centre in 1920 / 21 - could be used up. That's the fifth part of the Theory. So if Armenia put in a call for fresh supplies of stamps at the end of 1920 / beginning of 1921, then it's call was partly answered by new supplies of imperforates. The alternative is to suppose that Melik-Pachaev or some other dealer was instrumental in bringing previously unavailable imperforates (the 20, 35 and 50 kop; the 7 rouble) into Armenia at that point.

Of course, the kind of theory I am outlining can only be developed by someone able to study the Archives in St Petersburg and Moscow. Maybe it has been done ...

Russia Imperial Arms10 rouble Imperforate

I have been doing some work on early use of 1917 Imperial Arms imperforate stamps looking at non-philatelic covers and cards. However, for the 10 rouble I have only loose stamps. So far, the only early uses I am able to record are in independent (but German Occupied) Ukraine. Above I show in the top row KHARKOV dated 4 4 18 SUMI KHARKOV  23 4 18 and 29 4 18 and also  KHARKOV 16 5 18. Then in the bottom row there are cancellations of KHARKOV POCHT for 21 5 18, 26 5 18, 27 5 18 and 17 7 18. But I think these stamps (and I have others similar) are probably cancelled to order even though they have no gum. The strikes are too similar.

Can anyone show uses of the 10 rouble in Russia in 1917 - 18?

It seems clear that not all district postal administrations received the 10 rouble. I have never seen copies from Armenia (with or without overprint) or from Georgia, but I have seen a couple of copies from BAKU. Use in  independent Ukraine, with and without overprint is quite common, especially in the Kharkiv and Odesa districts. But they can also be found from Poltava, Kyiv and (as great rarities) Podillia. They are not found for Katerynoslav. 

Postscript 22 October 2012: I can now show an earlier date 1st March 1918 on a stamp used at LOKHVITSA POLTAV[a] G[uberniya]. The image below shows part of a Parcel Card fragment, signed Mikulski. Both the old 7 rouble and the 10 rouble imperforate were still available in Poltava at the end of 1918 and were re-issued with Poltava Trident overprints

Postmaster or Philatelist Provisionals?

The imperforate Russian Imperial Arms stamps issued by the Kerensky [Provisional] government in 1917 were occasionally perforated locally by postmasters, private companies or by philatelists. Unfortunately, you probably need several examples to establish to what category a perforation belongs, though if you have a Money Transfer Form or Parcel Card it is almost certain that you are looking at a Postmaster Perforation. Normally, it's not that easy.

Above is an ordinary letter from ZOLOTONOSHA [ Polatava Gub.] 26 8 17 addressed to Petropavlosk in Akmolisnk Guberniya - there is a weak receiver cancellation on the reverse dated 3 9 17. The 7 kopeck stationery envelope has been uprated with a strip of 3 imperforate 1 kopeck stamps which have been neatly perforated 11.5 [line perf I think]. It is impossible to say who did this in the absence of more examples.

What is perhaps most surprising is that if this perforation was done locally, then someone had a very good perforating machine out in mainly rural and poor Poltava guberniya. Perhaps a printer of Zemstvo stamps had one ...