RSFSR Tariffs 1922 - 23: Examples from Belarus

At any one time, you will probably find me with a group of RSFSR covers which are waiting to have their Tariff period identified and their franking checked against it. Sometimes it's a slow job. Maybe it was a slow job for the postal clerks too.

Here are two ordinary letters sent from GOMEL P.T.K, the first sent to New York on 16 June 1922 and the second to Paris on 24 July 1922. Both were routed through Petrograd and picked up Three Triangle censor marks there. The Paris letter has a receiver cancel.

The first cover has been carefully sealed with five stamps - I guess the idea was to make the Censor notice the cover, which he or she did - the envelope has been opened and re-sealed through the middle of the back flap and then opened at the top by the recipient. Anyway, this cover is correctly franked. The Tariff of 4 June 1922 applies and it specified a charge of 200 000 roubles for an ordinary letter going abroad. The franking makes that total as follows: 2 x 4 kopeck stamps already revalued to 4 roubles each now further revalued to 40 000 roubles each + 10 kopeck revalued on the same basis to 100 000 + 1 rouble revalued to 10 000 roubles + Charity stamp [ I am assuming] revalued from 100 rouble franking contribution to 10 000 = 200 000 roubles. 

The Tariff of 1 July 1922 applies to the second cover and specifies a charge of 450 000 roubles for an ordinary letter going abroad.  The home made envelope may also be franked to attract the Censor - the franking could have been simpler. What we have is this: 4 x 10 kopecks previously revalued to 10 roubles now revalued to 100 000 roubles each + 2 x 1 rouble revalued to 10 000 roubles each + 4 x 7500 rouble surcharges used at face = 450 000 roubles.

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The next cover is not such a mathematical challenge but it does illustrate an uncommon Tariff. This is a Registered cover sent locally within Minsk with a MINSK GUB 15 1 23 cancellation. The letter is addressed to the People's Commisariat of Finance - "NARKOMFIN" in the first line of the address and again on the violet registry cachet. All the five stamps are used at face value and add up to 150 roubles of which 50 roubles is for the reduced tariff for sending a LOCAL letter and 100 roubles is the standard registration fee.

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How much are these covers worth? They are for sale at 50 €uro each, net.

A Postmaster Provisional in a Dealer's Box!

Some of my readers will know that at stamp shows I often have boxes where every item is priced the same (Einfachpreis, Prix Unique). It cuts down my work in preparing material for sale and it makes the mental arithmetic of selling easy.

Today, I was tidying and counting items in my 5€ boxes when I came across the above Money Transfer fragment. It's probably been in my boxes for a very long time: who would want this at 5€? But it reminded me of something I had seen recently....

Lot 3477 in the current Cherrystone sale is a complete Money Transfer Form sent from the same office in the same handwriting to the same destination on the same day and for the same amount (20 000 roubles). The Cherrystone item is numbered 36 (bottom left); mine is numbered 33.

The Cherrystone item is franked two 5 kopeck perforated stamps with the 1921 Minsk Postmaster Provisional Control overprint, which revalues them to 250 roubles each (Michel 3a, catalogued at 120€ each).

I looked at my fragment. Sure enough the 5 kopeck stamp has the Control overprint, top right of the stamp. I had missed it, probably seeing just a smudged cancellation. The top half of the MTF which has been cut off almost certainly had another copy of this 5 kopeck stamp.

One day, I will find it ....

The moral of this story? It pays to look through Dealers' Boxes, even your own!