Russia #1

Unlike the Penny Black, the first stamp of Russia is not common. It was too rapidly superseded by Russia #2 and Russia #5 - #5 is so common that though it is catalogued in Michel at 25 euros, I sell it for 10% of that unless there is a nice postmark.

Russia #1 is catalogued in Michel at 500 euro with pen cancel, 750 with combined pen and proper postal "Stempel" cancellation, and 1000 euro with "Stempel" alone.

For pen cancelled copies with minor faults it's worth paying 100 euro. If they have been in old collections, a gentle wash may well improve them unless the pen cancel dissolves (which is unlikely).

As a specialist Russian area dealer, I am more or less obliged to keep Russia #1 in stock. At present I have three copies, shown above. On the left, a copy which has four margins and part of a BERDIANSK cancellation (not so uncommon - Berdiansk was a busy commercial centre at this time). But from the back you can see a small amount of damage caused by old hinges and their removal. I have got 290 euro on this stamp and would no doubt settle for 250-260.

In the middle, a copy with four uneven margins - on the left, part of the adjoining stamp has been cut into. So though the margins are uneven, this left margin shows you how wide the spacing between stamps actually was, making it of more interest. As well as the cancellation reading "1858" there is also the left hand end of a company's oval cachet - these are quite often seen on stamps at this period. On the downside, the right margin curves dangerously close to the design. On this stamp, I have got 365 euro and would not want to drop below 350 - this stamp has two interesting "additional" features.

Finally, on the right, is the pièce de résistance: a stamp with four neat margins, brilliant colours, set off on the blue background of a fragment with a complete BERDICHEV cancel. This stamp has a Mikulski certificate which praises the item as "aussergewöhnlich schon ... sehr guter Prägung, sauber "Adler"-frei gestempelt - extraordinarily beautiful ... very good embossing ... neatly cancelled clear of the Arms.

On this item, I have put 980 euro - 98% Michel - and I might let it go for 900. But I would be sorry not to have it in stock just to show people.

Added 12 June 2015: All these stamps have been sold

"Na Parokhod" - By Steamship

This is a fairly ordinary Russian pre-philatelic entire letter, written (in Dutch or Flemish) in St Petersburg on 23 July 1829. It arrived in St Nicolas, Vlandern (Flanders) on 21 August, having passed through Berlin on the 15th August - see the transit cancellation.

What is interesting is the annotation top left of the front, "Na parokhod" - By Steamship. I wonder if this is an early date for such an annotation, which I have not noticed on other pre-philatelic letters of this period. Does anyone know?

Russia: Romanov Tercentenary stamps 1913

Looking at this unusual fragment, I was reminded that next year 2013 sees the 100th anniversary of the issue of Russia's Romanov Tercentary stamps - and, of course, would have been the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

I am sure there will be lots of Romanov items on offer in auctions around the world and maybe some really nice stamp collections among them.

Lots of interesting collections can be formed from Romanov stamps and postal stationeries. The larger format of the stamps means that they are good for postmark collections. The stationeries are not all easy to find, especially in used condition, so that is a challenge for those who seek one.

The stamps continued in use after the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 and interesting collections of "late use" material can be made. Some of it is philatelic but probably most is not. The Soviets invalidated Romanov stamps from 10 March 1920 [That is the date I have - is it correct?] but even after that date there are occasional examples of post offices using Romanovs on Money Transfers and Parcel Cards - I discuss an example on my Blog of 10 February 2011.

The fragment at the top is unusual. Part of a Money Transfer Form, it shows two 3 rouble Romanovs used in combination with First General Issue of Ukraine 40 Sh and three Imperial Arms stamps with Kyiv I Trident overprints. The cancellation reads IZYASLAVL VOL 12 10 18, so over a month into the Trident period.[ I think the place in question is also known as IZYASLAV ].

Armenia 1922 Second Yessayan stamps: a short guide

This set of eight values, each value printed in either red (rose) or slate (grey) was prepared in Constantinople by the (Y)essayan printing works. There are three Yessayan printings and one Forgery of the series:

1. ORIGINAL Printing. Yessayan printed each value on a separate sheet (i.e., normally). As far as I know, no complete sheets now exist and the largest multiples are probably no larger than twenty or thirty stamps. Three values were not issued at all, and the other five values were only issued with surcharges. The values which were not surcharged are scarce and the issued values are rare without surcharge. There is some colour variation in this Original printing and for the grey stamps, there are two distinct papers - though it seems that only some values can be found with both papers. All the stamps were gummed and the gumming is the same as that found on First Yessayan stamps: done with a machine and with a clear gum stop at the sheet edges.

2. FIRST Reprint. Yessayan prepared these for the stamp trade. None were sent to Yerevan and none can exist with genuine surcharges: a surcharge on a Reprint is ALWAYS a forgery.

To economise on lithographic plates, Yessayan RESET the eight values onto just two plates of unequal size. These two plates yield 147 stamps in total providing stamp dealers with 18 sets and 3 spare stamps .... Most sheets were cut up for the packet trade and se-tenant multiples are rarely seen. The paper is always white. About half the sheets were not gummed, and the other half are with white gum which has a different appearance to that used on the Originals.

A pair of First Reprint sheets are in the April 2012 Corinphila auction (Lot 1764). They are from me.

3. SECOND Reprint.. Again to supply the stamp trade, Yessayan made a Second Reprint (probably a couple of years after the First)and this time used just one plate for all values. There are 74 stamps on this plate, yielding 9 sets and 2 spare stamps ... Most of the sheets were cut up for the packet trade and se-tenant multiples are rarely seen. None were sent to Yerevan and a surcharge on a Second reprint stamp is ALWAYS a forgery.

This second reset plate shows the stamps with worn impressions - there are more white areas. The colour of the stamps looks pale in comparison to the First reprint but actually the colours are very similar - it is just the extra white areas which make the stamps look pale.The paper is again white. It seems that most of the sheets were gummed. The gum is yellowish and gives the paper a yellowish appearance.

4. The Forgery. There appears to be only one Forgery type. The designs are crude, the paper grey, and the gum thick and yellow. The Forgeries copy the Reprints: the different values are printed se-tenant, but I do not know if one or two plates were used.Examples can be found with the gum washed off and from these copies you can see that the paper is normally grey and coarse. For some reason, red Forgeries appear to be scarcer than grey forgeries.

The consequence of this printing history is that a complete collection of this issue WITHOUT SURCHARGES - excluding shade, paper and gum varieties and se-tenant groups comprises 16 Originals, 16 First Reprints, 16 Second Reprints, 16 Forgeries ...

The listing of surcharged stamps in the Michel catalogue is good, but the pricing of the unsurcharged stamps is not sensible.

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(Note: the used copy of the red stamp about has a Georgian arrival cancellation at top)

From the Archives to the Philatelists ...

In the 1920s, Money Transfer Forms and Parcel Cards from the 1917 - 21 Soviet archives were passed to the Soviet Philatelic Association and maybe other organisations. There they were used like corpses for organ donation.

First, stamps were peeled or steamed from the back of the Formulars, as in the example shown above. This provided an initial supply of used stamps for philatelists who wanted used stamps. In the case of the example illustrated, the process turned a very attractive piece of postal history into damaged goods.

Then the fronts of the Formulars were raided - stamps were clipped from them, individually, even if they were part of a block or strip. In the example below, the Formular has been clipped to provide just one copy of a 1 kopeck imperforate. The stamp had been placed to cover up the Imperial Arms at top left and completed the franking of 124 roubles (6200 roubles transferred x 2% = 124 roubles, provided by (4 x 30r Blagoveschensk issue) + (4 x 1 kop x revalued 100) = 124 roubles.



Alternatively, all the stamps were soaked off, sometimes causing water damage - this is very obvious on 10 rouble Denikins, the red ink of which is partly water soluble.

Eventually, the remainders of the corpse with a few stamps adhering - or sometimes none at all - were sold off.

I would like to know more about this history. Many thousands of Formulars must have been treated in this way. Very few now remain intact. I think that most went through Soviet hands, but it is possible that some Ukrainian Formulars (for example, those of Podillia) were taken into exile by National Republic officials.

I would be grateful for more information on who did what, when and for whom!

Corinphila Auction April 2012

The catalogue for the Corinphila auction in April 2012 is now on-line. You can see it at

www.corinphila.ch

and in more searchable form at

www.philasearch.com

However, you may find different illustrations on the two sites.

I draw your attention because I have a lot of my Stock for sale in this auction :)

If you have been reading this Blog, you can probably recognise what is from me. Mostly it is Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, West Ukraine with some Poland and Romania too. Of course, not everything in those sections of the catalogue is from me!

Postal History for Beginners :)

I was one of those boys who took the stamps off old postcards. My aunt had quite a collection and, rather reluctantly, she let me peel off the stamps. So I got damaged stamps and she was left with damaged postcards.

It's called, Not being able to see the wood for the trees. I know better now, but it took a long time.

Postal history should always be placed in the biggest context possible:

Who sent What to Whom? From Where, When and Why?

How much did it cost and how was the cost shown (the Franking)? By what Route did the item travel and how long did it take (Receiver cancellation - Despatch cancellation = Transit time)?

How was it handled en route? Did censors open it? Was it delayed by conflict?

Was it a typical item? Was everyone doing it? Was it specific to a particular time and place?

Some times the answers to these questions are obvious and sometimes they require a lot of research.

Today I was looking at Dr Raymond Casey's collection of Russian Post in China and Mongolia, as illustrated in two fine books The Russian Post in the Chinese Empire (David Feldman) and in the catalogue for the forthcoming sale of that collection (also David Feldman). This is how postal history should be done. Dr Casey pays attention both to the traditional philatelic matters - stamps, cancellations, tariffs - but also to the wider contexct of this mail. And what he has done can be done for items costing a dollar, not just for those costing thousands.