Postage stamps and philately of Russia and related areas

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Saint Petersburg local make-up postage stamps

Saint Petersburg local make-up postage stamps Upgrading a stamp catalog is always a double-edged experience where you win some, lose some. When I upgraded to more recent edition of Michel East Europe catalog, I was very pleased to see that Michel now lists Russian St. Petersburg and Leningrad local stamps of 1992. These were previously listed only with Stanley Gibbons Russia catalog, and as such a lot of collectors (yours truly included) didn't know what these are, and as such they were often falsely classified or thrown away as bogus stamps. ...(555 words,2 images, 1 comments)

Soviet 50th anniv. of October revolution EFO

Soviet 50th anniv. of October revolution EFO Below is an interesting Soviet EFO (error-freak-oddity) that I believe is a result of poor quality control during sheet cutting. These two minisheets are of identical size, and the only real difference between the sheets is the shifted location of background (which leads to different inscription visible) and the location of stamp itself. ...(224 words,1 images, 4 comments)

Artifacts of war - when philately / stamp collecting and military history collide

Artifacts of war - when philately / stamp collecting and military history collide I love when stamp production and historical events bind together, because it usually provides interesting stories for us later generations to research and study. Such is the case with three stamps below: Ukranian UPP overprints of 1920s, the Spanish 1936 Granada issue, and imperforate Dutch Queen Wilhelmina stamps of 1940s (aka. type Konijnenburg). What's common for all these items is that they are artifacts of war-time conditions, and they all have fallen from philatelic grace because general stamp catalogs provide very little if any recognition to them. Yet, all these items have got interesting historical stories to unveil. ...(999 words,5 images, 4 comments)

A Quick Review of Michel Russia Specialized stamp catalog

A Quick Review of Michel Russia Specialized stamp catalog During my latest business trip to Helsinki, capital of Finland, I had a day off between the meetings, so I headed to local library. Though most of the philatelic books were something I've got copies on my bookshelf, there was one particular item that I had never seen, namely Michel's specialized Russia catalog Michel Rußland /Russland Spezial. So here's a quick look / review of the catalog. ...(336 words,1 images, 6 comments)

Microprinting varieties on Ukrainian definitive postage stamps

Microprinting varieties on Ukrainian definitive postage stamps If I had to pick and choose one modern specialty area to research and study, then I would likely go with modern Ukrainian definitive stamps. They are beautiful, cheap, plenty (but at the same oh so elusive), and above all loaded with microprinting differences. This article tries to provide a somewhat detailed overview on the topic. ...(924 words,5 images, 0 comments)

A modern Soviet stamp forgery

A modern Soviet stamp forgery I was working with my Russian and Soviet collections last weekend, and upon sorting through a small accumulation of postally used Soviet definitives, I came upon a specimen which appeared a bit odd. Upon closer inspection, I found out that just about everything on this specimen was wrong. ...(332 words,4 images, 7 comments)

Some unissued Russian Civil war era postage stamps from Armenia

Some unissued Russian Civil war era postage stamps from Armenia I had an unexpectedly busy weekend due to an work related crisis, and thus had to push down my 'stamping plans' considerably. So instead of digging into big pile of Nepalese stamps that's been waiting my soak tray for several weeks, I started sorting a notably smaller lot of miscellaneous Europe. And there I found a couple of Armenian stamps from the Russian civil war era worth sharing. ...(466 words,2 images, 8 comments)

Soviet Court Fee stamps and an early Russian revenue

Soviet Court Fee stamps and an early Russian revenue One of the most peculiar items I received from last years stamp exchanges was a set of three Soviet stamps. At the time neither I or the sender (Holger from Germany) did not know what they were, but Holger had a clue they might be court fee stamps. I finally had the time to sit down and look for these at various catalogs, and there they were at Barefoot revenue catalog for Russia. Indeed, these are court fee stamps from the early years of Soviet Union. ...(162 words,2 images, 8 comments)

Some intriguing Soviet postage stamps

Some intriguing Soviet postage stamps For the past few nights I've been working with my collection of Russian and Soviet stamps. Mainly I've been moving the collection to a pair of larger sized stock books, but I've also added some new stamps. Anyway, this brings me up to few questions some more knowledgeable collectors of this area might know an answer. ...(217 words,3 images, 14 comments)

Q&A: stamps of Russia and areas

Q&A: stamps of Russia and areas Do you have question about stamps of Russia and related areas? Your questions answered. ...( 64 comments).