364 / März 2017

1857, 10k. brown/blue, fresh colour and good margins all around, used, fine, signed Eisold BPP a.o.

1858, 20k. blue/orange-yellow on thick paper, fresh colour and very well centered, used with clear dotted numeral "9" TAUROGGEN, very fine, certificate Mikulski

1858, 20k. blue/orange-yellow on thin paper, fresh colour and very well centered, used with clear dotted numeral "69", very fine, certificate Wassmann

1858, 30k. red/green on thin paper, fresh colour, used with clear cds. "20 APR. 1868", fine, signed Eisold BPP and certificate Wassmann

Without watermark: 10 k. siena/light blue with one-line "Treppenhof." and handwritten date "d. 27.4.63" on folded letter to Riga, a tear on the front has been stabilzed with hinges, otherwise in good condition, very attractive and to our knowledge the only cover with this cancellation!

1866, 20 k. blue and orange and 5 k. black and greyblue on verticaly laid paper and 3 k. black and green on horizontal laid paper, tied by cds. "ST.PETERSBURG 17.MAR.1872" to folded cover with red boxed "P.D." and German transit mark to Lyon with arrival mark, fine

1866, 20k. blue/orange on vertically laid paper tied by clear cds. "ODESSA 5 MAR. 1872" to folded cover to London, very fine, certificate Mikulski

1875, Coat of arms 7k. as vertical pair and single tied by cds. "MOZHAYSKY 23 MAI 1882" to reverse of registered double weight cover to Moscow, fine

1884, 1 k. orange (16), 2 k. green (15) and 19 other stamps (3 k. till 50 k.), all tied by cds. "MYKOLAJIV 16.7.89" to very large registered cover to Stadthagen, Germany, few stamps and cover with faults, unusal franking with 50 stamps

1884, Coat of arms 3,50-7 rbl., used with Moscow resp Riga cds., fine, signed Diena with certificate

1884, Coat of arms 3,50-7 rbl., used with usual smuged cancel, 3,50 rbl. three perfs backed, otherwise fine, signed Ebnet BPP

10 k. and 1 r. on parcelcard from "WARSCHAWA 23.3.08" to Jaffa, Palestine wth arrival mark of Russian PO, folded  

4 k., 20 k. and 70 k. used on parcel card with declared value from "ST. PETERSBURG 11.3.10" to Jaffa, Palestine with arrival mark of Russian PO, folded  

1889, Coat of arms 7k. imperforated horizontal pair on vertically laid paper with heavily shifted background tied by cds. "RIGA 27 VII" to piece, fine

1906, Coat of Arms 5r., line perforated 11½, two used singles, plus normal 5 and 10r. stamps, one signed Eisold BPP

1910, Coat of arms 10rbl. imperforated as block of 8 with two empty fields with double V in between, folded between 3rd and 4th row, two lower stamps unused, otherwise mint never hinged, fine

1914, War aid 1-10k. imperforated, tied by cds. "PETROGRAD -6.9.16" to two pieces, very fine, a very rare set of which only 1000 where printed, signed Eichenthal and Eisold BPP and certificate Hovest BPP

1914, War aid 1-10k. each as imperforated horizontal pair with sheet margin, tied by cds. "PETROGRAD -6.9.16" to pieces, very fine, a very rare set, especially in multiples, of which only 1000 where printed, cerficate Hovest BPP

1915, War aid 1-10k. imperforated with sheet margin, 10k. showing part of plate number "1" at bottom, unused, 7k. mint never hinged, a very rare set of which only 500 where printed, certificate Hovest BPP

1915, War aid 1-10k. imperforated, used with cds. of Petrograd, a very rare set of which only 500 where printed, signed Eisold BPP a.o. and certificate Wassmann BPP

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT   March – October 1917 [ Old Style ] 18 March. Insured parcel card sent from Moscow to Helsingfors, franked with 9 x 20 / 14 kop Romanov issue and a single 10 / 7 kop Imperial Arms stamp. Interesting censor markings, front and back. The 1913 Romanov Tercentenary Issue was not officially invalidated until March 1920 but use after the Abdication of Nicholas II at the beginning of March 1917 rapidly diminishes.  

March & June. Two examples of the 5 kopek reduced Tariff available for letters addressed to soldiers at the front. Both covers headed “To the Active Army” followed by a full military address, one from Estland guberniya in March, the other from Samara in June. The normal Tariff would have been 10 kop. This reduced rate is rarely seen  

3 September. Official formular card used to send a Resolution from the Executive Committee of Piteevsk Volost, Solikamsk, Perm. Addressed to Alexander Kerensky, Chairman of the Provisional Government. The Volost denounces the activities of General Kornilov and calls on Kerensky to add only Socialists to the Provisional Government. Received in Petrograd    12 9 17 by the Office for Government Correspondence. Historically interesting document

24 October. Last day of the Provisional Government – the Bolshevik seizure of power in Petrograd began during the night of 24 – 25 October. Money letter for 500 roubles sent from Petrograd 2nd Exspeditsia to Stockholm, received there 13 November [New Style]. The franking includes the 1 rouble imperforate, only recently released in Petrograd – perhaps as late as the beginning of October

Accumulation of over 120 items of Inland mail from the period of the Provisional Government with Registered, Railway and Court mail and examples of local and concessionary tariffs. Typewritten English translations of some of the postcards provided, but otherwise not studied and a good basis for a specialised collection

BOLSHEVIK RUSSIA October 1917 – December 1921 Inland Mail until the end of 1918 Tariff of 15 September 1917 Four items from the Bolshevik period with single frankings on the front illustrating the basic rates for ordinary and registered cards and letters, the registered card from Moscow scarce and with interesting text about the political situation  

Tariff of 28 February 1918 [New Style] Five items with frankings on the front illustrating the basic rates of ordinary and registered cards and letters with two examples of the ordinary postcard rate. Filing damage to the Registered postcard which uses eleven adhesives to uprate a stationery card to the scarce 90 kop rate  

March – August 1918 Group 15 postcards all correctly franked at 20 kop but each one achieving the result by a different combination of adhesives, remarkable group illustrating how stamps in the post offices did not reflect needs created by Tariff changes  

April 1918 Kerensky 5 kop card uprated to the RSFSR 20 kop postcard rate sent from KHABAROVSK 4 4 18 addressed to Shanghai with Russian Shanghai censor mark in red and fine strike of SHANGHAI LOCAL POST plus other marks. Written in English and sent at a date when Khabarovsk was under the control of a Soviet headed by Alexander Krasnoshchyokov

Tariff of 15 September 1918 This Tariff applied until the end of 1918 but examples are very scarce, reflecting the impact of worsening Civil War conditions including the effects of cold, hunger and disease. Lot of three items with frankings on the front illustrates the ordinary postcard rate and the ordinary and Registered letter rates

November 1918 Electricity bill sent within Petrograd and franked at a concessionary Tariff of 5 kopeks. Rare

December 1918 Ordinary letter from PETROGRAD 24 12 18 sent to Selo Buiskii Zavod in Viatka, with local receiver cancellation, correctly franked at 25 kop. Violet boxed KONTROLL cachet on front. Interesting item ex Robert Taylor collection  

Mail with Germany and German Occupied Russia until its suspension at the end of 1918 Armistice Mail The Bolsheviks concluded an Armistice with Germany before the end of 1917 and it held until Germany launched Operation Faustschlag in February 1918. The Armistice provided for the exchange of cards and unsealed letters at designated points on the front line. Very little is known about such Armistice mail January 1918 Postgebiet Ob Ost 7 ½ Pf stationery card, outward half of a reply Paid card, sent from RIGA 2 1 18 [New Style], passed through the Russian Field Post on 29 12 17 [Old Style] and received in VLADIVOSTOK  in January 1918 (day unclear). An exceptional and very rare example of Armistice mail with appropriate despatch, transit and arrival marks  

January – February 1918 Two ordinary letters addressed to the mail exchange point on the German-Russian front line at Zastava Libeka on the Riga - Walk highway. Both in the same handwriting but one sent from RIGA 23 1 18 with German Ob Ost  20 Pf franking, the other from MOSKVA 14 2 18 [First day of the New Style calendar] with 15 kop franking but returned because written in Cyrillic rather than Latin script. It is unclear how to interpret these rare items other than to say that they relate to the exchange of mail authorised by the Armistice. Collector’s detailed notes included

Brest – Litovsk Treaty Mail The March 1918 Treaty with Soviet Russia provided for the resumption of mail services between Russia and Austria, Germany and Occupied areas of Russia, Ukraine and South Russia. The Foreign Tariff of 12 March 1918 was applied and caused some confusion because the Foreign rates were lower than the Domestic rates in force. June 1918 Registered cover from Moscow to German-occupied Lodz, correctly franked at 60 kop. Mocow and German censor marks on front. Re-addressed with paper slip to Sieradz with LODZ 18 6 18 and SIERADZ 21 6 18 receiver marks on reverse. Mail sent under the Treaty does not appear to start before May or June

July 1918 Registered cover from Nizhni-Novgorod to German-occupied Zyrardow with Moscow and German censor marks on front, correctly franked at 60 kop on reverse with ZYRARDOW 11 8 18 receiver mark