364 / März 2017

July 1918 Superb group of three picture postcards from YAROSLAVL to German-occupied Riga complying with the postal requirements for bi-lingual addressing and with the Foreign Tariff of 12 March 1918 which set the postcard rate at 12 kop (against the Inland rate of 20 kop). Dual censorship in Moscow and Riga ( R in circle) on each item. Postcards are less common than letters and are often wrongly franked at the Inland tariff

August 1918 Registered cover from Moscow to German-occupied Reval with Moscow and German censor marks on front, correctly franked at 60 kop  

July – September 1918 Six Registered covers to Germany, from Petrograd, Moscow and Vladimir, all at the correct 60 kop. rate, five with frankings on reverse, both private and commercial mail. Useful group to show the general character of Treaty mail

October 1918 German-occupied Minsk to Moscow, ordinary commercial letter with Warsaw and Moscow censors on front and 20 Pf Germania on reverse together with 60 Pf control stamp of the 10th Army both with Imperial Russian KOIDANOVO MINSK cancels further tied by Moscow machine cancel , very fine non-philatelic use on mail enabled by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk  

September 1918 Registered cover from Moscow to German-occupied Riga, with Moscow and Riga censor marks and Petrograd paper seal, correctly franked on the reverse at 60 kop. with RIGA 10 10 18 arrival mark  

October 1918 Ordinary and Registered covers from Petrograd to Germany, correctly franked at 30 kop and 60 kop. Franking and dual censorship on front, the boxed German censorship applied in Kȏnigsberg

November 1918 Mail abroad from Russia stops before the formal suspension on 1 January 1919. This Registered  commercial cover has one of the latest dates recorded for foreign mail in 1918, starting from PETROGRAD 11 11 18 – day of the Armistice between Germany and the Allied Powers – and arriving HAMBURG 23 11 18. Normal dual censorship, anomalously franked on reverse at 70 kop instead of 60 kop for no obvious reason, the two additional 5 kop stamps left uncancelled but tied by a censor mark

Other Foreign Mail until its suspension at the end of 1918 Mail to Belgium September 1917 Registered letter from a factory in Yuzovka addressed to a Lieutenant of the Belgian Army force in Russia, censored in Moscow with Moscow transit on reverse and presumably forwarded from there

Mail to Canada February 1918 Registered stamp dealer correspondence, with contents, from SARATOV 21 2 18 to Canada with Russian and Canadian censorship and HALIFAX AU 12 18 arrival mark. Correctly franked at 40 kop, Tariff of 1 September 1917. A scarce destination

Mail to China November 1917, two covers from SPASKOE PRIM to Shanghai with censor and receiver marks, one franked at 15 kop and the other approximately franked at 16 kop both to the same addressee, scarce items  

Mail to Denmark Two covers from Ekaterinoslav to Copenhagen, both correctly franked at 40 kop. The first sent on 20 10 17 routed via Odessa with Odessa censor cachet and transit marks and KJØBENHAVN 26 12 17 arrival mark; the second sent from EKATERINOSLAV VOKSAL 5 12 17 routed via Moscow with Moscow censor and KJØBENHAVN 17 1 18 arrival mark  

Mail to Finland 1918 cover to Finland, franked 70 kop and cancelled with a hammer and sickle seal reading in part PETROGR[ad] OBL[ast] UPRAVA.  Mss. markings front and back indicate arrival in Finland in October. Notable for a rare Finnish Censor mark on front used at the border point of Rajajoki after the end of the Finnish Civil War with maybe ten examples recorded

January 1918 Kerensky stationery card addressed tri-lingually to Helsinki uprated to 8 kop, the RSFSR foreign postcard rate at 31 1 18 when this card was cancelled in Odessa. However, the Ukrainian National Republic tariff of 10 kop for a postcard had been introduced on 28 January and so Postage Due of 4 kopeks was raised in Odessa. An unusual example of transition from Soviet to Ukrainian tariffs, with a long message on the back

1917 – 1918 Partly written up collection of mail to Finland with 50 items including Registered mail (covers and cards). The declaration of Finnish independence and the Civil War in Finland complicated postal relations with notable delays to mail. On the Russian side, both domestic and foreign tariffs are applied to mail to Finland seeming to follow no consistent pattern. A good opportunity here for expansion and further research  

Mail to France April 1917 – January 1918 Nine postcards, varied frankings, origins and destinations some with interesting messages  

June –November 1917 Three Registered postcards, two at the 14 kop Tariff from Petrograd to Paris with receiver cachets on reverse; one from Piatigorsk at the later 28 kop Tariff but underfranked by 1 kop, locally censored  

1st November 1917 (first week of Soviet power in Petrograd) card showing the Anichkin Palace sent via diplomatic mail from Petrograd to Paris with violet cachet of the MISSION MILITAIRE FRANÇAISE EN RUSSIE  

Mail from Great Britain January 1918 two ordinary letters sent to Petrograd from Plymouth and Moscow from London. Both opened by British censor and marked with a boxed SERVICE SUSPENDED cachet. One letter optimistically addressed to Prince Alexander Alexandrovich Dolgorukov at the Imperial Yacht Club  

Mail to Great Britain November 1917 ordinary postcard from Essentuki and December 1917 Registered postcard from Kisolovodsk, both to London. Sent by Mrs Amy Cox, a known member of the British community in Russia, to her daughter Ursula, a medical student. Petrograd censors on both cards since at this early post – Revolution date these North Caucasus resorts were not yet “White” areas

Mail to Netherlands May – November 1917 two Registered letters with British paper seal censorship, one from Saratov cancelled 25 10 17 [first day of Soviet power in Petrograd] and two postcards, one routed out of Odessa the other from Moscow again dated 25 10 17, a nice group to a relatively scarce destination (4 items)  

Mail to Persia Four covers to the Imperial Bank in Teheran, one Registered, sent from Moscow and Petrograd during the period of the Provisional Government. In addition, one 1918 cover with contents from Ashkabad via Baku to Teheran  

Mail to Romania Two items: letter from Petrograd sent May 1917 addressed to Iasi and re-directed, Petrograd and Romanian censors. The addressee has the same surname as the tutor to Tsar Nicholas’ children A.M.Gaillard; card from IRKUTSK VOKSAL sent September 1917, arriving in Iasi in November. Both items worthy of further research. Mail to Romania is rarely seen

Mail to Sweden 25 October 1917 [ first day of Soviet power in Petrograd] Registered cover from Kursk correctly franked at 40 kop using an uncommon10 kop stationery envelope, censored in Petrograd, arrival STOCKHOLM 9 12 17 on reverse  

March 1918 Registered cover sent from KAZAN 10 [ or possibly 18] 3 18 at an unclear rate of 1 ruble 20 kop, addressed to the Polish Committee of the Red Cross in Stockholm, opened in Moscow and a large wax seal (intact) applied on reverse and opened again by British censorship, with clear STOCKHOLM 27 8 18 receiver on reverse, nice small item  

Mail to Switzerland 31 October 1917 (first week of Soviet power in Petrograd) commercial card from Petrograd to Geneva, correctly franked at 8 kop, with Petrograd censors  

November 1917 Ordinary card from Stavropol franked at the Inland rate of 5 kop instead of the 8 kop foreign rate, Petrograd censors, Postage Due raised and 10 c Swiss Due stamp applied in LAUSANNE 22 1 18; Also a Registered card from PETRGOGRAD 11 1 18 correctly franked at 28 kop, Petrograd and French censor marks, addressed to Ida Ungern-Sternberg in Bern, adhesion damage on reverse  

March 1918 Ordinary letter from TIENTSIN RUSSKAYAR POCHTA 16 3 18, franked 10 Cents Post Offices in China stamp, Petrograd censors, front and back, Postage Due indicated with cachet and manuscript. An interesting and scarce late example of a Chinese post office still operating under Soviet control. Quite soon, mail would no longer be routed to Petrograd  

Mail to the USA Three Registered commercial covers from Moscow to the same pre-printed address in Philadelphia, correctly franked according to the Foreign Tariffs of 1 February 1917 (20 kop), 1 September 1917 (40 kop) and 10 March 1918 (60 kop). All with Moscow and British censorship and appropriate arrival marks  

March 1918 Registered cover from Moscow to Dallas correctly franked at 60 kop and with dual censorship, all visible on front, notable for the new printed letterhead People’s Bank of the Russian Republic  

April 1918 Letter with long typed contents sent from the American Embassy, at the time re-located to Vologda because of the perceived German threat to Petrograd. In accordance with usual American diplomatic practice, the envelope is franked with Russian adhesives adding up to no recognisable tariff which have been cancelled on arrival in Washington

Mail to Other Destinations November1917 Registered cover Krapivna to Italy at 70 kop; January 1918 card Vladivostok to Japan at 8 kop (correct); May 1918 card Orlov to Spain at 20 kop (the Inland tariff used as often happened instead of the 12 kop foreign rate)  

Franked Inland Mail during the “Free Post” period 1919 – 1921 Tariff of 1st January 1919 The introduction of this RSFSR Tariff was combined with the invalidation of all postal stationeries; but they could be purchased from post offices and used as Blanks. As with all three “Free Post” tariffs, an underlying rate for ordinary cards and letters was specified so that organisations with “Free Frank” privileges for ordinary mail could still claim their concession – for example, sending a Registered letter for 25 kop instead of the combined letter rate  + Registration fee which combined to 50 kop March 1919. Registered letter sent locally within Moscow, “Free Frank” privilege claimed with a violet seal on reverse and therefore franked only for the Registration fee of 25 kop, very scarce

April 1919. Registered letter from Nerekhta, Kostroma to Moscow, “Free Frank” privilege claimed with violet seal on reverse and therefore franked only for the Registraion fee of 25kop, very scarce

April 1919 Registered court correspondence from KASIMOV RYAZ[an] to a People’s Court at St. Divovo on the Ryazan railway with receiver mark, franked at 50 kopeks in accord with the January 1919 Tariff, the franking including a 35 kop Chainbreaker

April 1919 Registered letter, private correspondence, franked on the front at the correct 50 kop rate and sent from Nizhni-Novogorod to Vitegra Olonets with receiver cancel on reverse, very nice example of the rate

May 1919 Registered postcard, private correspondence, sent from Kozlov to Petrograd and correctly franked at 35 kop comprised of 10 kop for the card and 25 kop for Registration. Registered postcards are rare for the first Free Post tariff period and virtually unknown for the later two periods