377th Auction

1778, "ST PETERSBOVRG" clear black straight-line on dated folded letter, fine, signed Mikulski  

1820, "SPBurg" red cyrillic straight-line on small folded letter to Narva, scarce, fine  

1866, Coat of arms 30k. rose/green on horizontally laid paper, block of four, fresh colour, unused one stamp mint never hinged, few minor perf seperations, otherwise fine

1917, 1k. orange block of nine and single tied by cds. "PETROGRAD 1. APR. 17" to reverse of neat typed ordinary letter to Abo with part of red Finnish censor mark on front, the earliest recorded postal use of any 1917 imperforate, fine Provenance: Trevor Pateman Collection

1920 October, Ordinary private letter sent on the TPO "RYAZHSK 61 VYAZMA" to Brussels via Moscow with three triangle censor mark. Franked correctly with a 5 kop imperforate stamp revalued x 100 (Tariff of 30 September 1920). According to Alexander Epstein, very few examples of this 5 rub tariff are known; after the resumption of foreign mail services in June 1920, most letters were sent registered, minor stains, otherwise fine

1910, Coat of arms 1rbl. light-brown/siena/red-orange, complete sheet with heavily shifted and slanting center and numeral, mint never hinged, diagonal crease affecting 7 stamps, otherwise a fine and attractive item

1910, Coat of arms 1rbl. light-brown/siena/red-orange, complete sheet with heavily shifted and slanting center and numeral, mint never hinged, upper right empty space faults, crease in margin only, otherwise a fine and attractive item

1921 May, Private Esperanto correspondence, ordinary postcard sent from OMSK 24 5 21 to Bamberg with weak Three Triangle Censor on the reverse. This card is correctly charged at 2 roubles in accord with the RSFSR Foreign tariff of 30 September 1920, which abolished the Free Post for ordinary mail sent abroad. The Kerensky card is used as a Blank in accordance with the invalidation of 1 January 1919. A German Postage Due mark PORTO KONTROLLE has been applied and "80" inserted manually and repeated in blue on the card. However, the card is correctly franked and both the cachet and the "80" in blue have been crossed through with red crayon. Alexander Epstein records only a few known examples of the 2 rouble postcard rate, most mail abroad in 1920 - 21 was sent registered  

1918, Postal saving stamps 50k. - 100r. with additional franking tied by cds. "ODESSA 14 3 23" to front and reverse of cover to Dessau with arrival mark, some stamps tears, creases etc., but a scarce and attractive entire  

1918, Postal saving stamps 100r. in combination with two fiscal stamps 40r. tied by cds. "TASHKENT 27 9 21" to registered cover to Petrograd, scarce, fine

December 1920, Revaluations x 100, registered cover from KROLEVETS with Moscow receiver, franked four Kyiv Il Tridents on Imperial stamps, revalued x 100 to give the correct 10 rubel RSFSR tariff , unusual late Soviet use of Trident stamps  

1921, Liberation of labour 250r. violet, two vertical strips of four tied by cds. "ДЖАЛЯЛЬ-АБАДЪ 28 11 21" (DSCHALAL-ABAD) to complete money transfer form, in addition 1000r. tied by mute cancel to money transfer from Petrograd, some minor wear and small tears, scarce Provenance: Lipschutz (Harmers Auctions SA, 1994)

1922, Child support 2-10k tied by special first day cds. "MOSCOW 19-VIII-1922" to special envelope, in addition specially overprinted postal stationery card, unused, fine

1922, Child support 2-10k tied by special first day cds. "MOSCOW 19-VIII-1922" to special registered local envelope, fine, scarce Provenance: Lipschutz (Harmers Auctions SA, 1994)

1922, Airmail 45r. block of seven from the upper right sheet corner with additional franking tied by cds. "MOSCOW 23 11 22" to reverse of correctly franked registered cover, intended to be sent by airmail but due to winter break transported by railway to Wiesbaden, vertical fold, not affecting stamps, a very fine and rare cover, certificate Ebnet BPP (1992)

ST. PETERSBURG: 1889. Issue for Women 1r. 8k. blue, 2nd class, used, small thin otherwise a very fine and clean copy with well above average perforations

USED ABROAD: "STARAYA BUKHARA a 23.10.12" on 1908/18, 1 k. and 3 k. (3) on reverse of commercial cover to Peshawar, India

1842, small envelope with contents (long letter in Greek), addressed in French to Kicheneff [Kishinev], on reverse Cyrillic double ring KONSTANTINOPOL in red, fine

1851, cyrillic cds. "KONSTANTINOPEL 1851 MAY 14" on reverse of long entire letter written in Italian, sent from Constantinople to Odessa showing many disinfection slits, scarce, fine

SOLOTONOSCHA: 1890, 2k. black/green/yellow, block of 19 with eight "tête-bêche" pairs, mostly mint never hinged, few stamps minor thins, the left block of four showing dry seal with coat of arms and wording "Дитятковскаго товарищества № 4.", very attractive and most likely unique, fine (Schmidt.-Nr. 4)

URSHUM: 1901, 2k. rose, perforated 11½, used, small thin, otherwise fine, scarce

KHARKOV: 10rbl. as horizontal pair and 7rbl yellow/black, both with Kharkov type 2 overprint, the latter with inverted overprint, used at "KABANE KHARK", some imperfections, scarce Provenance: ex Schmidt collection (who worked in Kharkiv as an engineer in the 1930s)

1918, 1k. orange and 2k. green imperforated, two blocks of 25 (Kyiv  type II a- e) resp. strip of five (Kyiv type III), all revalued 100 times in accordance with RSFSR regulations, and yielding a franking of 60 roubles (2% of the sum transferred), tied by cds. "POLEVAYAR POCHTOVAN KONTORA No. 69 19 9 20" to front and reverse of money transfer form used to send 3000 roubles via "SAMARA 22 9 20" to Shlamkkha Samar with arrival cds. Payment appears to have been made on 21st October (see Mss. slip attached to reverse), heavy transportation wear and creases, a very attractive and rare entire

1918, 3k. red, Kyiv type II, as five-sixths "bisect", together with revalued Russia Imperial Arms 5k.(3) and 20k. vertical strip of four tied by cds. "MONASTIRISHE KIEV 21 1 21" to Ukrainian National Republic Parcel Card, used in the Soviet period with "Red Army" endorsement in Mss. at top, used to send 39 Funt  to the village of Archangelskoe with arrival cds. "BORSHEVO VORON[ezh] 11 3 21". Franked at 97 roubles 50 kopecks, exactly in accord with the charges set out on the card, few folds not detracting, very attractive, rare and unsual item with sexisected stamp

RUSSIA/PRUSSIA-DUTCH INDIES, 1865, Cover with Bialystok return address, posted at the border city of Eydtkuhnen and sent via Trieste and Singapore to Muntok on the island of Bangka, prepaid with 5 copies 1861, 3 silbergroschen brown and on reverse 1 silbergroschen rose and 6 pfennige orange (the later ones cancelled by pen crosses), paying 3 silbergroschen internal postage of the German Postal Union and 13½ silbergroschen foreign postage until Singapore. At Alexandria franked for the British postage beyond Alexandria with horizontal strip of 3 and single 3 d. rose, tied by "B01"; in the Dutch Indies taxed with "25" cents for the conveyance beyond Singapore. The letter was re-directed and  finally returned due to the death of the recipient ("overleden/dead"). On reverse several transit marks and Trieste tax mark "15/52". 4 Stamps of the franking with mostly unobtrusive faults, the envelope small part at top missing, still fine and attractive, especially for this enormous journey. A spectacular and very interesting letter; one of the few recorded with such Alexandria-franking of small values. Certificate Brettl BPP (2001) Provenance: Collection 'Pour le Merit' (132. Corinphila-auction, 2001) 1865, Briefkuvert mit gedruckter Absenderangabe aus Bialystok, Russland, aufgegeben im Grenzort Eydtkuhnen, frankiert mit 1861, Wappen 3 Silbergroschen ockerbraun (5), 1 Silbergroschen rosa und 6 Pfennige orange (letztere rückseitig geklebt mit Blaustiftentwertung) als portogerechte Frankatur nach Muntok auf der Insel Bangka in Niederländisch Indien, transportiert über Triest, Alexandria und Singapur. In Alexandria frankiert mit 3er-Streifen und Einzelmarke GB 3 Pence rosa, entwertet durch "B01". Das Porto setzt sich zusammen aus 3 Silbergroschen Postvereinsporto und 13½ Silbergroschen Weiterfranko; in Niederländisch Indien wurden weitere "25" Cents für den Transport ab Singapur taxiert. Der Brief wurde innerhalb Niederländisch Indiens nachgesandt und aufgrund des Todes des Empfängers retourniert. Das Kuvert oben gering fehlerhaft, 4 Werte der Frankatur mit meist unauffälligen Fehlern, jedoch insgesamt für diese Wegstrecke in guter Erhaltung. Ein außerordentlich seltener und attraktiver Brief; es sind nur wenige Briefe frankiert mit 4 Stück 3 Pence von Alexandria bekannt. Fotoattest Brettl BPP (2001)

RUSSIA-IONIAN ISLANDS, 1845, Unpaid entire letter from Odessa to Cefalonia with frontside transit mark of Corfu and arrival mark on reverse; charged with a total of "1/3" (shilling/pence) to be paid by the recipient