385th Auction

1858, St Petersburg local postal stationery envelope 5k. blue, size 114:75 mm with indicium struck on the upper right corner, used with framed three-line “CITY POST 1858 JULY 4 / 8 Hours” applied on reverse, extremely fine and rare, signed and certificate Mikulski (1989) 

1866, 1 k. black/yellow on horizontally laid paper, tied by cds. “ST PETERSBURG 30 JULY 1881” to registered postal stationery envelope 20 kopek blue to London used with a further cds. strike, alongside framed “ZAKAZNOE” and red oval “REGISTERED 15 AU 81 LONDON”, correct 21 kopek tariff, back flap missing, still fine and scarce

1889, Imperial Arms 10 kop. blue with additional franking 3 kop. rose carmine, tied by cds. “ST PETERSBURG 24 XII 98” to registered 7 kop. blue advertising postal stationery “Empress Maria” complete lettersheet sent to Berlin, signed inside by Breitfuss (one of the Fathers of Russian Philately) with a fascinating text regarding stamps, very fine and attractive. A delightful item

“ST PETERSBURG CHANCELLERY POST. DIRECTOR 21.DEC.1902", very fine strike on reverse of an uprated British 1 d. postal stationery envelope from “PADDINGTON DE 31 02” to the “Minister of Foreign Affairs to His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias”, very fine, together with superb strike of the earlier type cds. “ST PETERSBURG CHANCELLERY DIRECTOR 15 FEV. 1889” on reverse of large part envelope, also a fair strike of the Special Office postmark of the MInistry of Forein Matters on large franked envelope (faulty), a scarce trio of mail from those special offices

“ST PETERSBURG CHANCELLERY 28 DEC. 1877 *”, lovely strike on reverse of a small envelope from “FUERTH 5 1 (1877), sent unfranked to ”Alexander II Russia St Petersburg", no charge levelled upon receipt due to the royal nature of the recipient, very fine. A very scarce special office postmark, opinion Citerne BPP (2024)

“TABRIZ RUSS(IAN) CONSULATE 20 8 16 *”, two clear strikes tying a 20 kopek Romanov franking on a registered envelope to Iorev Lifland, Russia, departure cds. repeated on front alongside the scarce registered label from the consulate, censor marks and reverse arrival cds., back flap roughly opened as well as transportation traces, still fine and scarce

35 k.- 5 r. complete set tied by cds."OMSK 14 7 20" to overfranked registered envelope to Bogoslovskoe with arrival cds. alongside, one adhesive with corner fault and cover opened on three sides, still fine

1919, Omsk issue 35 k. on 2 k. perforated, vertical pair tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK 21 () 19” to envelope to USA via Japan, alongside framed violet censor handstamp, correct 70 kopek tariff, some wrinkles and minor imperfections, still fine and scarce

Collection Scheper (Corinphila Veilingen 249, lot 43, April 2021)

35 k. on 2 k. perforated, block of three and single with additional Coat of Arms 15 k. block of four, tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK 10 7 20” to reverse of registered envelope to USA, alongside transit and arrival cds., correct 2 roubles tariff, fine

35 k. on 2 k. perforated, together with Coat of Arms 1 r., tied by cds. “IRKUTSK -8 10 19” to registered 5 k. postal stationery card to Vancouver, large violet framed censor handstamp and reverse arrival  “VANCOUVER NO 18 19”, correct 1,40 roubles tariff (40 kopek postcard foreign rate, 1 rouble registration) valid less than two months, negligible imperfections of no importance, fine and very scarce

50 k. on 3 k. imperforate, horizontal pair tied by cds. “OMSK 5- 8 19” repeated alongside to envelope to Norway, censored by the military, reverse arrival cds. “CHRISTIANA 13 X 19”, faint vertical archival fold, very fine and scarce

3 r. on 7 k. together with Coat of Arms 7 r. imperforate, tied by cds. “IRKUTSK 21 12 20” to reverse of registered envelope to Riga with arrival cds. alongside, interesting franking paying the 10 roubles registration Soviet rate during the free post period (as Irkutsk was in Red Army territory), some imperfections and an horizontal crease, but a most unusual cover, signed Dr. Mertens

Collection Scheper (Corinphila Veilingen 249, lot 64, April 2021)

1920, DVR Overprint Second Issue 7 k. on 15 k. as a vertical pair, with Vladivostok Definitives 5 k. (two pairs) and Chita 3 k. (vertical pair) making up the correct 40 kopek tariff, tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK 17 11 22” to reverse of a registered envelope to Kharbin, China, with arrival cds., negligible faults on two 5 kopek, of no importance, still very fine. An attractive three-issues franking

20 k. on 14 k. as single franking tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK RAILWAY STATION 6 4 21” to registered envelope to Japan, reverse arrival cds. “OSAKA JAPAN 16 4 21”, light horizontal crease away from the adhesive, fine, also 10 k. on 3,50 rubles imperforated on envelope from “KHABAROVSK 3- 2 21” to Germany, small corner tear and imperfections, still fine

1921, Vladivostok Definitive Issue 2 k., five singles together with 4 k. horizontal pair, tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK 10 12 21” to reverse of registered envelope to Varna, Bulgaria, transit cds. “YOKOHAMA 14 12 21” and arrival cds., Pappadopulo correspondence, negligible soiling on front, fine and unusual destination

5 k. and 10 k., tied by cds. “ST(ATION) SEDANKA USSIRISK RAILWAY 20 7 21” to reverse of registered envelope to USA, on front departure cds. repeated once and registration label, reverse arrival cds., initially correctly franked at the 20 kopek tariff (one stamp missing on upper left corner), despite some imperfections a most unusual usage from a small Siberian train station

1921, Chita issue 20 k. in vertical pair, scissor´s cut in between, tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK -1 7 23” to reverse of a registered envelope to USA, transit via Yokohama and reverse arrival “NEW YORK 7 29 1923”, fine

1922, Soviet October Revolution Anniversary 2 k. in horizontal pair with additional Vladivostok Definitive 2 k. (2), 10 k. (horizontal strip of three) and Chita issue 1 k. (horizontal pair), tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK 20.12.22” to reverse of a registered envelope to Sydney, Australia, correct 40 kopek tariff, transit and arrival cds. “REGISTERED SYDNEY N.S.W 23  JA 23”, from the Pappadopulo correspondence. Negligible peripheral envelope toning, still fine, a lovely three-issues franking 

1923, Gold Kopek 1 k., two singles and 2 k. in horizontal pair, together with Chita issue 3 k.- 7k. and 15 k., tied by cds. “VLADIVOSTOK -6 10 23” to reverse of registered envelope to Kharbin, China, with faint arrival cds., fine and scarce

1920, Uman Local Provisional, violet handstamp “P” on imperforate 1 k. and 2 k. as an horizontal pair, tied by cds. “UMAN 18 8 20” repeated alongside to letter card to Amarovka with sender´s message inside, fine and rare (Geyfman-Nr. 1, 2)

1899, 10 K. blue, with overprint “KITAI” on vertically laid paper, neatly tied to small piece, perforation lightly toned, otherwise very fine and scarce

1910, Coat of Arms 10 k. tied by cds. “SHANGHAI POSTE RUSSE 20 5 1()” repeated alongside with blue circular "THE EKMAN FOREIGN AGENCIES LTD * SHANGHAI" to small improvised wrapper to Sweden, endorsed “sample of bamboo steel”. Despite some adhesive imperfections, a most unusual usage

1865, ROPIT 2 pia. red/blue, fresh colours, large to wide margins all around, unused with small amount of gum remnants, very fine and rare, certificate Eisold BPP (1999)

3 k. light blue, First Printing, complete sheet of four with horizontal setting of the clichés, margins reduced and folded once horizontally on the third adhesive, slight toning, closed tear and minor imperfections, still fine. A rare sheet

1863, 3 k. light blue, First Printing, good colours, large to wide margins at the vertical sides, neatly cancelled with cds. “ODESSA 21 OCT. 1867”, two small tears at top and bottom mentioned for accuracy, very rare cancellation on this issue, certificate Mikulski (1998)

3 k. deep blue, Thrid Printing on glossy paper, complete sheet of four with the new 2 x 2 arrangement of the clichés, of fresh colours, unused with full original gum, hinged at the margins, some peripheral wear and tear, still fine and scarce, certificate Mikulski

1923, Unissued RSFSR Worker 2 r. imperforate with additional Soviet Union franking, each tied by cds. “LENINGRAD 24 9 25” to envelope to Berlin with reverse arrival “BERLIN 29 9 25”, very fine. An extremely unusual usage most likely overlooked by the postal clerk due to the resemblance of the unissued 2 roubles with the 2 kopeks Definitives, and a scarce RSFSR-Soviet Union mixed franking making up the correct 20 kopek tariff, signed Bühler

1924, Red Army Soldier 3 r., perforated 13½:13½:13½:10, fresh colours and good perforations, unused, very fine, certificate Scheller (2024). A very scarce stamp

1927, International Airmail-Conference 10k. with variety “partly missing 7 in 1927”, unused, very fine, certificate Mandrovski (2008) (Zagorsky 185Kb)

1929, Pioneers 10k., perforated 10¾, unused, very fine, certificate Frenkel (2019) (Zagorsky 226B)

1929, Pioneers 10k., perforated 10¾, unused, very fine, certificate Frenkel (2019) (Zagorsky 226B)

1930, Zeppelin 40 and 80 k. imperforated, mint never hinged, 80 k. two minor adhering spots, otherwise fine, 80 k. signed Soviet Philatelic Association and certificate Mikulski A.I.E.P (1989)

1930, Graf Zeppelin 40 k. and 80 k., complete set imperforated, fresh colours, unused with slight hinge remnants, 80 kopek with a tiny inclusion spot in the margin, very fine, both signed Ebnet BPP and Aimé Brun, with certificate Bühler (1983)

1930, Graf Zeppelin 80 k., two complete sheets in the setting 5 x 10, each cancelled to order by cds. “MOSCOW 17 8 36”, folded in places and some occasional perf. separation, fine and scarce duo 

1935, Moscow-San Francicso Flight 1 r. on 10 k., “Small F”, unused, very fine, signed Mikulski

1855, 4 sk. bco. light blue, used, good to perfect centering, with neat cds. “WESTERAS 9.10.1857”, extremely fine, cert. Franz Obermüller (1979; 4, 4-5, 4) (Facit 2h1)