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A Russian Empire postman. This a survey of the
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
s and
postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is at ...
of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
and the modern
Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
.


Postal history


Early history

Records mention a system of messengers in the 10th century. Early letters were carried in the form of a roll, with a wax or
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
seal; the earliest known of these seals dates from 1079, and mentions a governor Ratibor of
Tmutarakan Tmutarakan ( rus, Тмутарака́нь, p=tmʊtərɐˈkanʲ, ; uk, Тмуторокань, Tmutorokan) was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the ...
. The earliest surviving
cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of copy ...
was sent in 1391 from La Tana (now Azov) to
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
. By the 16th century, the postal system included 1,600 locations, and mail took 3 days to travel from
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
to
Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ...
. In 1634, a peace treaty between Russia and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
established a route to
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
, becoming Russia's first regular international service.


Russian Empire

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
enacted reforms making the postal system more uniform in its operations, and in 1714 the first general
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...
s opened in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. “Regular post-service” was established along the Moscow and Riga routes. In February 1714, the postal service started biweekly runs from St. Petersburg to Riga; in June it started runs from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The field post office was founded in 1716, and the so-called ordinary post service in 1720, for the fast conveyance of state ordinances and papers. Regular delivery of private parcels (the so-called heavy post) was organized in the 1730-40s. In 1746, parcels and private correspondence were first delivered by courier, and starting in 1781 money, too, could be delivered to one's door. The earliest known Russian postmark dates from July 1765; it is a single line reading "ST.PETERSBURG" (in Latin letters), but the first official recommendation to use postmarks did not come until 1781. Mailcoaches appeared in 1820. In 1833, the St. Petersburg City Post was created, and the city was divided into 17 districts with 42 correspondence offices, which were located in trade stores. In 1834, reception offices appeared in the suburbs (in St. Petersburg there were as many as 108). Periodical press delivery in Russia was organized in St. Petersburg in 1838. The Department of Coaches and T-carts was opened in 1840 at the Moika Embankment; light cabriolets carried surplus-post, coaches delivered light post, and T-carts dealt with “heavy" post. Green coloured street mailboxes were installed in 1848, the same year stamped envelopes were issued; orange mailboxes for same-day service appeared near railway stations in 1851, and postage stamps appeared in 1857. In 1864, the City Post started sending printed matter and catalogues, and in 1866, they sent packages. Postal stationery made its first appearance in 1845, in the form of envelopes that paid the 5- kopeck fee for
local mail Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administr ...
in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The idea worked well and was extended throughout Russia on December 1, 1848. Local postal systems used stamps referred to as Zemstvo stamps, from the term for local government begun under Alexander II in 1864. Russian Post is a founding member of the
Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to ...
(UPU) created in 1874. In 1902 Chief Postal Service was made part of the Internal Affairs Ministry and in 1917 under the
Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...
it became part of Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs.


Soviet Union

During the
Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...
, the Soviet postal service was a part of the People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR. It delivered up to 70 million parcels per month to the Soviet Army front from the rear under extremely difficult and often very dangerous conditions. In the postwar years, the mail service has undergone quantitative and qualitative changes. In 1946, the People's Commissariat for Communications of the USSR was transformed into the Ministry of Communications of the USSR. The postal service was carried out by the Post Office, which was part of the Ministry of Communications, along with other offices of the telecommunications industries. By 1950, the postal industry, destroyed by the war, was restored and brought to the pre-war level. In subsequent years, the network of communication enterprises was significantly expanded, especially in rural areas, in the cities and a network of liaison offices, post offices, and subordinate communication centers. Most businesses combined postal, telegraph and telephone services. These communications were typically located in the same building and under single management. A huge network of mailboxes was established not only in cities but also in rural areas, stations, railway sidings and at freeway junctions. Further development of the postal service followed the path of mechanization and automation of mail processing, improving the organization of its transportation and delivery. For this, the old postal equipment was modernized and the production of brand new designs developed - mail processing and handling machines and equipment for container transport, means of mechanization and postal inventory, as well as equipment for customer service.


Leningrad post office

By the late 1930s, 203 post offices operated in Leningrad. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, communication between the front line and the rear was provided by the Field Post. In the first year of the
Siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...
, there were 108 post offices working in Leningrad. The Leningrad Postal Association was created in 1988 and included the General Leningrad Post Office, 13 regional post offices, 345 post offices, 11 automated post offices, and a fleet of vehicles.


Russian Federation

In 1993 the Russian Post became a part of the Ministry of Communications. In 1995, the Office was reorganized into the Federal Service of the Russian Federation postal service, and in 1996 it was reorganized into the Department of Posts in the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation. Russian postal enterprises were operating and there was commercial independence, but with it the strong competition posed by former partners, the telecommunication companies. Thus, despite the separation of industries, a unique postal network, established in prior periods and covering almost all localities in the country, has been preserved. Given the role of the Russian Post in the historical development of the state, in 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin established a professional public holiday for postal workers - "The Day of the Russian Post", which is celebrated annually on the 2 July. Another presidential decree in 1997 restored the heraldic traditions of the Post with the adding of the
emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...
and
flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
.


Loss of monopoly

In 1996, the Ministry of Communications for the first time decided to break the state postal monopoly on some postal services, resulting in Russia having commercial mailing companies.


2002 reform

Since the Soviet Union was dissolved, the Federal Postal Service consisted of a network of 90 disparate entities which were mainly listed as state institutions or federal state unitary enterprises. In legal terms, they were completely independent concerns. They were linked to the Federal Postal Network only by a trunk intrazonal and inter-district transmission and delivery system. The most ridiculous part of the whole system was that different parts of the same system connected by a single mechanism in adjacent regions were competing against each other, which mainly involved trying to lure big corporate clients away from the other competitors often at dumping prices. Also, there were no uniform budgeting, planning or other processes. These companies operated using outdated and worn-out postal facilities representing about 50 different IT solutions in terms of industry technology. In accordance with the concept of restructuring the federal postal service, adopted by the Government Decree on 28 June 2002, the postal industry in the Russian Federation carried out the reorganization, aimed at creating a single, highly efficient and competitive company able to make a significant contribution to the solution of urgent problems on the accelerated development of the economy and resulted in the establishment of a single unified operator- Federal Unitary Enterprise Russian Post. By 2005 the reform was completed. In 2004 Elsag Datamat won the tender to build Russian Post’s first automated sorting center.


Growing inefficiency in the 2010s

The early 2010s saw a rise in complaints. The number of parcels from foreign online retailers had been rising steadily for several years and was certain to rise further. According to the Russian Post’s own estimates, orders from Internet shops are delivered to Russia mostly in ordinary or registered parcels; in 2009 there were 2.3 million, in 2012 the amount soared to 17 million. On March 6, 2012, five trucks from Germany were in a queue to be unloaded at Vnukovo. At the International Post Office there had piled up 12,300 parcels, 5,300 EMS packages, and 36,000 minor incoming parcels. And two thousand parcels were waiting for customs clearance at Sheremetyevo International Airport. 2012 saw the creating of a new resource called "anti-Russianpost.ru" emerged in the world wide web. The users highlight all instances of Russian Post’s bad work. In the middle of March, the clients of on-line retailers launched a massive spam attack on the Moscow office of the Roskomnadzor watchdog. In this period the company received up to 1,000 messages from individuals with complaints about delayed deliveries of purchases made at Internet shops.


2013 collapse and reform

In March 2013 Russian Post reported the unfavorable state of affairs to the authorities. In a special message Russian Post’s deputy general director, Nina Fetisova, told the Federal Communications Agency Rossvyaz and the Federal Customs Service the processing of international mail was in a critical situation at the customs posts Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo International Airport and also at the Central International Post Office in Moscow. In order to improve the services,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
signed a Government Resolution to take the Russian Post out of the sphere of competence of the Federal Communications Agency Rossvyaz, and subordinated it directly to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media. Also, On April of that year, the General Director of the Post, Alexander Kiselyov was ousted from the office. The company's new management, in October 2013, stated an ambitious goal of doubling revenues to make the company ready for an initial public offering in 2018 by allowing it to provide banking services, reducing the number of unprofitable branches and focusing on providing deliveries from online retailers. In order to handle the growth of parcels, production capacity has been expanded regional seats of international postal exchange centers, with the company opening new international mail processing centers in Moscow at the Kazan station and in Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. In addition, Russian Post agreed with foreign postal operators sorting international mail delivery by region even in the country of the sender (pre-sorting began in China, the largest importer), which allows to reduce the delivery of international mail. For example, after opening Exchange center in
Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
, parcel from China to residents of the
Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as ...
is delivered in five days, including all customs clearance. In August 2013 Russian Post had launched its first regional flight in the far eastern Russian republic of
Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far E ...
. The company held a ceremony at Yakutsk Airport to launch its second new airmail plane under a program to expand links to remote areas, its first being a flight in the
Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal Distr ...
territory on Russia’s east coast. Russian Post deputy director-general Alexei Skatin said that "The mail must be delivered on time despite the difficult geography of the region. We are starting to improve the postal logistics in the remote regions of Russia".


2014 takeover of Crimea by Russia

In March 2014, following the takeover of Crimea by pro-Russian separatists and the
Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...
, the Russian Post announced a number of measures to organize postal services with the Republic of Crimea in accordance with postal regulations of the Russian Federation, as well as to unify the mail systems of indexing.


Postage stamps


First stamps

The
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
idea had already swept much of the world when, in September 1856, the Russian authorities decided to follow suit. The first Russian postal stamp was issued on December 10, 1857 by the circular of the Postal Department "On the bringing of postal stamps for the common use" with the following content: "Starting from the 1st January of the next year 1858 ordinary private letters to all the places of the Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Finland brought to the post in ordinary envelopes or without envelope at all just with addresses written on the letter itself should be sent only with the stamp corresponding to the letter weight". The first stamps went on sale on 10 December 1857, but officially people started to use stamps to pay internal correspondence in Russia from January 1, 1858 (from March 1, 1858 – in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and Siberia). Since this time all private letters have been sent only with postage stamps that were cancelled with two crossed lines. Since the supply of postmarks to the numerous post offices took a while, the Postal Department ordered that stamps be cancelled with pen and ink, following the example of cancelling postal stationery envelopes.


Later Russian Empire stamps

A 5k stamp for local postage was introduced in 1863, and in the following year new common design, with the Coat of Arms in an oval, was introduced for the 1k, 3k, and 5k values. These were used to make up complicated rates for international mail, which had previously required cash payments at the post office. After 1866 the stamps were printed on paper watermarked with a pattern of wavy lines, "EZGB" in Cyrillic plus a set of more or less horizontal lines 3 for the height of the letters!and vertical lines running through the letters and halfway. Apart from that the "grain" of the paper was always perpendicular to the watermark text! In the early years, the horizontal watermark prevailed, but for a minority of each value, the grain was vertical. In later years the vertical watermark prevailed. Contrary to a common perception among collectors there was NO laid paper involved. The "stripes" were always part of the watermark. In September 1865, the Shlisselburg district became the first of the '' zemstvo'' offices to issue stamps; the system was officially organized by a decree of 27 August 1870. In 1874, Russia became one of the original 22 countries forming the General Postal Union (later the
Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to ...
). The Coat of Arms design was changed in 1875 and used for 2k and 8k values, and a 7k in 1879. The 7k was also printed on
revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration ...
paper watermarked with a hexagonal pattern; these are quite rare. A new issue of 14 December 1883 featured an updated design, lower values printed in a single color, and new high values - 14k, 35k, and 70k. January 1884 saw the introduction of 3.50- ruble and 7-ruble stamps, physically much larger than the existing stamps. In 1889 the designs were changed again, this time to introduce thunderbolts across the posthorns underneath the
double-headed eagle In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantine Empire, origi ...
, and in printings, after 1902 the usual grain of the paper was changed to be vertical. At the end of 1904, Russia issued its first semi-postal stamps. The four values were each sold at 3k over the face to provide for orphans of casualties in the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
. In 1909 a new series came out, using a mix of old and new designs, all printed on unwatermarked wove paper, and with lozenges on the face to discourage
postage stamp reuse Postage stamp reuse is the technique of fraudulently reusing postage stamps from sent mail to avoid paying the cost of postage. Reuse A postage stamp is a small piece of paper attached to mail that indicates that the postage (the cost of sending ...
. Russia's first series of commemorative stamps appeared on 2 January 1913 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The 17 stamps featured portraits of the various
Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
s, as well as views of the Kremlin,
Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...
, and Romanov Castle. But in 1915 and 1916, as the government disintegrated under the pressures of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, several of the designs were printed on
card stock Card stock, also called cover stock and pasteboard, is paper that is thicker and more durable than normal writing and printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard. Card stock is often used for business cards, ...
and used as paper money. 7k and 14k stamps were also surcharged 10k and 20k due to shortages.


Revolution and Civil War period

The period of the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
is complicated philatelically; post offices across the country were thrown on their own devices, and a number of the factions and breakaway republics issued new kinds of stamps, although in some cases they seem to have been as much for publicity purposes, few genuine uses having been recorded. Entities issuing their own stamps include: *
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
*
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
* Army of the Northwest * Batum *
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
*
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...
*
Far Eastern Republic The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосто́чная Респу́блика, ДВР, r=Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, DVR, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə), sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally indep ...
* Georgia *
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
*
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
*
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
* South Russia *
Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...
* West Ukrainian National Republic In 1917 the
Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...
reprinted the old Tsarist designs but sold them imperforate. The first stamps of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
appeared in 1918, as two values depicting a sword cutting a chain. While great quantities of these stamps survive, they saw little use, and used copies are worth more than mint. In the years of the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
, postage stamps served as a kind of currency in a number of regions. During the later famine, postage stamps were used as a means of exchange for products. The ''
Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'' newspaper issue of 9 March 1922 "urged the population “not to throw away stamps” and called on all citizens and children of the RSFSR to gather and send all canceled stamps, stamp collections, and anything they had on hand to be exchanged for chocolate and other products for starving children." Archived fro
the original
an

on 2015-05-15.
The next stamps appeared in 1921, after
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
had taken hold. The set's values range from 1 to 1,000 rubles. By the next year, these stamps were being surcharged in various ways, with face values of up to 100,000 rubles. A currency reform in 1922 that exchanged money at a 10,000-to-1 rate enabled new stamps in the 5r to 200r range, including a set marking the 5th anniversary of the October Revolution, Tsarist stamps surcharged with a five-pointed star containing a
hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industr ...
. Stamps with portraits of a worker,
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasa ...
and
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' deri ...
also appeared this year; variations on these portrait designs, including the
Gold Standard issue The Gold Standard issue or Small Head issue was the first definitive series of postage stamps issued by the Soviet Union between 1923 and 1927. The stamps were designed by Ivan Shadr. History The RSFSR Government re-issued definitive stamps ...
, would continue to be issued throughout the 1920s.


Finnish occupation of Aunus

At 1919–1921 there was Aunus expedition where a group of Finnish volunteers occupied parts of
East Karelia East Karelia ( fi, Itä-Karjala, Karelian: ''Idä-Karjala''), also rendered as Eastern Karelia or Russian Karelia, is a name for the part of Karelia that since the Treaty of Stolbova in 1617 has remained Eastern Orthodox under Russian supremacy ...
(Aunus in Finnish, Olonets Karelia in Russian). There were stamps issued for Aunus troops by local authorities. They were Finnish definitives from 1917 with overprint .


Stamps of the Soviet Union

Postage stamps of the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
were issued in the period 1923 to 1991. They bore the specific inscription russian: "Почта СССР" ("Post of the USSR"). The thematics of Soviet stamps mirrored to a large extent the history, politics, economics, and culture of this world's first
socialist state A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is ...
.


Stamps of the Russian Federation

* Postage stamps of Russia (1996) (in Russian)


See also

* 70r Red Army Soldier error *
A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communications The A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communications is a museum of science and technology founded in 1872. It is located in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia, near Saint Isaac's Square. History The museum was opened on 11 September 18 ...
* British Society of Russian Philately * Definitive stamps of Russia *
Definitive stamps of the Soviet Union Definitive stamps of the Soviet Union were the regular postage stamp issues produced in the USSR between 1923 and 1992. First definitive issue The first issue of the Soviet Union definitive stamps appeared in October 1923. It was known as ...
* First stamp of the Russian Empire * First USSR stamps *
Gold Standard issue The Gold Standard issue or Small Head issue was the first definitive series of postage stamps issued by the Soviet Union between 1923 and 1927. The stamps were designed by Ivan Shadr. History The RSFSR Government re-issued definitive stamps ...
* International trading tax stamp * Joint issue *
List of postage stamps This is a list of postage stamps that are especially notable in some way, often due to antiquity or a postage stamp error. Among the best-known stamps are: * Penny Black (Great Britain) * Treskilling Yellow (Sweden) * Bull's Eye (Brazil) * Brit ...
* Pochtovo-Telegrafnyi Zhurnal * Postage stamps and postal history of Karelia *
Rossica Society of Russian Philately The Rossica Society of Russian Philately (Общество русской филателии "Россика") is a society founded for the study and appreciation of the postage stamps and postal history of Russia. History The society was founded ...
* Russian philatelic forgeries * Russian Post * Soviet and post-Soviet postage rates * Soviet Union stamp catalogue * Zemstvo stamp


References


Citations


Sources

* Dobin, Manfred ''Postmarks of Russian Empire (Pre adhesive period)''. St. Petersburg: Standard Kollektion, 1993. * * Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986. * Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues * *


Further reading


Catalogues

* Gurevich, Iurii Efimovich. ''Katalog marok zemskikh pocht Rossii 1866-1919 = Stamps of the Zemstvo posts of Russia - catalog, 1866-1919''. Moscow: The Authors, 2004 556p. * Moens, J. B. ''Les timbres de Russie''. Bruxelles: Moens, 1893 62p. * Pevzner, A. IA. ''Katalog Pochtovykh Marok Rossii, 1857-1995''. Moscow: T︠S︡entrpoligraf, 1995 473p. * Riep, Oscar. ''Russland: Sonder-Katalog: enthalt alle Postwertzeichen von Russland, und allen neuen Staaten, die vor 1914 zu Russland gehorten, oder nach 1914 auf russischem Territorium neu entstanden sind, sowie alle Besetzungsausgaben in Russland, wahrend des Weltkrieges. Mit uber 600 abbildungen im Text und mehreren Tafeln''. Berlin: Oscar Riep, 1925 224p. * Solov'ev, V. IU. ''Pochtovye marki Rossii i SSSR spetsializirovannyi katalog = Postage stamps of Russia & USSR specialized catalogue. Vol. 1: Russia 1857-1919; Vol. 2: RSFSR, USSR 1923-1960; Vol. 3: USSR 1961-1991''. * ''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: Pt.10 Russia''. Ringwood: Stanley Gibbons Publications, 2014 (7th edition) 832p. * White, Godfrey M. ''An annotated list of the postage stamps of the Soviet Republics: 1917-1925''. London: Harris Publications, 1925 56p. Series Title: Philatelic magazine handbook; no. 7. * Zagorskogo, V. B. ''Pervye pochtovye marki Rossii : istori︠i︡a vypuska : katalog = The first Russian postage stamps : history of the issue : catalogue''. Sankt-Peterburg: Standart-Kollek︠t︡si︠i︡a, 2007 84p. * Zagorsky, V. B. ''Postage Stamp Catalogue: Russia 1857-1917, RSFSR 1918-1923, USSR 1923-1991''. Hallandale, FL.: Zagorsky, Inc., 2013 560p.


Monographs

* Aksenova, S. V. ''Populi︠a︡rnai︠a︡ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡ marok Rossii i SSSR''. Rostov-na-Donu: Vladis, 2009 400p. * Artuchov, Alex. ''The Zemstvo Postage Stamps of Imperial Russia''. Toronto: Canadian Society of Russian Philately, 1987-2008 6 vols. * Baillie, Ian L. G. & Eric G. Peel. ''St. Petersburg: The Imperial Post: its postmarks and other postal markings 1765-1914''. Beckenham: published for the British Society of Russian Philately by Chancery House Press, 2001 374p. * Ceresa, R. J. ''The Postage Stamps of Russia, 1917-1923: Vol. 5: R.S.F.S.R''. Gorsley: Russian Philatelic D.T.P. * Kiryushkin, A.V. and P.E. Robinson. ''List of post offices in the Russian Empire''. Sheffield: Philip E. Robinson, 1999 270p. * Kiryushkin, A.V. and P.E. Robinson. ''Russian Postmarks: An Introduction and Guide''. York: J. Barefoot Ltd., 1989 110p. * Skipton, David M. and Steve Volis. ''Soviet Clandestine Mail Surveillance, 1917-1991''. Chicago: Collectors Club of Chicago, 2016 554p. * Tchilinghirian, S. D. and W. S. E. Stephen. ''Stamps of the Russian Empire used abroad''. Bristol: British Society of Russian Philately, 1957-60 576p. in 6 pts.


External links


Russian postal history

Russian Stamp Catalogue

Stamps, revenues, perfins and more from Imperial Russia, RSFSR and USSR

Russian stamp forgeries

Russia in stampsoftheworld

Russia stamps by year
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