Postage stamps and postal history of Russia
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This article provides an overview of the postage stamps and the history of the postal system in the Russian Empire , in the Soviet Union and in what is now the Russian Federation .
Postal history
The beginnings
Historical records mention the existence of a messenger service in the 10th century. The first letters came in the form of rolls sealed with wax or lead. The oldest known seal of this type dates from 1079 and mentions a governor Ratibor of Tmutarakan . The first received envelope was sent from Tana (today's Azov) to Venice in 1391 .
In the 16th century, the postal system comprised 1,600 localities and it took a shipment three days to get from Moscow to Novgorod. As a result of a peace treaty between Russia and Poland, a mail route to Warsaw was set up in 1634. It was the first regular international mail service in Russia.
The Russian Empire
With the reforms of Peter the Great , the postal system was standardized. In 1714 the first main post offices were opened in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. A “regular postal service” was set up between Moscow and Riga. In February 1714, the Post began delivering items between St. Petersburg and Riga twice a week; the postal service between St. Petersburg and Moscow began in June . In 1716 the field post office was founded and in 1720 the so-called “ordinary postal service” was brought into being for the rapid transport of state regulations and documents. A regulated delivery of private parcels (the so-called "heavy mail") was set up from 1730. In 1746 parcels and private correspondence were initially delivered by a courier and from 1781 money could also be brought into the house. The first known Russian postmark is from July 1765. It consists of a single line that reads "ST.PETERSBOVRG" (in Latin letters). The use of postmarks was not officially recommended until 1781.
Post coaches came into use in 1820. In 1833 the St. Petersburg City Post Office was founded. The city was divided into 17 districts with 42 post offices housed in retail stores. In 1834 independent post offices were set up in the suburbs (there were 108 such post offices in St. Petersburg in total). The regular delivery of newspapers and magazines in Russia was organized in St. Petersburg in 1838. In 1840 the carriage and carriage station was opened on the banks of the Moika . Light carriages without a roof carried mail with a surcharge, carriages delivered the light mail and the "heavy" mail was delivered by wagons. In 1848 green letter boxes were placed on the streets and postage paid envelopes were issued that same year. In the vicinity of the train stations there had been orange mailboxes for same-day delivery since 1851 and the first stamps appeared in 1857. From 1864 the municipal post office took over the dispatch of printed matter and catalogs and from 1866 the transport of parcels.
Postal stationery appeared for the first time in 1845. For a fee of 5 kopecks, franked envelopes could be purchased for local post in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The concept worked well and was adopted across Russia on December 1, 1848.
Postage stamps known as Zemstvo postage stamps were used in local postal systems, which were named after the local administrations established by Tsar Alexander II in 1864 .
The Russian Post is one of the founding members of the Universal Postal Union, which has existed since 1874 . In 1902 the postal system was subordinated to the Ministry of the Interior and in 1917 to the Ministry of Post and Telegraph under the transitional government.
Soviet Union
During the Second World War , the postal service was assigned to the People's Commissariat for Communication. Every month up to 70 million parcels were transported from the hinterland to the Soviet front under extremely difficult and often very dangerous conditions.
In the post-war period, Swiss Post experienced numerous quantitative and qualitative changes. In 1946 the Soviet People's Commissariat for Communication was transferred to the Ministry of Communications of the USSR. In 1950 the postal system, which had been destroyed in the war, was rebuilt and functioned at pre-war levels.
In the years that followed, the branch network was greatly expanded, especially in rural areas. Most of the branches combined postal, telegraph and telephone services. These communication services were usually housed in the same building and were under the same administration. An extensive mailbox network was built up. Mailboxes were not only set up in the cities, but also in the country, at train stations, railway junctions and at motorway junctions.
Another development in the postal service was the mechanization and automation of mail processing, which improved the organization of transport and delivery.
The Russian Federation
In 1993 the Russian Post was placed under the Ministry of Communications. In 1995 the Post was reclassified to the Federal Service of the Postal Service of the Russian Federation, and in 1996 it was assigned to the Postal Department of the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation. The Russian post offices were independent in their business activities and economically, but are exposed to strong competition from other telecommunications companies, their former partners. In spite of the splitting of the services, the very special postal network established in the past was retained, which encompasses almost all localities in the country.
Given the important role that the Post has played in the development of the state throughout history, Russian President Boris Yeltsin introduced “Russian Post Day” in 1994. This special day for all postal workers is celebrated on July 2nd every year. In 1997, under another presidential decree, the heraldic traditions of the Russian Post were restored with the addition of the emblem and flag.
Abandonment of the monopoly
In 1996 the Ministry of Communications decided to give up the state postal monopoly for some postal services for the first time. This led to the establishment of commercial postal companies in Russia.
Postage stamps
The concept of the postage stamp had already taken the world by storm when the Russian authorities decided in September 1856 to follow the example of other countries.
The first Russian postage stamp
In 1851, Alexej Prokhorovich Tscharukowski, who was responsible for the transport of mail, was sent abroad to learn more about the local experience with the use of postage stamps. He visited England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, gathered a lot of information and returned to Russia in 1852. However, innovations in the postal system were prevented by the Crimean War. It was not until 1855 that Tscharukowski proposed to the general director of the post office, WF Adlerberg, a project with concrete measures for the introduction of stick-on postage stamps in Russia. According to Tscharukovsky's plan, Russian postage stamps should have a round shape, show the national coat of arms, be printed in different colors and be framed by perforation. In addition, the types of paper used had to offer protection against counterfeiting. The project was approved on November 12, 1856.
Meanwhile, on July 30, 1856, under the supervision of J. Reichel, head of the department responsible for printing state securities, the first samples for two types of postage were made: one with the Russian national coat of arms and one with the head of Mercury. These stamps were round in shape. Tscharukovsky was of the opinion that rectangular stamps that are not properly glued to the envelope can be damaged by the mailbox or other letters and can peel off. This in turn could lead to the letters being returned to the sender and the newspapers could report on it. Each variety should be printed in four colors: green, blue, black, and carmine. However, these stamps were not approved.
The experienced EZGB engraver FM Kepler created the drawings for the first rectangular Russian postage stamp and submitted it on October 21, 1856. In his designs, Kepler was inspired by the material that Tscharukowski had brought back from abroad. These included original designs and stamps from various countries. Kepler used a sample from the Prague company Gottlieb Haase Sons as a model for the design of the Russian postage stamps and suggested giving them a rectangular shape, like the Austrian postage stamps.
Manufacturing
On October 20, 1857, Tsar Alexander II approved the printing of three two-tone samples as 10-, 20- and 30-kopeck postage stamps. On November 9th, “the Tsar ordered that these be designated as postage stamps instead”. In November the production of 10 kopeck stamps started. Russia had its first postage stamp printed on sturdy, white hand-made paper with a watermark in the form of a 15-mm number “1”. Since the perforating machine ordered from the Austrian State Printing House did not arrive until November 19 and was in a defective condition, it was decided to send this print run of the 10-kopeck stamps imperforated from the postal department to the provincial areas.
The stamps were made using two printing machines. On one machine, which came from Berlin, the blue oval with the embossed emblem of the Post was applied under heavy pressure and the framing brown pattern on the second.
The first Russian postage stamp was issued on December 10, 1857 and presented in a circular from the postal department “On the Circulation of Postage Stamps for General Use” as follows: “From January 1 of the next year 1858, ordinary private letters are to be sent to all places within the The Empire, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland, which are sent to the post office in ordinary envelopes or without an envelope, with the address on the letter itself, must only be sent with a stamp appropriate to the weight of the letter December 1857 on sale, but officially people of Russia began to pay postage for domestic correspondence in the form of postage stamps from January 1, 1858 (in the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Siberia from March 1, 1858). From this point on, all private letters without exception were franked with postage stamps that were canceled with a cross.
The first stamp was worth 10 kopecks and was used for letters weighing up to one lot (approx. 12.8 grams). It was an imperforate stamp, on which the Russian national coat of arms is depicted and which was printed with the letterpress process in brown and blue. Perforated 20 and 30 kopeks postage stamps followed on January 10, using the same design but different color combinations, and a perforated version of the 10 kopek postage stamp. The paper was originally watermarked in the form of a number, but this was soon abandoned and the later printing runs in 1858 were made on ordinary woven paper.
Since it took some time to supply the numerous post offices with postmarks, the Post Office instructed that the stamps and franked envelopes should be canceled with pen and ink.
Commemorative stamps
The postal authorities of the Soviet Union repeatedly issued commemorative stamps, pads, postcards and other philatelic materials and organized philatelic exhibitions and other memorable events. The same applies to today's postal authorities in Russia (Russian Post). There are numerous publications, including newspaper articles and books, that deal with the history of the first postage stamps of the Russian Empire.
Later stamps
In 1863, a 5-kopeck stamp was introduced as postage for local shipments, and in the following years a new standard design showing the national coat of arms in an oval was used on the values of 1 copeck, 3 copeck and 5 copeck. These value levels were used to compile the complicated postage amounts for international mail that had to be paid in cash at the post office beforehand.
After 1866 the postage stamps were printed on paper with a watermark consisting of a wavy line pattern, the Cyrillic letters "ЭЗГБ" (EZGB) and a series of horizontal lines (13 for the height of the letters!) And vertical lines running through the letters and divide the horizontal lines in half. Apart from that, the "grain" of the paper was always at right angles to the text of the watermark! In the early years the horizontal watermark predominated, but a small number of stamps of each value grade were printed vertically to the grain. In later years the vertical watermark became more common. Contrary to the popular opinion among collectors, ripped paper played NO role. The "stripes" were always part of the watermark.
In September 1865, the Schlisselburg district (Russian: Schlisselburg) was the first Zemstvo administration to issue postage stamps. With the ordinance of August 27, 1870, the system of these Zemstvo postage stamps was officially regulated.
In 1874 Russia was one of the 22 founding states of the General Postal Union (later the Universal Postal Union).
In 1875, the design of the coat of arms was changed and used on the 2-kopeck and 8-kopeck stamps and in 1879 on a 7-kopeck stamp. The 7 kopeck mark was also printed on stamp stamp paper and watermarked in the form of a hexagonal pattern. These brands are quite rare.
A new edition of December 14, 1883 shows a modernized draft. The lower values were printed in monochrome and there were new, higher values of 14 kopecks, 35 kopecks and 70 kopecks. In January 1884, 3.50 ruble and 7 ruble stamps were introduced, which were much larger in size than the existing stamps.
In 1889 there was another change in the motifs. This time lightning bolts were inserted above the post horns below the double-headed eagle, and after 1902 printing was usually vertical to the paper grain.
At the end of 1904 Russia issued the first supplementary stamps. The four values were sold every 3 kopecks above face value in order to care for the orphans of the soldiers who died in the Russo-Japanese war.
In 1909 a new series was published using both old and new designs. All were printed on woven paper and had lozenges on the front to make re-use of the stamp difficult.
The first series of Russian commemorative stamps appeared on January 2, 1913 on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. The 17 stamps featured portraits of the various tsars as well as views of the Kremlin, the Winter Palace and the Romanov Palace. In 1915 and 1916, when the government disintegrated under the pressure of World War I, some of the designs were printed on cardboard and used as paper money. For reasons of scarcity, stamps of 7 and 14 kopecks were also overprinted with 10 kopecks and 20 kopecks.
The revolution
The period of the Russian Revolution is complicated from a philatelic point of view: post offices across the country were left to their own devices and a number of factions and breakaway republics issued new postage stamps. In some cases this was probably more of a public appearance; there are few real uses documented. The legal entities that issued their own postage stamps included:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- the Northwest Army
- Batumi
- Belarus
- Estonia
- Far Eastern Republic
- Georgia
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Siberia
- Southern Russia
- Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (TSFSR)
- Western Ukrainian People's Republic
In 1917 the interim government had the old tsarist drafts reprinted, but sold them imperforated. The first postage stamps of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) appeared in 1918. There were two different values and they show a sword cutting through a chain. A large number of these stamps survived, but they were rarely used and stamped pieces are more valuable than unused ones. The next stamps were issued in 1921 after inflation started. The rate included values between 1 and 1,000 rubles. In the following years these stamps were overprinted with different denominations up to 100,000 rubles. As a result of a currency reform in 1922, in which the money was exchanged at an exchange rate of 10,000: 1, new stamps with a value between 5 and 200 rubles were created. Among them was a sentence in honor of the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution - tsarist postage stamps overprinted with a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle. In addition, this year stamps with portraits of a worker, a farmer and a soldier were issued. Modifications of these portrait motifs were published throughout the 1920s.
Finnish occupation of Olonez
From 1919 to 1921 the Olonez Campaign took place, during which a group of Finnish volunteers occupied parts of East Karelia (in Finnish "Aunus", in Russian "Olonez-Karelia"). The local authorities issued postage stamps for the troops involved in the Aunus campaign. These are Finnish definitive stamps from 1917 that were overprinted with Aunus.
The postage stamps of the Soviet Union
The Leningrad Post
In the late 1930s, Leningrad had 203 post offices. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, the field post provided communication between the front and the rear. In the first year of the siege, there were 108 post offices in Leningrad. The Leningrad Postal Union was founded in 1988 and comprised the Leningrad main post office, 13 regional post offices, 345 post offices and 11 automated post offices, as well as a vehicle fleet.
The postage stamps of the Russian Federation
Six editions of standard postage stamps have been issued since 1992. The first issue published after the end of the Soviet Union dates from February 1992. These first stamps from the Russian Federation with a face value of 20 and 30 kopecks depict St. George and the national monument “Thousand Years of Russia”. In the early and mid-1990s, this series of stamps was continuously expanded due to hyperinflation and the corresponding postage increases. Numerous stamps have the same design features, only the postage values have been increased. For example, the face value of the postage stamp with the Golden Gate in Vladimir increased from 10 kopecks to 150 rubles, that is, 1,500 times. The increase in the face value of the stamps was limited to 5,000 rubles.
The second and third definitive stamps were published in 1997 and 1999. The format of the stamps changed; the landscape format has been replaced by the portrait format. The second edition comprises 12 value levels and the third 15 value levels. The stamps of the two editions do not differ significantly. The third edition became necessary because of the thousandfold increase in ruble values and later because the second edition was withdrawn from circulation in 1998. In the third edition, all the postage stamps from the second edition appeared again (with the exception of the face value of 0.75 rubles, which was abolished). In addition, there were four other denominations, including 50 and 100 rubles, but these were not used in practice.
The fourth edition (2002–2003) differed from its predecessors in that this series of Russian palaces and parks was more convenient for senders because it consisted of self-adhesive postage stamps. The number of denominations was reduced to nine, ranging from 1 to 10 rubles. The problem of partial postage was solved with the help of stamps still available from the third edition. The animal stamps of the fifth edition (2008) were no longer self-adhesive and were back in the standard format. The number of value levels has been increased to 15 again, although the practical value of some partial values (15, 25 and 30 kopecks) is questionable. The highest face value increased to 25 rubles. The sixth edition, "The Kremlin" (2009), marks a return to self-adhesive stamps. In contrast to the fourth edition, which had a similar theme, the face values were increased to 100 rubles and additional protective features were introduced. In November 2013, the Russian Post issued New Year stamps depicting the mascots of the 2014 Winter Olympics. These postage stamps show the polar bear, the hare, the leopard, Luchnik, the ray of light, and Sneschinka, the snowflake, in front of a wonderful winter landscape and were offered in all Russian post offices. Each stamp has a face value of 20 rubles and a total of 680,000 pieces were put into circulation.
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- Dobin, Manfred Postmarks of the Russian Empire (Pre-adhesive period) [Postmark of the Russian Empire (period before the introduction of adhesive stamps)]. St. Petersburg: Standard Collection , 1993, ISBN 5-85387-022-X .
- Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities ( Memento of October 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) ( Encyclopedia of Postal Authorities )
- Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986, ISBN 0-356-10862-7 .
- Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogs.
- Скропышева, В. Г. (1990). Карлова Е. Л. К вашим услугам - почта: Справ. пособие (Karl ELK at your service - the post). 2-е изд., Перераб. и доп. М.
- Кутьин, В. А. (1997). Санкт-Петербургский почтамт. СПб (The St. Petersburg Post Office). IA Bogdanov.
Web links
- Russian Postal History (English)