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My daughter is moving house. The room where I keep most of my philatelic stuff is filled with her furniture. It will be for some time as the 'new' house is in need of considerable refurbishment.

I therefore got out some stuff to work on for the duration, which might be some weeks. I chose something which I hadn't looked at properly for some time - envelopes from the former Soviet Union with provisional surcharges of the newly independent states.

I chose Belarus as the main focus (having less Belarusian items than Ukrainian, Estonian or Russian and very few items from the other republics).

I searched the net for any references - either web-based or to traditional books and re-found the excellent http://www.norphil.co.uk/fsu_postal_history/Former_Soviet_Union_Postal_History.htm by Norvic. But nobody else seemed to have done much apart from the information at http://home.nestor.minsk.by/ph/belarus/00.html by Yuri Vasiliev. The latter, however, only deals with the items surcharged in the Minsk Voblasts' (with nothing listed even there for Malazdechna, from which I have a couple of items).

There were plenty of references to Ukraine - the best examples were here on Stampboards - but very little apart from a scanned image or two anywhere for Belarus in any sources other than the two already mentioned.

So I thought that maybe I should scan what I have to add to the available knowledge in case anybody out there might be preparing a catalogue or whatever.

As the Ukrainian examples on Stampboards are listed town by town I decided to do the same for Belarus. My first port of call is therefore Babruisk in the Mahileu Voblasts'.

Because of the language problem I'll give the names of places in both Belarusian and Russian with the standard transliteration for each. Беларусь come out as Belarus instead of Belarus' with an apostrophe on the end because that's the offical name for the country in Roman script. The six 'provinces' of Belarus I have called Voblasts' as that's the transliteration of Вобласць - which is singular with the apostrophe confusingly standing for the end character "ь" which is a soft sign.

So - Babruisk - Бабруйск. Russian: Bobruisk - Бобруйск. In the Mahileu Voblasts' - Магілёўская вобласць (Russian: Mogilev Oblast' - Могилевская Область). These were bought from a dealer, as is evidence by the "

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Thank you for looking again at the work I did back in the early 90s

If I had more time, that would have been updated, instead of just being moved from geocities. I am now torn between revisiting the Former Soviet Union and working on my Modern GB Postal History (see current thread on GB registered envelope to NZ - I have loads of similar to work on ). And of course there is the business to run. Something's got to give.

I look forward to seeing more of your covers.

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

My second port of call is Baranavichy in the Brest Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Baranavichy- Баранавiчы. Russian: Baranovichi- Барановичи. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet 7 Kopek definitive envelope, sold originally at 19 Kopeks for two envelopes. A handstamped vertical rectangle has been put next to the 7 Kopek 'stamp'. It's 16 X 22 mm with the frame made up of what appears to be printer's rule. It's in violet ink a figure "8" and the currency "коп." (kop). This has made the envelope to the 15 Kopek rate in force earlier in 1992. A further vertical rectangle has been added in the same pattern with a value of 85 Kopeks. The second handstamp is slightly smaller at 16 X 20 mm. This makes the rate up to 1 Ruble.

The envelope is used with an additional 1 Ruble early Belarusian adhesive stamp. It is used registered from Baranavichy to a PO Box address in Minsk. The registration cachet is "З N _ _ _ _ Барановичи 17" - Z for "Zakaznoe = Registered", "N" for Number, "Baranovichi" in its Russian spelling version. The postmarks are dated 03 10 92, there is a red "ПЖДП" mark of Minsk applied on 04 10 92, and a receipt mark for Minsk 11 of 05 10 92. The ПЖДП mark is for "Почта Железо-Дорожной Почты" (Railway Posts Post Office). These can be TPO marks, but are more often like Italian "Ferrovia" cancellations - ie they were posted at a Post Office located at a Railway Station.





Another Soviet 7 Kopek definitive envelope, sold originally at 19 Kopeks for two envelopes. A handstamped vertical rectangle has been put next to the 7 Kopek 'stamp'. It's 16 X 22 mm with the frame made up of what appears to be printer's rule. It's in violet ink a figure "8" and the currency "коп." (kop). This has made the envelope to the 15 Kopek rate in force earlier in 1992. A further vertical rectangle has been added in the same pattern with a value of 85 Kopeks. The second handstamp is slightly smaller at 16 X 20 mm. This makes the rate up to 1 Ruble. These are like the first envelope except: the handstamps are separated instead of overlapping, the ink is a darker shade of violet, almost black.

Instead of any adhesives, a 16 X 21 mm handstamp has been added, also in very dark violet ink with "1 руб." (1 rub.). This makes up the 2 Rubles rate.

Yet another 16 X 21 mm "1 руб." handstamp has been added. This is in a lighter shade of violet - easily distinguishable in daylight and not as 'blue' as it looks on the scan on my screen. It is also a different handstamp from the first 1 Ruble as can be seen from the intersection of the lines at the top left hand corner.

The envelope is used from Baranavichy to Minsk. It has a sender's cachet of the Baranavichy Food Products Combine and is addressed to the "База Бакалея" (Groceries Base) in Minsk. The postmarks are dated 30 04 93, there is a receipt mark for Minsk-79 of 04 05 92.

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In my first post on this thread I showed two envelopes with provisional surcharges applied at Babruisk (Bobruisk).

The first was posted at a rate of 1 Ruble and postmarked on 16.11.92. The second was at a rate of 2 Rubles and postmarked on 18.11.92. I wondered why the second envelope had an extra 1 Ruble adhesive with a semi-jocular remark that the rate might have doubled.

I spent ages searching for a list of Belarusian postage rates in force from independence onwards. After giving up on Google etc, I tried the Russian search engine Yandex. I found a complete list to 1995 of Belarusian rates at http://konvertfil.chat.ru/index.html. It's compiled by Yuri Vasiliev.

Jocular aside - the rate really had doubled, but on 16 November so the first envelope is technically under-paid - unless it was posted earlier of course.

For anybody out there who is also searching for information about postage rates, I also found http://www.philatelicsannex.org/reference/Russian%20Postage%20Rates.pdf for Russian Empire and Soviet rates to 1967. And http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Список_почтовых_тарифов_России_и_СССР for Soviet and Russian Federation rates from 1917 to 2010.

I also managed to dig out my copy of Michael Padwee's listing of Belarusian provisionals in Interim Report. And I also found http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/International_Postage_Meter_Stamp_Catalog/Belarus for those interested in meter frankings. I contributed some items in the 1990s for the Russian Federation section of this - I didn't know it had come out as a Wikibook though!

Which reminded me about underpayment as in the 1990s we had a huge number of items, especially from the Russian Federation, which just had a 7 Kopek stamp on them even though the rate by then was supposedly in thousands of Rubles. Some had Postage Paid markings on them, but most didn't. Despite the pictures on the Ukrainian thread of Postage Due markings being used as provisional surcharges, I didn't come across any such being used for their intended purpose from anywhere in the former USSR. So the stuff just went through the post with no apparent regard for the ever more astronomical franking rates.

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Re the underpaid items, back in the 90s I think there was a suggestion (in the west at least) that letters had to be handed over the counter and if not fully stamped, postage paid was in cash. There were then three possibilities:

- stamps were added to the correct value

- a TP mark was added and the value paid in cash written in the box

- the postal clerk 'forgot' to do that, but the money was paid. Postal workers went without pay for months so maybe that was a way of supplementing their income. The fact that the letter was 'in the system' was evidence enough that it had been handled correctly despite no evidence that postage was fully paid.

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Re the date of the postmark. I used to deal with the Soviet Union a lot in the course of my work. The successor states varied in efficiency tremendously.

Material sent by surface mail from Moscow in 1992-2000 took from 3 days to two weeks as a standard. Items sent from Minsk by surface mail took from two weeks to three weeks. Capital cities usually have more efficient delivery times.... The variation in time did look like they were waiting for the sack to get full before putting it on the train. That's a logical explanation which makes some sense.

It's the same train from Moscow via Minsk, Warsaw, Berlin etc.

Items from the provinces, particularly smaller towns, could take months.

I was in Moscow in 1998. I bought the stamps. I then posted the stamped cards in a post box near the hotel. 10 days later I got home. Two weeks after that the cards started to reach my friends and relatives. They were all postmarked on the day I left Russia, so I got accused of forgetting to send the cards until the last day!

But I had been the first in the queue at the Main Post Office on Ulitsa Miasnitskaia that first morning. I remember it as the counter clerks carried on talking for a long time, so I had to use the Russian tradition of being rude to people in shops to get served.

But the same thing happened from Tallinn in 2000. I was only there for four days though, so not quite as bad. But Eesti Post or Royal Mail or some intermediary did manage to divert one of the cards which arrived two months later.

So a Belarusian envelope being 1 Ruble under rate on the day it was postmarked is no big deal. It did get to its destination the next day! Which is more than stuff sent in Britain usually does nowadays.

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My third town with its own provisional surcharge is Barysau in the Minsk Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Barisau- Барысаў. Russian: Borisov - Борисов. In the Minsk Voblasts' - Мiнская вобласць (Russian: Minsk Oblast' - Минская Область).





A Soviet 7 Kopek envelope, sold originally for 10 Kopeks, with a picture of a building in the Belarusian town of Rahachau (Рагачоў; Russian : Рогачев). The picture is by Nina Aleksandrovna Vettso, who was the artist for many of the views found on Soviet envelopes. It was sent for printing on 3 April 1992 and is, according to the Russian Wiki, the last envelope to be issued with a Soviet 'stamp' and copyright by the USSR Ministry of Communications. It commemorates the 850th anniversary of Rahachau in the Homel' Voblasts' and has the text for the picture in both Belarusian and Russian. The rest of the text on the envelope is entirely in Russian.

A handstamped provisional surcharge has been added next to the 7 Kopek 'stamp'. It's 21 X 2 3.5mm, in black ink and is unframed - the only unframed Belarusian provisional which I have come across except for the straight lines of numbers used mostly in the Brest Voblasts' - these will follow in later postings.

It as "ПОШТА" and "ПОЧТА" (Belarusian and Russian for "Post") reading vertically at the sides with the value of "93 КОП." (93 KOP.) in two horizontal lines in the centre. It was apparently the only Barysau provisional to have this pattern, the others being adapted meter stamps or the pentagon in an octagon type used in most of the towns of the Minsk Voblasts' (see http://home.nestor.minsk.by/ph/belarus/00.html). I don't have any other items from Barysau myself so have to rely on other sources for this information.

The envelope is used with an unclear violet sender's cachet of a government leasing organisation to the "Бакалея" (Grocery) depot in Minsk. It is registered with a rectangular registration cachet "З N _ _ _ _ Борисов 5" (З(аказное) = R(egistered) No. ---- Borisov 5) in Russian at the top left and a manuscript "заказное" (registered) at the top right. It has three Belarusian 2 Ruble stamps with the arms of Polatsk (Polotsk) and a Soviet 1 Ruble 1975 definitive with satellites orbiting the earth with a highlighted Soviet Union. This makes up an 8 Ruble registration rate.

The postmarks are dated 24.02.93 from "Борисов 5 Минск. О." (Borisov 5 Minsk O.). The reverse has a ПЖДП (see earlier posting for explanation of ПЖДП = TPO or postmarked at a railway station) mark of "Минск ПЖДП Цех N 1" (Minsk PZhDP Section N 1) applied on 25.02.93. The receiving mark is "Минск - 73" (Minsk - 73) applied on 26.02.93.

All postmarks and the registration cachet are in Russian only, all the postmarks still have the star with a hammer and sickle and the country name "CCCP". Estonia and Lithuania might have got rid of Russian from their postmarks almost straight away after independence. Belarus did not - the latest use from Belarus of "CCCP" with a hammer and sickle in the postmark I have is dated 11 October 1996, but I have no doubt that others have examples of later use of Soviet postal markings.

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My fourth town with its own provisional surcharge is Bykhau in the Mahileu Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Bykhau- Быхаў. Russian: Bykhov - Быхов. In the Mahileu Voblasts' - Магілёўская вобласць (Russian: Mogilev Oblast' - Могилёвская Область).





A Belarusian 1 Ruble envelope, with a picture of a bauble, a candle and a lucky bag for new year. It was sent for printing on 5 June 1992. The 'stamp' shows the coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus used until 1995. All the text of the envelope is in Belarusian, including the instruction in red to "Please send letters to other towns in good time", but the printer's imprint on the reverse shows that it was printed at the Riazhsk Factory of Goznak (called "Дзяржзнак" (Dziarzhznak) in Belarusian) in the Russian Federation. The 1 Ruble tariff was the inland letter rate from 16 June to 15 November 1992, after which the rate would increase to 2 Rubles.

A handstamped provisional surcharge has been added next to the 1 Ruble 'stamp'. It measures 20X 23 mm, in black ink. It has an exterior octagon shape, like the former Soviet meter frankings, but with an internal pentagon which has the value in it. The Soviet star is at the top of the design, which has "ПОЧТА ПОШТА" (Pochta Poshta - Russian and Belarusian for "Post") set vertically in the space between the inner and outer frames. The value "1 руб 0 коп" (1 rub 0 kop) is in the centre in four lines.

The envelope is used with a Russian language violet sender's cachet of the Bykhov Agrarian Production Association to the "Бакалея" (Grocery) depot in Minsk. It is registered with a rectangular registration cachet "З N _ _ _ _ Быхов 3" (З(аказное) = R(egistered) No. ---- Bykhov 3) in Russian at the top left and a manuscript "заказное" (registered) at the top right. It has a Belarusian 3 Ruble definitive stamp showing the national arms. This makes up a 5 Ruble registration rate.

The postmarks are dated 07.05.93 from "Быхов Могилев. О." (Bykhov Mogilev O.). The reverse has a ПЖДП (see earlier posting for explanation of ПЖДП = TPO or postmarked at a railway station) mark of "Минск ПЖДП Участок N 2" (Minsk PZhDP Section N 2) applied on 08.05.93. The receiving mark is "Минск - 75" (Minsk - 75) applied on 10.05.93. All of the postmarks are in Russian and with "CCCP" still at the top.

The pentagon in an octagon type of provisional surcharge was also used widely in the Minsk Voblasts' and in the Hrodna Voblasts'. It was also stamped onto brown paper strips in Hrodna and on Soviet adhesive stamps in the Mahileu Voblasts'.

Most of this type of surcharge were made fairly soon after independence and have "ПОЧТА СССР" (USSR Posts) as their text - this includes earlier types from Bykhau. Earlier types have a smaller pentagon with its base line roughly level with the cross-bar of the "A" in "ПОЧТА". With the rate rising from Kopeks to Rubles, the pentagon base was lowered, so it now is level with the bottom of the "A". "СССР" seems to have been replaced by "ПОШТА" round about October 1992.

This 1 Ruble 0 Kopek type of Bykhau is very easily distinguishable from other town surcharges as it has a very clear break in the top frame.

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My fifth town with its own provisional surcharge is Hrodna in the Hrodna Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Hrodna - Гродна. Russian: Grodno - Гродно. In the Hrodna Voblasts' - Гродзенская вобласць (Russian: Grodno Oblast' - Гродненская Область).







At least, I think that these two items are from Hrodna. I acquired them in a lot of about 15 other Belarusian items. All the rest were quite definitely from Hrodna as evidenced by postmarks etc. These two were included in the lot. As they are both mint there is obviously no confirmatory postmark to tie them to there place of origin. I have looked through the many pages of the listing of Belarusian provisional surcharges compiled many years ago in Interim Report and the web sources quoted in earlier postings. There is nothing like these - although they do bear a small resemblance to the pentagon part of the pentagon in an octagon surcharge used later (?) in Hrodna.

There is a definitive issue Soviet 5 Kopek postal card with the State Flag and Arms design. It was sold for 7 Kopeks, has "1988" in the design but a printing date of "1992" in the data at the bottom right of the card. It has a plain back.

The other surcharged item is a 5 Kopek envelope with a picture of a very stylized lucky bullfinch on a branch with the greetings "С Новым Годом!" (Happy New Year!). It's old stock, having been sent for printing on 17.02.88. It originally sold for 20 Kopeks. The large stationery charge is there because it originally contained a greetings card sold along with the envelope.

Both of them have been surcharged with violet pentagonal 50 Kopek surcharges - one for the card and two for the envelope. These equate to the 50 Kopeks and card and 1 Ruble envelope inland rates in force from 16 June to 15 November 1992.

The surcharge is larger than most at 29 X 25 mm. The border is very rough and ready and the three line text is "50 КОП ПОШТА" (50 Kop Posts). "KОП" is in the Russian spelling (Belarusian would be "КАП") but "ПОШТА" is in the Belarusian spelling (Russian would be "ПОЧТА").

Hrodna later used a variant of the pentagon in an octagon design (see Bykhau in a previous posting) with a star at the top. In earlier versions this had "ПОЧТА СССР" (USSR Posts) at the sides in Russian and in later versions "ПОЧТА ПОШТА" ("Posts" in Russian and in Belarusian). The "КОП" for kopek is always in the Russian spelling. As Rubles quickly took over when inflation kicked in, the later ones have just "РУБ" for "Ruble" but the Belarusian and Russian abbreviations are identical. Hrodna also produced its later surcharges on brown paper as stamps. I will put the pentagon in an octagon Hrodna items I have in the next posting - one in violet, three in red on brown paper and one in black.

If anybody out there can identify this surcharge as being from somewhere else - or can confirm that it is from Hrodna - then I would be grateful. Or even let me know that it is a bogus issue. As "Пошта" is also Ukrainian for "Posts", then it could be a Ukrainian ringer that got into a Hrodna lot. One of the items in another 'Belarusian' lot I got hold of was in fact from Kazakhstan but posted to Belarus.

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More items from Hrodna in the Hrodna Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Hrodna - Гродна. Russian: Grodno - Гродно. In the Hrodna Voblasts' - Гродзенская вобласць (Russian: Grodno Oblast' - Гродненская Область).





A Soviet formular envelope, sent for printing on 16.08.88, printed at the Goznak factory in Perm' in what became the Russian Federation. These were originally sold for 2 a Kopek. It has a provisional surcharge in the stamp space. The surcharge is in violet ink and in the pentagon in an octagon design used also in most places in the Minsk Voblasts' (except Minsk itself), the Homel' and Mahileu Voblasts's and by some post offices in other voblasts'.

The surcharge is 17 X 24 mm in size. It has the Soviet star at the top and the text "ПОЧТА СССР" (USSR Posts) in the space between the frames. The value "2 руб" (2 Rub) is in the pentagon. This is the 2 Ruble inland letter rate in force from 16 November 1992 until 31 January 1993. The envelope has been used registered from Hrodna to Minsk with two Belarusian 2 Ruble adhesives, a definitive with the national arms and a commemorative with a picture of the 12th century St Efrasina Monastery Cathedral in Polatsk. The surcharge and the stamps pay the 6 Rubles inland letter registration rate in force from 1 February to 15 March 1993.

There is a boxed registration cachet with "З Гродно 5 №" (R Grodno 5 No.) in Russian. The envelope is cancelled "Гродно 5 Гродна 5" (Grodno 5 Hrodna 5) in both Russian and Belarusian, still with the star and "CCCP" at the top on 10.02.93. There is a Minsk TPO mark on the reverse "Минск ПЖДП Цех N 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1) applied on 11.02.93. The receipt mark is "Минск - 85" (Minsk - 85) applied on 12.02.93. The Minsk postmarks are both in Russian only. The envelope has been sent from a person with a name and a town only to a poste restante address, so is presumably "philatelic".





A 4 Kopek Soviet illustrated envelope, sold for 5 Kopeks with the State Arms definitive design and a picture commemorating the 850th anniversary of the city of Hrodna - the picture is bilingual Russian and Belarusian, the text on the rest of the envelope as per normal with Soviet issues is entirely in Russian. There is a special postmark "СССР 850 лет городу Гродно 29-IX-1978 Гродно - Почтамт - Гродна" (USSR 850th anniversary of the city of Grodno 29-IX-1978 Grodno - Post Office - Hrodna). The cancellation is entirely in Russian except for the second version of the town name at the bottom. "Гродна" is feminine and transliterates from Belarusian as Hrodna. "Гродно" is neuter and transliterates from Russian as Grodno. The cancellation was designed by A Medvedev and the envelope picture by V Konovalov. It is Soviet envelope XMK 7098 sent for printing on 21.08.78 but used with the special postmark on 29.09.78 - about as near as these envelopes get to having a first day postmark.

The envelope has been pressed into service again after independence for used by the Belarusian postal authorities, or at least the Hrodna post office. It was presumably held but still unsold at the philatelic counter - Russian and Ukrainian items with similar cancellations also turn up used again, usually with the original 'stamp' value not being counted in the new rate. A 1 Kopek adhesive has, however, been added here to make the initial rate up to 5 Kopeks. These five kopeks have been included in the actual rate as at the bottom left there are three provisional stamps printed on brown paper to a combined value of 2 Rubles 95 Kopeks. These make up the 3 Rubles inland envelope rate in force from 1 February to 4 April 1993. It was actually (re-)used on 08.04.93 and should have been stamped at the increased 5 Ruble rate.

The brown paper stamps have pentagon in an octagon designs which are the same as those used for provisional surcharges on envelopes everywhere else. Only Hrodna seems to have had the brown paper stamps - in the Mahileu Voblasts' similar surcharges were made on old Soviet adhesives. Hrodna of course used the same design for surcharges on envelopes as shown by the previous and the next envelope. The 1 Ruble stamps are on the same piece of paper - apparently they were stamped onto strips of paper or in mini-sheets of eight.

All of the surcharges measure 17 X 23.5 mm (slightly smaller than the 2 Rubles violet surcharge on the previous envelope). They are later than the first example as they still have the Soviet star but no longer mention "CCCP" - instead having the text "ПОЧТА ПОШТА" (Posts in Russian and Belarusian). The values "1 РУБ" and "95 КОП" (1 Rub, 95 Kop) are within the pentagons.

Some of the Hrodna surcharges / provisionals are noted as being in red ink. The 93 Kopeks stamp is definitely in a dark reddish shade of violet, rather than the earlier 2 Rubles in darkish violet ink, or the 1 Ruble pair here which are in dark violet.

The envelope is (re-)used on 08.04.94 from "Гродно 23 Гродна 23" (Grodno 23 Hrodna 23) in both languages, but still with the Star and "CCCP" at the top. There are no transit marks or receipt marks on the reverse. It has been sent from a box number address to a private address on Karl Marx street in Hrodna - very philatelic.





The third Hrodna envelope here is a 5 Kopek Soviet illustrated envelope with the State arms and flag design and a picture of the Monument on the Common Grave of Soviet Troops and Partisans in Hrodna (the architect and sculptor are named on the reverse). The text of the picture is in Belarusian and Russian, the rest of the envelope text in Russian. The envelope was sent for printing on 21.05.1990. The picture is by Natal'ia Aleksandrovna Vettso (who I mistakenly named Nina in an earlier post).

A 10 Ruble provisional surcharge has been added next to the Soviet stamp design. This pays the 10 Ruble rate in force from 1 September to 31 October 1993 - the value of the by now worthless original 'stamp' is no longer being counted in the price.

The surcharge is slightly larger at 19 X 25 mm in size than the previous ones from Hrodna. It has the text "ПОЧТА ПОШТА" (Posts in Russian and Belarusian). The value "10 РУБ" (10 Rub) is within the pentagon.

It is used on 25.09.93 with a postmark (a continuous runner rather than a handstamp) of "Гродно Почтамт Гродна" (Grodno Post Office Hrodna). The Soviet Star, "CCCP" and the Russian language still dominate though, with only the second name of the town in Belarusian. "Почтамт" would be "Поштамт" in Belarusian. There is a large receipt mark on the reverse dated 27.09.03 of "Гродно 5 Гроднен. Гродна 5" (Grodno 5 Grodnen(skaia Oblast') Hrodna 5) with the same split of Russian and Belarusian. It has a sender's cachet of the Oblast' Co-operative Economic Production Base in Hrodna (but still in Russian) and is addressed to a commercial address also in Hrodna, so is presumably not "philatelic".

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I've seen many provisionals with the "ПОЧТА СССР". I didn't collect USSR stamps/PH - started after the break-up - but I have never seen any similar provisional surcharges used in the USSR period (when there were plenty of stamps and postage rates were stable).

Were they ever used, for anything, in the USSR?

_________________
Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

When the Soviet Union broke up, I was in frequent correspondence with many people as my job was to buy things from eastern Europe and the USSR. With the imminent disappearance (probably) of State monopolies, then new suppliers would have to be found. Most of the monopolies just carried on, sometimes privatised, sometimes no longer monopolies, sometimes with rivals who eventually took over but not until much later. I was eagerly awaiting the first appearence of envelopes etc with something other than "ПОЧТА СССР" and Soviet stamps. Being commercial correspondence, most items had meter franks on them.

I have never, ever seen an actual provisional surcharge or anything like the 'pentagon in an octagon' design used during the times of the Soviet Union.

The octagonal part of the design is the same as that used in Soviet meter franks. These have the star at the top, with a hammer and sickle inside it just like the postmarks. "ПОЧТА СССР" is down the sides with the valie "КОП" at the bottom. The number of Kopeks is in the centre. But the Soviet meter franks have a rectangular centre, not a pentagonal one.

As inflation took hold, people started to put envelopes through the machine in different directions to get multiples of 99 Kopeks plus a make up of X kopeks to bring the value up to the current rate - unless they had the type of machine that could produce franks of more than 99 Kopeks. When the rate got even higher, then they started printing the meter franks onto paper, cutting the frank away from the slogan and town mark, and using the franks as provisional stamps.

Other people started to use multiples of stamps, so that I used to get parcels from Novosibirsk when inflation had become hyper with a full sheet of 5 Ruble definitives folded and refolded and put into a small clear plastic envelope which would be glued to the front of the parcel.

The meter franks were not only used to produce provisional stamps, the frank part was also separated off and used to produce provisionally surcharged envelopes sold by the post offices. This was done in most of the former Soviet states. The States then started to produce their own meter stamps. The early Belarusian ones have "ПОШТА" at the top, "Беларусь Belarus" down the sides and "РУБ" at the bottom (Posts Belarus' Belarus Rub). They are vertical octagons with a rectangle in the centre which contains the number of Rubles.

Much like the Minsk city provisional surcharges, which are horizontal octagons with a rectangle in the centre and the same text round the edges (earlier ones of course with "КАП" for Kapeiki instead of "РУБ". The earlier Minsk ones have the Roman script name of the country as "Belarus'" with an apostrophe at the end for the "ь" character in the Cyrillic name. This apostrophe was officially dropped in the official Roman script name of the country, so later Minsk provisional and the national meter marks say just "Belarus".

Belposhta got round inflation the next time with meter marks which are much the same but have "X100 РУБ" (X100 Rub) at the bottom. The postal stationery was by then using letter codes, so it wasn't a problem any more...

The first provisional which I got in the course of my work didn't arrive until June 1992 - that was from Kyiv. "What's this funny postmark?" as my colleague who was sorting the post said. "Wow!" as I said. Being what some folk on here call "not philatelic", most of the people writing to me were using meter franks which I passed on to the guys who did the meter frank catalog, which is now as I found in Wikibooks. Nearly all of my Belarusian stuff I had to get from dealers or by exchanging with fellow stationery enthusiasts

_________________
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It really is interesting how it has taken 20 years to get any sort of record, at least in the west, of what happened in the FSU.

I supplied the meter-mark guy (whose name I have forgotten, but I still have some covers he sent me) with marks from Kazakhstan, and other FSU states, as well as loads from GB, mostly official organisations.

Earlier you mentioned Michael Padwee, and I have his reports in my filing cabinet, down to the last one when the old (free) photocopier had given up the ghost and he couldn't afford the cost of reproducing all the reports that he had.

I was a member of the British Society for Russian Philately, but interest in post-1991 happenings was confined to too few people so I gave up.

There was a discussion group on Delphi, but that died because of insufficient funds/time (Here's a page from the webarchive from 1999 - http://web.archive.org/web/199910140034 ... fsustamps/)

There were numerous websites but only a few of them survived although others - better no doubt - probably exist now. I have names and email addresses for about 40 people who were interested; some may still be valid, but I'm not updating anything yet, so I'm not ready to try to contact them! I know TAN WEE CHENG from Singapore continued his wanderlust as a travel writer, but I suspect he still has an interest.

Ah. Nostalgia.

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Not only in the west. While searching for anything about Belarus, I of course also had a look for anything about the other ex-Soviet Republics. Having the advantage of speaking Russian, I looked at sites such as Yandex doing some active searching as well as just looking for possibly relevant pictures. There's not much there in the 'east' either. Except for Ukraine and Moldova (!).

There seems to be a lot about Ukraine, which has such a huge output of provisionals, however, that there must always be more to be discovered. There are the truly excellent http://www.moldovastamps.org/ and http://www.pmrstamps.org/ compiled by Niall Murphy for Moldova and Prednestrian Moldova - back on the web after being down for four years or so. There are a few sites about Estonia, not updated for many years. There is your site about Belarus, which you are yet to update.

There are sites of the new postal administrations which just do not seem to mention (except maybe with a picture in the history page) anything about what happened before they started issuing their own material. And there is http://home.nestor.minsk.by/fsunews/ which is good for new issues in my field - I only collect postal stationery, any adhesives not next to a stationery 'indicum' are on cover to act as background information for the stationery issues.

http://home.nestor.minsk.by/fsunews/ is good for new issues on the whole but does have omissions, like all of the greetings postal cards issued by Uzbekistan. It is also very patchy indeed for the early issues except for the Minsk Voblasts' of Belarus where it is fairly comprehensive.

Mind you, I have actually visited the Philatelic Section of the main post offices in Tallinn, Moscow and Bishkek between 1998 and 2004 and got just as little information from them as I have got from the web.

The big black hole seems to be Russian Federation provisional issues. Many, like the Ukrainian ones, were of course later declared to be illegal. But there they are, postally used, certainly not 'philatelic' in many cases and seemingly totally unresearched.

Or if they have been researched, nothing has been published about them that shows up on websites in Russian, English, Polish, French, German, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish or Italian. Only six of which I speak but I do know how to use search engines, specialist sites, publishers listings etc to find obscure published material.

I recall a similar situation with the provisional issues of Bangladesh. A thin printed catalogue of postal stationery issues came out very quickly indeed - I still have a copy. There are some pictures of provisional overprints with the word "Bangladesh" in English, Bangla or both, followed by a list of Pakistani stationery that was overprinted, with at the end of some sections such as envelopes and aerogrammes a listing of the first Bangladeshi issues. It's a pretty good catalogue of Pakistani issues made after Pakistan started producing its own issues - there are a couple of websites which update the issues of Bangladesh to the present. But it isn't a catalog of which overprint was made where.

Pakistan of course had the same problems in 1947 and 1948 with provisionally overprinted Indian stationery. The adhesives seem pretty well catalogued, but the stationery issues are more hit and miss as they were applied locally in many cases.

It's the postal history aspect of it allied to social history that makes it more interesting - even the philatelic pieces are relevant in this context.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

For proof of multiple franking, I found this when looking for something else: http://www.armeniazemstvo.com/2011/08/russias-1990s-inflation-catch-22-cover.html.

It's from Trevor Pateman's blog. There's a picture of a cover franked with 94 cutouts from a franking machine that could only reach 9.99 Rubles and then stuck on the cover until the total of 841 Rubles was reached.

_________________
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Something from Lida, the second largest town in the Hrodna Voblasts'.

Belarusian: Lida- Лiда. Russian: Lida - Лида. In the Hrodna Voblasts' - Гродзенская вобласць (Russian: Grodno Oblast' - Гродненская Область).

Instead of the same spelling working out two different ways when transliterated, Lida has two different spellings according to whether it's Belarusian or Russian - but exactly the same spelling in Roman script.





This is a Soviet 50 Kopek international air mail envelope. The 'stamp' shows lucky storks, the picture has an Aeroflot plane and a globe in a compass ring. Some people call these 'semi-definitives' - definitive because there weren't any other international air mail envelopes and semi because they have a picture. The picture got altered about once a year, the 'stamp' usually remained the same. This envelope was sent for printing on 20.11.90 but is copyright 1991 as is was not issued in 1990. A lot of listings assume the sent for printing date is the date of issue. It is designed by Iurii Artsimenev, printed in Perm' and originally cost 53 Kopeks. There was a 1992 envelope with a different picture of a plane and a globe, so this is the penultimate Soviet international air mail envelope.

It has a Taxe Per'ue cachet next to the 'stamp'. A boxed 39.5 X 9.5 mm rectangle is struck in black ink. It surrounds the text "_ _ _ Р _ _ _ К TP" (_ _ _ R _ _ _ K TP). "TP" is for "Taxe Per'ue" = Postage Paid. The value "4 50" has been inserted in manuscript to make up an international air mail rate of 5 Rubles, including the original 50 Kopek value.

It is used from Lida to Washington DC with "USA" written in Roman script above the rest of the address which is in Cyrillic and in Russian. The postmark is dated 04.03.92 - much earlier than most provisionally surcharged material - from "Лида УСП Гроднен. О. Лiда УСП" (Lida USP Grodnen. O. Lida USP). УСП - USP is "Узел Связей и Почты" in Russian = Communications and Post Office. The postmark is bilingual Russian and Belarusian, still of course with the star and "CCCP" at the top.

There is what looks like an unreadable inkjet cancellation acrosss the picture, with a partial offset on the reverse. There are also no less than 6 US routing cachets in red, violet and blue-violet on the reverse. The envelope has been sent from a private individual to "Голос Америки" - Voice of America and looks distinctly un-philatelic.

One of the great debates is of course whether this is just a 50 Kopek Soviet envelope used as a forerunner in independent Belarus which happens to have had an extra 4.50 Rubles added at the counter as the rate had increased. Or is it a 0.50 + 4.50 Rubles compound stamping Soviet and Belarusian envelope with the TP mark added before sale, thus creating a new postal stationery item? As it is impossible to tell in most cases whether any example is an "uprated at the point of posting" or a "pre-surcharged before sale" item, then the debate remains and will remain unresolved.

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On to the Mahileu Voblasts' - unfortunately I have very little material from this part of Belarus. Babruisk in the Mahileu Voblasts' is in the first posting of this thread. This posting is for the Voblasts' capital, the city of Mahileu itself.

Mahileu- Магілёў. Russian: Mogilev- Могилев. In the Mahileu Voblasts' - Магілёўская вобласць (Russian: Mogilev Oblast' - Могилевская Область).





A Soviet 7 Kopek illustrated envelope with a picture of the Post Office Building in Samara on the Volga River in Russia - envelopes were often sold with pictures of towns thousands of miles away in a different Union Republic. The bulk of the envelopes were usually sold 'locally' near the location of the picture, but the print runs were often up to 2 million items for local view stuff like this and they did tend to get widely distributed. This means that identification of provisionally surcharged items like this depends on the postmark, not on the picture which can be a clue but is often a complete red (no pun intended!) herring.

It was sent for printing on 25.12.91 (not Christmas Day in the Orthodox Calendar!) but is copyright in 1992. The photo is by V Evdokimov. The envelope is printed at the Riazhsk Goznak Factory and it originally cost 10 Kopeks.

The 7 Kopek 'stamp' has been supplemented with a 13 X 22 mm surcharge in violet ink. It is a simple upright rectangle with a two line value of "93 коп" (93 kop). This makes up the 1 Ruble inland letter rate in force from 16 June to 15 November 1992.

The envelope is postmarked on 03.11.92 with "Могилев.30" (Mogilev.30) in Russian. The star and "CCCP" are (of course) still at the top of the postmark. On the reverse there is a continous runner receipt mark applied on 05.11.92 with "Гродно Почтамт" (Grodno Post Office) in Hrodna (Grodno), the capital of the Hrodna Voblasts' in western Belarus. This is also in Russian only.

The simple oblong with a value and currency set in two lines was not only used in the Mahileu Voblasts' but also in Vitsebsk and various towns in the Brest Voblasts. They do differ in size, however.

_________________
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locakart,

very interesting thread - keep it going! I will try to add with my limited Belarus material.

Having read your discussion about the 2 covers from Bobruisk and the change-over from the 1R to the 2R rate, I went through my material of the period and my notes to find similar inconsistencies. I could not find anything from Mogilev, but I have recorded the late (i.e post 16th November 1992) use of the 1R rate from a number of localities in Brest oblast (Drogishiv, Kamenetsk, Baranovichi).

A very late use of the 1R rate is this cover in my collection from Baranovichi to St Petersburg, posted on 21/12/1992 and arriving on the 26th. The 7k indicium of the Soviet PSE (note the Belarus "theme") is supplemented with the typical rectangular handstamps of Baranovichi for 8k and 85k:



It is interesting that the rates at this point in time appear to be (are?) the same for correspondence inside Belarus and towards Russia. Is this consistent with the published rates?

Vasia,

I've only been able to find a table of inland rates for Belarus. It's at http://home.nestor.minsk.by/ph/belarus/e_inland.html.

The 1 Ruble inland envelope rate was supposedly in force from 16 June to 15 November 1992, increasing on 16 November 1992 to 2 Rubles. 2 Rubles remained the inland envelope rate until 1 February 1993 when it was increased to 3 Rubles. Whether mail to the Russian Federation went at the same rate as within Belarus I do not know.

Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, mail to the other Comecon countries all went at inland rate so mail to the 'near-abroad' might well have survived at a single rate.

My only experience with rate differences was in Ukraine in 2000 when the local post office at Sudak in Crimea was selling Ukrposhta formular envelopes with different out-of-date stamps already on the envelopes. The rates did not match the price charged - the stamps were there to differentiate the Ukrainian inland rate from the Russian near-abroad rate.

The Michel Ganzsachen-Katalog Europa Ost has postage rate tables for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but not for Moldova, the Russian Federation or Ukraine. I have tables of Kazakh and Ukrainian rates somewhere in my notes. But nothing for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. And not a complete set of rates for Belarus.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Now Asipovichy in the Mahileu Voblasts' - for the alphabetical order people using Russian town names it would be much further down the list as it's Osipovichi with an "O" in Russian.

Asipovichy- Асiповiчы. Russian: Osipovichy - Осиповичи. In the Mahileu Voblasts' - Магілёўская вобласць (Russian: Mogilev Oblast' - Могилевская Область).





This is a Belarusian 40 Kopek envelope with the 'stamp' design showing the new national arms - later to be abolished in 1995 in favour of a Soviet-style national badge. A picture at the left has decorations hanging from a fir tree with "З Новым Годам!" (Z Novym Hodam! = Happy New Year!). The picture is from a photo by P Kastenka. The envelope was sent for printing on 12.11.91 and printed at the Perm' Goznak Factory in the Russian Federation, but copyright by the Republic of Belarus Ministry of Communications in 1992, ready for New Year 1992 rather than 1991.

"Sending for printing" New Year, Women's Day, Victory Day, 'Anniversary of Great October' Day etc envelopes nearly a year in advance was quite common in Soviet times. The term used was actually "Подписано до печати" which is more accurately translated as "Signed off for printing" i.e. the design is approved. So the date on the back of the envelopes is not the First Day of Issue, nor the date of actual printing but just the date of approval.

The envelope has an additional 1 Ruble stamp commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. A boxed surcharge has also been added, raising the rate paid with the original 'stamp' and the commemorative to 4.55 Rubles.

The surcharge is a boxed 37 X 13 mm rectangle, not particularly well formed, printed in violet ink. Inside it is a single line "Цена-----р.-----к." (Tsena ---r.---k.) - "Price ----r.----k." The valued of 3.15 Rubles is entered in manuscript.

There is a black boxed registration cachet "З N _ _ _ _ Осиповичи 5" (R N _ _ _ _ Osipovichi 5) in Russian. The postmarks are applied on 28.11.92 with "Осиповичи 5 Могилев. О." (Osipovichi 5 Mogilev. O[blast'].). The back has a receipt mark applied on 30.11.92 "Минск 116" (Minsk 116). All of the postmarks are in Russian only and all are still Soviet with the star and "CCCP" at the top.

The envelope is used from a private individual in Osipovichi to a M I Pinchuk at a post box in Minsk. I have several items addressed to Mr Pinchuk, but they all appear to be 'philatelic' rather than 'bogus'. As they say, it passed through the mail and has been opened at the bottom. I looked up the details of the stamp at http://philately.iatp.by/ and it was issued on 20.03.1992, designed by G Komlev (presumably German Komlev who designed many Soviet illustrated envelopes) and shows the Cross of Evfrosina of Polotsk (Polatsk in Belarusian but the website is in Russian). The cross was "lost in the Great Patriotic War". 20 years after an independent Belarus left the Soviet Union and they still call World War II the "Great Patriotic War"

The inland registered envelope rate was only 4 Rubles for companies from 16 November 1992 to 31 January 1993 and only 2 Rubles for individuals from 16 June 1992 to 29 November 1992 (one day after this letter was sent). From 30 November 1992 the individual rate became the same as the company rate. So why 4.55 Rubles? It does not look like it has had any extra weight included.

Or is the total cost actually 3.15 Rubles including the two stamps? In which case the counter clerk might have looked it up incorrectly on the chargts and made up a rate of 2 Rubles for the postage and 1.15 Rubles for registration (the registered rate in early 1992).

Much stranger things seemed to happen in the former Soviet Union postal systems than getting the rates wrong and/or not knowing whether the rate includes or excludes the other stamps. And that's just the legitimate things.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Now on to the Vitsebsk Voblasts'. I unfortunately only have one item from this Voblasts' and it is from the capital.

Vitsebsk- Вiцебск. Russian: Vitebsk- Витебск. In the Vitsebsk Voblasts' - Віцебская вобласць (Russian: Vitebsk Oblast' - Витебская Область).





It is a Soviet definitive 7 Kopek envelope. These were sold for 19 Kopeks for two envelopes. It was printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory and is copyright in 1991 - there is no sent for printing date. The design has the State Arms of the USSR at the top left and a 'stamp' design representing modern means of communication.

Next to the 7 Kopek 'stamp' there is a hand stamped surcharge. It is a vertical 12 X 22 mm rectangle printed in black ink. The box surrounds the two line value "1 руб" (1 rub). Similar surcharges were used at several towns in the Brest and Mahileu voblasts's.

The envelope has a runner postmark applied on 20.11.92 in Vitsebsk "Витебск Вiцебск". Like many of the larger towns, the cancellation is bilingual Russian and Belarusian. Still with the star and "CCCP" at the top.

The reverse has a runner TPO postmark applied on 21.11.92 "Минск ПЖДП Цех № 1" (Minsk TPO Section 1). The receipt mark is dated on 23.11.92 "Минск 99" (Minsk 99). Both the cancellations on the reverse are in Russian only.

The envelope has a Russian language sender's address cachet of the Vitebsk Artistic Products Factory and is addressed to the State Committee for Industry of the Republic of Belarus.

1 Ruble was the inland envelope rate from 16 June to 15 November 1992. The rate for companies increased to 2 Rubles on 16 November 1992, but stayed at 1 Ruble for individuals until 29 November 1992. It looks like a company letter has been posted at the individual rate.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Now on to the Brest Voblasts'. The Brest Voblasts' surcharges are almost immediately distinguishable in most cases. The distinguishable ones are made with either numbering machine machines or simple handstamps, unframed and with just a row of numbers or numbers and an oblique to separate Rubles from Kopeks.

There are exceptions such as Baranavichy (Baranovichi) from which I showed two examples of vertical rectangle surcharges in an earlier posting. Other towns in the Brest Voblasts' used vertical rectangles or TP marks. I will show some of these in later postings, nearly all used in combinations with one or more row-of-numbers types. Over 90% of items I have from the Brest Voblasts' have a row-of-numbers type either used singly, in combination with one or more extra rows-of-numbers or in combination with a different surcharge.

The row-of-numbers is, however, also found used on Soviet envelopes in other places, including towns in distant Kazakhstan and the much nearer Minsk Voblasts' of Belarus. Legible postmarks therefore are needed to confirm which country, let alone which town, the envelope before you has come from.

The first place I have in the Brest Voblasts' is Aharevichy - another one where listing it in Russian would change the order as the Russian is 'Ogarevichi' with an "O".

Aharevichy- Агарэвiчы. Russian: Ogarevichi - Огаревичи. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





This is a 7 Kopek illustrated Soviet envelope. The 'stamp' shows modern meands of communication. the picture shows the XVI-XIX Century arms of the Belrusian towns of Kreva, Polatsk, Navaharodak, Niasvizh, Pinsk and Mazyr on a grey map of Belarus. Soviet heraldry had taken off in the 1980s with new coats of arms being designed for many towns - a revival of interest meant that many towns also revived their older coats of arms and, in the spirit of glasnost' and perestroika, started to re-use them. Another envelope with different Belarusian town arms was also issued - but I have not seen any similar for any of the other repbublics. The envelope originally cost 10 Kopeks. The picture is designed by A Titov and re-drawn by A Korshunov. It was sent for printing on 20.02.91 and was printed at the Riazhsk Goznak Factory in Russia.

The value of the pre-paid postage has been increased to 1 Ruble by a handstamped surcharge to the left of the original 'stamp'. The surcharge is an unboxed 10 X 4.5 mm straight line of the numerals "093".

The 93 kopek surcharges applied at different post offices vary by either having or not having a leading zero - or by having more than one leading zero. 1 Ruble was the inland envelope rate from 16 June to 29 November 1992 for individuals.

It is used on 24.11.92 with a large postmark "Огаревичи Брест. О. Агарэвiчы" (Ogarevichi Brest. O(blast'). Aharevichy". The name of the town is given in both Russian and Belarusian. On the reverse there is a TPO mark dated 24.11.92 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). This is in Russian only. Both the postmarks have the star and "CCCP" at the top (of course).

The Minsk postmark says "Цех И 1" with a Cyrillic "И" = "I". This should be a "N". A Roman rather than a Cyrillic script "N" is used as the abbreviation for "№" (or "№" itself is used) in Russian. "№" is in the same position as a single character on a standard Russian "йцукен" keyboard as "

_________________
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Since you showed only one provisional surcharge from Vitebsk, I thought I could show several additional ones used during 1992-1993 in that city.



Posted on 24/12/1992 from Vitebsk to Rossoni, Vitebskaya oblast (backstamped on the 26th). The rate, according to the tables, should be 2R, irrespective of the "companies/individuals" distinction (here an institute in Vitebsk). A provisional "meter-type" (with only two vertical lines of the outer frame) ПОЧТА / ПОШТА handstamp for 1R 93k is used to supplement the 7k indicium of the PSE. Why then the extra 2x45k of the new Belarus stamps?

And the back of the envelope with a violet triangular stamp of the Vitebsk institute:

Two more provisional surcharges used in the city of Vitebsk:



Posted on 4/5/1993 from Vitebsk to Rossoni, Vitebskaya oblast. A provisional "meter-type" (octagonal) ПОЧТА / ПОШТА handstamp for 1R 13k had been applied in 1992 to supplement the 7k indicium of the PSE, corresponding to the 1R20k letter rate for companies, valid from May to November 1992. However, by May 1993, the letter rate for companies had gone up to 5R, hence 8x50k new Belarus stamps are added, for a slight overpayment (by 20k) of the total charge.



Posted on 27/8/1993 from Vitebsk to Rossoni, Vitebskaya oblast. A post-independence provisional ПОШТА Republic Belarus meter stamp for 4R 93k had been applied earlier in the year to supplement the 7k PSE indicium for the 5R letter rate. By the time of posting, however, the rate had gone up to 10R, according to the rate tables. The puzzle: why the addition of a 10R new Belarus stamp, while only 5R are needed? An overweight letter?

Note the interesting sign of the times: despite all the demonstrations of Belarus independence on the cover (stamp and meter), the large Soviet Union emblem on the upper left of the PSE stands in stark contrast!

Vasia,

The four Vitsebsk surcharges (the one of mine and the three of yours) seem to show some form of progression. Most places seem to use the same type with ever-increasing values. Or totally different ones chosen seemingly at random.

The first is a simple boxed rectangle for 1 Ruble. The second is the pentagon in an octagon type for 1.13 Rubles - the same type as used by nearly everywhere in the Minsk Voblasts', in Hrodna etc etc.

The third, the 1.93 Rubles, looks like the pentagon in an octagon broke, so they put one together locally with the same elements. Star at the top, "ПОЧТА ПОШТА" in Russian and Belarusian, value in four rows. But they could not manage the inner pentagon - or the horizontal lines on the outer frame either.

The fourth, the 4.93 Rubles looks like a 'Belarusified' version of the 1.93 Rubles. The arrangement of most of the text is the same as used in the Minsk horizontal octagon surcharges - "ПОШТА" at the top, "Республика Беларусь" (Respublika Belarus') at the sides. The Minsk ones have "Беларусь Belarus" in Cyrillic and Roman scripts, so the Vitsebsk one is not a direct copy. The value is laid out like the previous 1.93 Rubles surcharge but they gave up on trying to do frame lines.

I like the point about the big Soviet arms at the top left - the postmarks also make the Belarusification of the surcharges and stamps seem rather than strange. Lithuania and Estonia dropped Soviet symbols and also the Russian language from all of their postal markings very early. There was no need to drop Russian in Belarus of course - even the Belarusian government says that 72% of their citizens are Russian first language speakers and only 12% are Belarusian first language speakers.

_________________
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Vasia,

Re the postage rates. The first one seems the most inexplicable. Why an extra 90 Kopeks. Кто знает? Who knows? Not me.

The second one is overpaid by 20 Kopeks. They probably didn't have any 30 Kopek stamps and so had to use a 50 Kopek one to make the rate. This type of slight overpayment seems to have been a fairly common occurrence. Maybe they should have used a TP cachet and written the amount paid in to get the right rate? That's what was happening in other places.

For the third one, maybe the sender got told that the 5 Ruble rate was no longer in force, but they could use one of the old envelopes if they bought a correct rate 10 Ruble stamp to go on it? So the old Soviet stamp and the surcharge aren't actually counting towards the rate?

_________________
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locakart,

Very intriguing "connecting-of-the dots" regarding the progression of the provisional surcharges in Vitebsk. I greatly enjoyed your line of reasoning. I will keep looking at my other Vitebsk covers to see if they fit into this scheme and let you know.

I looked at my remaining Vitebsk material of the period and I can add the following observations:

1. The first provisional revaluation used in Vitebsk appears to be a typical ПОЧТА CCCP octagonal meter. In the example that follows it is used (on 21/4/1992) with a value of 10k to supplement the 5k PSE and make up the letter rate, which was valid until June 1992. The letter is addressed to St Petersburg, Russia. Once again it appears that for most of 1992 the rates to CIS countries were the same as the domestic Belarus rates.



2. Next in line is (I think) the octagonal ПОЧТА / ПОШТА meter I have shown in a previous post. The value of this meter in my example (1R 13k) suggests that it was introduced around May 1992 to make up (together with 7k PSE's) the 1R 20k letter rate for companies. It is not clear to me whether this is a converted version of the previous meter or a new meter. I have an example of it, with a value of 95k, to make up the 1R rate (valid after mid-June 1992).

3. Next is the boxed rectangle that locakart showed. Its 1R value suggests that it was probably introduced around June 1992 to help with the just-introduced new rate. It is possible that it was used before that, but we have to demonstrate its use on a registered piece of mail (the registration surcharge was 1R even before June 1992).

Below is an example of this provisional mark, used together with 3 strikes of a pentagonal mark (!) of 33k to make up the 2R rate valid in December. Interestingly, this new handstamp looks like the inner part of the Soviet meter discussed above in (1). (This 33k marking was probably introduced in early 1992 to supplement 7k PSE's and make up the 40k letter rate for companies):



4. Following in our progression should be the "broken octagon" variety, shown used in an earlier post in late December 1992 for a value of 1R 93k. I have seen this used as late as 24/4/1993 with a different value.

5. Last in this series of Vitebsk provisional marks is the "ПОШТА Республика Беларусь" one, probably introduced around May 1993, together with the introduction of the 5R letter rate.

Irrespective of their date of introduction, there is an obvious overlap in the use of provisional markings #2,3 and 4, given that many PSE's, already stamped with them, were used at later dates with the supplementary addition of Belarus stamps or other markings.

Vasia,

On looking at the Vitsebsk surcharges again before your last posting and comparing them with those from other places, I was going to suggest that the 1 Ruble in a rectangle was possibly one made somewhere else and then used in Vitsebsk as it is obviously replacing rather than supplementing the original postage rate.

The Vitsebsk surcharges are supplementing the original stamps right up to the 4.93 + 0.07 Rubles rate in the examples you have shown. I have an example of a 4.93 + 0.07 from Minsk as well (to come in a later posting!) - but also have a much earlier 2.00 Rubles from Minsk struck over and replacing the original value so both ways of using the surcharges seem to have been used at the same time in the same place. The 1 Ruble replacing the original stamp rather than a 0.93 Rubles supplementing it does seem to be a very early use of the surcharge to cover the full postage rate by itself.

But your second example above seems to show that the 1 Ruble is a Vitsebsk surcharge.

I am impressed by the 3 X 33 Kopek surcharges, which seem very obviously to be from the central pentagon of a 'pentagon-in-an-octagon' type. Didn't they like the star and "ПОЧТА СССР" so just decided to use the inner pentagon? Or were they saving on ink? The 1.93 Rubles surcharge shows that they may have dropped the "CCCP" but were still using the star.

The 1 + (3 X 0.33) sucharge is of course replacing the original stamp while the 1.93 is supplementing it to produce exactly the same rate (less one kopek because of rounding error). So in Vitsebsk they were using more than one way of surcharging the same basic material. And not for philatelic purposes either.

I think that you must be right about the postage rates to the near-abroad being the same as the inland rate.

By the way, do you know what the "Большой Фестиваль" (Big Festival) in St Petersburg was in the address on the second envelope)?

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Next in the Brest Voblasts' is Davyd-Haradok. Literally 'David Little Town'.

Davyd-Haradok - Давыд-Гарадок. Russian: David-Gorodok - Давид-Городок. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet 7 Kopek envelope with the 'modern means of communication' 'stamp'. A picture of the left has the hammer and sickle on red stars, three carnations, the ribbon of the Order of Victory and the text "С Праздником!" (S Prazdnikom! - Holiday Greetings!) for the Victory Day celebration, a public holiday held on 9 May each year. The picture was designed by B Skriabin. The envelope was sent for printing on 11.09.91 but is copyright 1992. It was printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory in Russia and has the usual text found on the reverse of greetings envelopes urging the sender to send letters to other towns in good time.

A 12.5 X 22.5 mm vertical rectangle has been stamped next to the original 'stamp'. It is in violet ink and has the text "8 коп" (8 Kop). This raised the postage rate to 15 Kopeks, the inland envelope rate for individuals from 3 January to 15 June 1992.

An unboxed surcharge in black ink has been stamped to the left of the first surcharge. The second surcharge is 10 X 4 mm and just gives the additional value of "085" (Kopeks). This is one of the 'row-of-numbers' surcharges used throughout the Brest Voblasts' and in a few other places. It raises the postage rate to 1 Ruble, the general rate from 16 June 1992 until 15 November 1992 for companies and 29 November 1992 for individuals.

Still lying unpurchased in the Post Office, another unboxed black ink straight line 'row-of-numbers' surcharge has been added. This one is "1_0" to give an increase of 1 Ruble. The underscore is rather faint but is definitely an underscore rather than the edge of the stamper. This raises the postage rate paid to 2 Rubles, the individual rate from 16 November 1992 to 31 January 1992.

The envelope is used on 29.12.92 with a postmark "Давид-Городок Брест. Давыд-Гарадок" (David-Gorodok Brest. Davyd-Haradok). The postmark is bilingual Russian and Belarusian.

It has a Minsk TPO runner mark on the reverse applied on 30.12.92 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1 - see an earlier posting for the "И" instead of "N" in this postmark). This postmark is in Russian. Both of the postmarks have the star and "CCCP".

The envelope is used from a private individual to the magazine Дайджест (Digest) in Minsk and is not philatelic. I have no idea what the "26683" written in red ink at the top left of the envelope is there for.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Still in the Brest Voblasts', the next town is Luninets. One of the rare ones that is spelled differently in the two languages but in which the transliteration comes out the same in Roman script.

Luninets - Лунiнец. Russian: Luninets - Лунинец. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet formular envelope with a picture of a 1973 T-72 medium tank. The picture is by V Ivanov. The envelope was printed at the Goznak Perm' Factory. It was sent for printing on 21.08.89 but is copyright in 1990. It was originally sold for 1 Kopek.

The Soviet Union issued many, many of these envelopes without any 'stamps'. When they had different postage rates for airmail and surface inland delivery it made a lot of sense as you could put on the stamps necessary at the time. After they consolidated the rates in 1971 people still use to buy the unstamped envelopes - at 1 Kopek each at the end of the Soviet Union it was cheaper to put a 7 Kopek stamp on a 1 Kopek envelope than use a pre-printed envelope with a 7 Kopek 'stamp' that cost 10 Kopeks to buy.

It has had a 14 X 3 mm provisional surcharge added at Luninets. The surcharge is a 'row-of-numbers' type printed in black ink with just the numbers "0200". This pays the 2 Rubles inland envelope rate in force from 30 November 1992 until 31 January 1993 for individuals (16 November 1992 to 31 January 1993 for companies).

The envelope has a runner postmark applied on 15.01.93 "Лунинец Брест. Лунiнец" (Luninets Brest. Luninets). The town name is given in both the Russian and Belarusian spellings.

On the reverse there is a Minsk TPO mark applied on 16.01.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1) - see an earlier posting for the incorrect use of "И" for "N" to represent "Number".

It was sent from a private individuaol in Luninets to Дайджест (Digest), a magazine based in Minsk. An envelope in an earlier posting was addressed to the same place. One still to be posted will show from the address that Digest is also in fact the name of a Belarusian-Australian Agency based at 5 Frunze Street in Minsk.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Still in the Brest Voblasts', the next town is Pruzhany. One of the very rare ones that is not only spelled the same in the two languages but also in which the transliteration comes out the same in Roman script.

Pruzhany - Пружаны. Russian: Pruzhany- Пружаны. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet 5 Kopek illustrated envelope with the 'stamp' showing the State Flag and Arms design. The picture is like an envelope in a previous posting with XVI-XIX century arms of Belarusian towns on a background of a grey map of Belarus. This is an envelope with the arms of different towns - this time they are Hrodna, Vitsebsk, Minsk, Mahileu, Brest and Homel'. The picture was designed by A Korshunov. It was sent for printing on 27.12.89 but is copyright in 1990. It was printed at the Goznak Perm' Factory in Russia. It was sold for 6 Kopeks.

A 7 X 4 mm unboxed 'row-of-numbers' type surcharge has been stamped next to the original 'stamp'. This has just the two numbers "95" for 95 Kopeks. This brought the envelope up to the 1 Ruble inland rate in force from 16 June 1992 until 29 November 1992 for individuals (15 November for companies). Unlike some of the other row-of-number surcharges, there is NO leading zero. The figures are also sans-serif.

It has, however, been used in January 1993 by which time the inland rate had increased to 2 Rubles. A boxed 40 X 10 mm TP cachet has therefore been added. It is printed in black and with "_ _ _ Р _ _ _ К TP" (_ _ _R _ _ _ K TP). TP = Taxe Per'ue = Postage Paid. Within the cachet is a single manuscript "1" in the Rubles space. This makes up the extra 1 Ruble.

The envelope has been posted on 11.01.93 with a runner postmark "Пружаны Брест. Пружани" (Pruzhany Brest. Pruzhani). It has the town name in both Russian and Belarusian. But the Belarusian version should be the same as the Russian for Pruzhany. Here the last letter is a "и" (I) - quite a major mistake as Belarusian uses "i" instead of "и".

The reverse has a runner TPO postmark for Minsk applied on 12.01.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). Both the postmarks still have the star and "CCCP" at the top. The TPO mark has the "И" instead of "N" mistake mentioned in earlier posts. An envelope with two mis-spelled postmarks, both mistakes involving the letter "И".

The envelope has been used by an individual to the Дайджест (Digest) Belarusian-Australian Agency in Minsk.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Nice display of Brest oblast so far, locakart!

It would appear that the numerator ("row-of-numbers") markings have the upper hand in this oblast, alone or in combination with other markings - they are used on 4 of the 5 covers you showed.

The "vertical rectangle" markings are next (2 out of 5 covers).

I have some Brest oblast covers of my own to show, but I will wait until you finish yours.

And so to Brest, the capital of the Brest Oblast'. Brest was formerly known as Brest-Litovsk and was the place where the treaty was signed between revolutionary Russia and the Central Powers which took Russia out of World War I. It is also well known as a town where the standard European railway gauge changes to the Russian/Soviet broad gauge, so that the bogies on all of the railway stock need to be changed before the train can proceed.

Brest - Брэст. Russian: Brest - Брест. Capital of the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet illustrated formular envelope, sold for 1 Kopek. The picture shows the flowers, leaves and fruit of a snowball tree (kalina). The design is by N Kazakova. It was sent for printing on 14.04.89 and was printed at the Goznak Perm' Factory.

It has had a 4 Kopek stamp put on it prior to sale (this was quite a common occurrence) but has remained unsold. It has therefore been uprated with a provisional surcharge. This is a 14.5 X 4.5 mm black row-of-numbers type surcharge "1 96" for 1 Ruble 96 Kopeks. It is in a seriffed font with no leading zero but with a space between the Ruble and Kopek values. The envelope now meets the 2 Ruble inland envelope rate in force from 16 November 1992 for companies (30 November for individuals) to 31 January 1993.

It is used on 27.01.93 from Brest to Minsk with a runner TPO postmark "Брест ПЖДП Брэст" (Brest TPO Brest). It is bilingual Russian and Belarusian - unusual for ПЖДП marks .

The reverse has a TPO mark also applied on 27.01.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). This is in Russian only. Both have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

It is used from a private address (without a name for the inhabitant of Room 151, 17 Leningrad Street) to the Дайджест (Digest) Belorusian-Australian Agency.





The second envelope from Brest is an illustrated 13 Kopek Soviet registered envelope. The 'stamp' shows two communications satellites. The picture shows a dove of peace / carrier pigeon with a rolled-up and sealed document. "Голубь" (golub') means both dove and pigeon in Russian. There is a pre-printed registration 'label' at the top left with "Заказное" (Zakaznoe = Registered) over it. The envelope was designed by V Vasil'ev. It was sent for printing on 19.12.91 but copyright in 1992 (and therefore after the formal dissolution of the USSR - any used copy will therefore be a forerunner of one of the successor states). It was printed at the Goznak Perm' Factory, now in the Russian Federation. It was sold for 16 Kopeks.

It has been uprated with a boxed 40 X 10 mm TP cachet printed in black. The cachet reads "_ _ _ Р_ _ _ К TP" (_ _ _ R_ _ _ K TP). TP = Taxe Per'ue = Postage Paid. The value of 3.87 Rubles has been inserted in manuscript. This brought the envelope up to the 4 Ruble inland registered envelope rate in force from 16 November 1992 for companies (30 November for individuals) to 31 January 1993.

It has, however been used on 10.02.93. Two 1 Ruble Belarusian definitive stamps have therefore been added to make up the 6 Ruble registration rate in force from 1 February 1993 to 15 March 1993 for companies, 4 April 1993 for individuals. It is postmarked with two bilingual Belarusian and Russian postmarks "Брест 2 Брэст 2" (Brest 2 Brest 2).

On the reverse there is a Minsk TPO mark applied on 12.02.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех N 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). The handstamped, unlike the roller, postmark has "N 1" rather than the erroneous "И 1" - see an earlier posting for an explanation of this error. A receipt mark is also on the reverse, applied on 13.02.93 "Минск-99". All of the postmarks still have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top

The envelope is used from an organization with an illegible acronym at 2 Suvorov Street (near the airport) to the State Industrial Committee of the Rebublic of Belarus in Minsk.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Since we are still showing covers from the Brest oblast and I have a few to show when locakart finishes his selection, I thought it might be useful to post 2 maps of Brest oblast, the first showing its subdivisions into rayons, the second showing some of the major population centers of the oblast:

I will show some provisional markings from Brest oblast, primarily from locations that locakart has not covered.



The first is posted on 5/6/1992 from the city of Brest to Voronezh, Russia. The letter rate is still 15k (until the 16th of the month - once again it appears that domestic Belarus rates are the same as the rates to CIS countries).

An 8k "vertical rectangle" marking in black is struck on the envelope, partly overlapping the 7k indicium and supplementing it to make up the correct rate. Note the unusual sign at the upper left of the rectangle. Cancelled with the runner TPO postmark "Брест ПЖДП Брэст" (Brest TPO Brest) that locakart has shown in an earlier cover.



Next is a cover posted on 2/12/1992 from БЕЛОВЕЖСКИЙ / Belovezhskii, Kamenetskii rayon, Brest oblast to St Petersburg, Russia. The rate at this point is 2R, for individuals and companies alike.

The 7k Soviet-era PSE had been originally stamped with a 093 numerator ("row-of-numbers") provisional marking to cover the earlier 1R rate. The higher rate requires now the addition of a second type of provisional marking: a postage-due oval of Belovezhskii, hand-converted from a postage-due to a paid marking (Doplatit to Doplacheno), with a written-in "1p" for the additional charge required.

Next is Biaroza in the Brest Voblasts'

Biaroza- Бяроза. Russian: Bereza- Береза. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





This is a 5 Kopek Soviet illustrated envelope with a view of a building in Luninets in the Brest Voblasts' to celebrate the town's 450th anniversary. The text for the picture is in both Belarusian and Russian. The picture was designed by Natal'ia Aleksandrovna Vettso. It was sent for printing on 20.03.1990 and is copyright in 1990. It was printed at the Goznak Perm' Factory and originally cost 6 Kopeks.

A handstamped 11 X 4.5 mm provisional surcharge has been added next to the 'stamp'. It is a 'row-of-numbers' type with just "100" for 100 Kopeks. There is no leading zero and no space in the middle. The original value has been ignored (rather early for this - a 5 Kopek envelope would have been surcharged 95 Kopeks in most places to make up a 1 Ruble rate). The uprated envelope would have fulfilled the 1 Ruble inland envelope rate in force from 16 June 1992 to 15 November 1992 for companies or 29 November 1992 for individuals.

Remaining unsold after the rate rise, another "100" surcharge has been added to make up the 2 Rubles rate in force from either 16 or 30 November (company or individual) to 31 January 1993. Or at least that would be the explanation with most such double surcharges...

The "100" strikes, however, look very nearly identical, both slightly under-inked, the lower one a little more under-inked than the top one. They might very well, therefore, have been added at the same time after the rate rise. Not wanting to add a 95 Kopek and a 1 Ruble provisional, whoever did the stamping seems to have just added two 1 Ruble strikes and ignored the original 'stamp' value. When the rates got higher, then the original 'stamps' were usually ignored, but in early 1993 the surcharge(s) tend to replace rather than supplement the original value.

It is used on 29.01.93 with a runner postmark "Береза Брест. Бяроза" (Bereza Brest. Biaroza) in both Russian and Belarusian. The reverse has a TPO mark "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). Both postmarks still have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

The envelope is used from a private individual in Biaroza to "Дайджест-игра" (Digest-game) in Minsk.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

The Belovezhskii cover is one of the few Belarusian ones which can immediately be recognized as coming from a particular place because of the "Беловежский" town name in the postage-due cachet.

Ukraine and the Russian Federation have quite a few places which put the name of the town in the provisional marking. I have seen quite a few Ukrainian uses of postage-due cachets used in the same way as this, but this usage seems to be very unusual for Belarus - unless you have more of them of course!

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Now Ivatsevichy in the Brest Voblasts'

Ivatsevichy - Iвацэвiчы. Russian: Ivatsevichi - Ивацевичи. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet illustrated 7 Kopek envelope with the 'stamp' showing modern means of postal transport. The picture is of a Dandy Dan peony from a photo by V Dubrov, with the layout designed by E Golubiatnikova. The envelope was sent for printing on 20.01.92 (after the end of the USSR) and printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory, now in the Russian Federation. The envelope cost 10 Kopeks, the charge for the stationery having risen from 1 to 3 Kopeks.

A 23 X 4.5 mm provisional surchage has been placed next to the 'stamp'. It is in black ink and is a row-of-numbers type "000093" for 93 Kopeks. This raised the rate for the envelope to 1 Ruble, the inland envelope rate in force from 16 June 1992 to 15 November 1992 for companies or 29 November 1992 for individuals.

This is an unusual 'row-of-numbers' surcharge. Most 'row-of-numbers' examples have either one or no leading zeroes. This example, however, has no less than four.

It has, however, not been used until January 1993. There is therefore another provisional surcharge placed below the first one. This is a 39.5 X 10.5 boxed TP cachet struck in black "_ _ _Р_ _ _ К TP" (_ _ _R_ _ _K TP). The value of "1 -" has been added in manuscript. This raises the rate to the 2 Ruble one in force from November 1992 until 31 January 1993.

The envelope is postmarked 22.01.93 from "Ивацевичи 4 Брест. О. Iвацэвiчы 4" (Ivatsevichi 4 Brest O. Ivatsevichy) with the name of the town in both Russian and Belarusian. There is a Minsk TPO mark on the reverse applied on 23.01.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). Both the postmarks have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

The envelope has been used from a private individual in Ivatsevichy to the "Дайджест-игра "Суперчанс"" ('Superchance' Digest-game) in Minsk.

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Two covers from МОТЫКАЛЫ / Motykaly, Brest rayon, Brest oblast:



Posted on 1/12/1992 to St Petersburg. The letter rate is 2R. The 7k Soviet-era PSE had been originally stamped with a 093 numerator ("row-of-numbers") provisional marking to cover the earlier 1R rate. The higher rate requires now the addition of a second type of provisional marking: a postage-due oval of Motykaly, with a written-in "1p" for the additional charge required. In contrast to the marking from Belovezhskii, it has not been hand-converted from a postage-due to a paid marking (Doplatit to Doplacheno), but it definitely serves a "Paid" function.



Posted on 26/1/1993 to St Petersburg. The letter rate is 2R. The 7k Soviet-era PSE had been previously revaluated with a "093" manuscript surcharge to cover the earlier 1R rate. The higher rate is now covered with the addition of 2x50k Belarus definitives. (Notice the Brest theme of the PSE).

It seems, therefore, that Motykaly was very innovative in its use of provisional markings!

On to Kobryn in the Brest Voblasts'

Kobryn - Кобрын. Russian: Kobrin - Кобрин. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





A Soviet illustrated envelope with a 7 Kopek 'stamp' showing means of postal transport. The picture shows Belarusian national craft goods made from straw. The text for the picture is in Belarusian and Russian. The envelope was one of a series of 15 (one for each Union Republic). The photo is by L Lipnitskii and the layout by T Panchenko. It was sent for printing on 18.06.1991 and printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory. It cost 10 Kopeks.

It has a 7 X 4.5 mm provisional surcharge. It is a row-of-numbers type in black ink "93" for 93 Kopeks. This brings the envelope to the 1 Ruble rate in force from 16 June 1992 to 15 November 1992 for companies or 29 November 1992 for individuals.

There are also two 6.5 X 4.5 row-of-numbers provisional surcharges for 50 Kopeks, both "50". The two 50 Kopek surcharges bring the postage paid to 2 Rubles, the rate from 16 or 30 November 1992 to 31 January 1993. Both are fainter than the "93" and they are identical.

None of the row-of-numbers types used on this envelope have leading zeroes. Presumably there was not a 1 Ruble handstamp at Kobryn, so a 50 Kopek handstamp already there has been used twice to make up the rate. This could be a 50 Kopek handstamp for the postcard rate in force from 16.06.92 (same end dates as the 1 Ruble envelope rate) - it would have been used on formular cards with no pre-printed postage on them.

The envelope is used on 01.02.93 - the date the rate went up to 3 Rubles - but there is no indication of an extra 1 Ruble postage anywhere or any postage due marking. It is has a runner postmark "Кобрин Брест. О." (Kobrin Brest. O.) in Russian only. There is a runner TPO mark on the reverse "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1" (Minsk TPO Section 1), also in Russian only. Both postmarks still have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

The envelope is used from a private individual to "Дайджест" (Digest) - which from the addresses on envelopes in previous postings is a magazine, a Belarusian-Australian agency and also a 'Superchance' game!

_________________
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Here is a perplexing use from Kobrin:



Posted on 21/10/1992 from Kobrin to St Petersburg, the letter should be franked at the 1R rate. However, the only provisional marking uprating the 7k PSE is an 8k "vertical rectangle" in violet (covering the previous 15k letter rate)!

[At least, we can document the use of "vertical rectangle" provisional markings in Kobrin].

Like many envelopes in the successor states, it was probably an envelope purchased previously then handed in over the counter some weeks/months later, the correct amount paid for when it was handed over, but no "TP" mark put on it. As it was in the system, then it got delivered. This seems to be fairly common in the Russian Federation, less so in Belarus.

The 8 Kopek "vertical rectangle" is very much like the one used in Baranovichy (see earlier posting). It has a stop after "коп" unlike the 8 Kopek surcharges from Ivanova (shown on Norvic's site), Davyd-Haradok (in an earlier posting) or Sviataia Volia (to be shown in my next posting after I have scanned it).

Your earlier 8 Kopek surcharge from Brest City also has a stop, but the frame is different at the top right. The Baranovichy 8 Kopek surcharge also has a stop, is a wider rectangle like the one from Kobryn (but not the others) and has very similar frame lines.

As Baranovichy and Kobryn are at opposite ends of the Brest Voblasts', then it might A) be a coincidence, B) a Baranovichy envelope has been used well after it was surcharged, but from Kobryn, or C) the handstamps were made centrally and distributed.

In the early 1990s people seemed to be tending towards option C, with the handstamps being made either at Oblast' or Raion level throughout the former USSR. But the variations in the row-of-numbers types from Brest certainly point to a 'how to do it' being agreed at Voblasts' level but the actual manufacture of the handstamps being made in each post office. The variations of whether there is a space in the middle, whether there is a leading zero or indeed more than one leading zero - or none, whether to use seriffed or sans-serif type, whether there is an oblique between the Rubles and Kopeks (I have one such example still to be posted) looks very much by people agreeing on what to do, but then each doing it their own way.

And we do know that that is basically what happened in Ukraine. And it explains why the surcharges from the Minsk Voblasts' are nearly all "pentagon-in-an-octagon" types with the exception of Minsk City with its instantly recognizable "rectangle-in-a-horizontal-octagon".

_________________
You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

In case you don't have time to visit my pages here is the Ivanovo surcharge referred to:



Sometime I'll have time to go through all my FSU material and rescan larger as we're no longer bound by 1990s dial-up speeds!

_________________
Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

The next place in the Brest Voblasts' is Sviataia Volia. Very unusually, it has the same name with the same spelling and the same transliteration in both Russian and Belarusian. The town's name means "Holy Will". It is in the Ivatsevichy Raion and only had 435 inhabitants in 2010. Nevertheless, here is a double provisional surcharge used from Sviataia Volia.

Sviataia Volia - Святая Воля. Russian: Sviataia Volia - Святая Воля. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





The envelope is a Soviet illustrated 7 Kopek envelope with the 'stamp' showing means of postal transport. The picture is of a narcissus and has the date "8 Марта" (8th March). It was issue to commemorate International Women's Day. The picture is by N Korobova. The envelope was sent for printing on 05.09.91 and printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory. It cost 10 Kopeks and has a request to send letters to other towns in good time.

There is a 13 X 22.5 mm provisional surcharge applied in violet ink. It is a vertical-rectangle type with just "8 коп" (8 kop) as the text. There is a faint smudge after the "п" which might be a stop - but it is not a clear stop well away from the frame like the Baranovichy and Kobryn 'wide' vertical-rectangle types. I have checked the other vertical-rectangle types and this is the only 'narrow' one with a stop that I have found. This made up the 15 Kopek inland envelope rate in force for individuals from 3 January 1992 to 15 June 1992.

The rate next rose to 1 Ruble - but a new 15 X 9 mm surcharge has been added later to bring the envelope up to the 2 Ruble rate in force from 16 November 1992 for companies, 30 November 1992 for individuals, to 31 January 1993. The new surcharge is printed in black and is a row-of-numbers type reading "1 /85" for 1.85 Rubles. This is a very unusual row-of-numbers type as it has an oblique separating the Rubles from the Kopeks - this is the only one like this that I have come across.

The envelope has been used with three 1 Ruble adhesives on 18.05.93 at the 5 Ruble rate in force from 16 March 1993 for companies, 5 April 1993 for individuals to 31 May 1993 for companies and 31 August 1993 for individuals.

It has three postmarks applied on 18.05.93 with "Святая Воля Брест. Обл." (Sviataia Volia Brest. Obl.). The postmarks still have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

The reverse has a runner receipt mark also applied on 18.05.93 reading "Беларусь Минск Пошта Мiнск" (Belarus Minsk Posts Minsk). The first Minsk is in Russian, the rest of the postmark is in Belarusian. This is the first non-Soviet postmark which I have shown in this thread!

The envelope was sent form a private individual to Дайджест (Digest) in Minsk - a magazine, a Belarusian-Australian agency and/or a 'Superchance' game as we have seen from previous envelopes.

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You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Whoops - should have checked Norvic's pictures! There are also row-of-numbers types with obliques used in Liakhavichy (Liakhavichi) and Drahichyn (Drogichin), both in the Brest Voblasts'. The Liakhavichy one has "93 /", the Drahichyn one has "0 /93" and the Sviataia Volia one has "1 /85". All have a very long double height oblique extending beyond the level of both the top and bottom of the numbers. They are all in different raions of the Brest Voblasts', so it isn't just a local aberration!

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You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

You make me want to do more! But what should be the priority, Great Britain or 15 other countries??

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Ian Billings - Norvic Philatelics GB stamps info: http://www.norphil.co.uk - also /catalog for our ecommerce site, blog.norphil.co.uk, shop.norphil.co.uk and Ian_norvic on twitter

Well, since you mentioned Drogichin / Dragichyn and norvic's "0 /93" provisional marking from there, here is a cover from that location with a different type of marking that was used concurrently with the first:



Posted on 30/11/1992 from Drogichin to St Petersburg. The letter rate is 1R - the last day of application of this rate. The 7k Soviet-era PSE is revaluated with a "93 k" numerator ("row-of-numbers") provisional marking in violet.

Note that the marking on my cover is different from the "93 k" marking shown by norvic: the base of the figures "9" and "k" is along the same horizontal, BUT in my cover the figure "3" is below, rather than above the horizontal.

The moving "3" looks like slippage in the stamper - similar to the slippage that you get in date stampers when used for a lot of stamping at one time.

The one with the oblique is completely different. As Drahichyn is a town with 14,600 inhabitants, perhaps it has more than one post office?

So I looked on Yandex and got 3 addresses for Postal Communications Sections No. 1, 2 and 3 on Reclamation, Marx and Factory Streets:

Почтамты в Дрогичине — 3 адресов
1. Отделение Почтовой Связи № 1
Брестская обл., Дрогичин г., ул. Мелиоративная, 63, +375 (1644) 3-05-99
2. Отделение Почтовой Связи № 2
Брестская обл., Дрогичин г., ул. Маркса, 1, +375 (1644) 3-07-04
3. Отделение Почтовой Связи № 3
Брестская обл., Дрогичин г., ул. Заводская, 16, +375 (1644) 3-05-13

Slightly edited as it also lists the Beltelekom and the Regional Administration Offices, also at 1 Marx Street.

They could all have been made at one post office - but using different settings. Or they could be made in two post offices, with one of them slipping. Or if it has not slipped, then there could be one made at and also in use separately at each post office.

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You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you

Back to Biaroza in the Brest Voblasts'. I posted a cover from there before - but on looking through my paltry collection of Kyrgyz items, I found the one below misfiled there - presumably because of the content of the picture.

Biaroza- Бяроза. Russian: Bereza- Береза. In the Brest Voblasts' - Брэсцкая вобласць (Russian: Brest Oblast' - Брестская Область).





This is a Soviet 5 Kopek illustrated envelope with the 'stamp' showing the State Arms and Flag of the USSR. It has been uprated with a 2 Kopek definitive adhesive following the USSR rate increase of 2 April 1991 from 5 to 6 Kopeks for inland envelopes. The adhesive shows old methods of postal transport - the 7 Kopek used as the design for the new envelopes shows modern methods. The picture at the left is one of a series of 15 showing decorative and appied art of the Union Republics. This is the one for Kyrgyzstan with a decorative vase entitled "Двое Экөө" (Two) in Russian and Kyrgyz. The picture is by L Zaitsev. The envelope was sent for printing on 13.01.91 and printed at the Goznak Riazhsk Factory. It originally cost 6 Kopeks.

It has had a 12 X 22 mm provisional surcharge added to the left of the 2 Kopek stamp. The surcharge is stamped in black ink and is the narrow vertical-rectangle type with just "1 руб" (1 rub) as text. The surcharge replaces rather than supplements the previous postage and meets the 1 Ruble rate in force from 16 June 1992 to 15 November 1992 for companies, 29 November 1992 for indivduals.

Being used in 1993 two rate rises later, it has an additional surcharge above the stamps. This is 11 X 4.5 mm and is a three figure row-of-numbers type "200" in black ink. There is no leading zero, no space in the centre, no oblique and no indication of the fact that is is for 200 Kopeks. The envelope now meets the 3 Rubles rate in force from 1 February 1993 to 15 March 1993 for companies, 4 April 1993 for individuals.

It has a runner postmark applied on 24.03.93 with "Береза Брест. Бяроза" (Bereza Brest. Biaroza) in both Russian and Belarusian.

There is a Minsk TPO runner mark on the reverse also applied on 24.03.93 "Минск ПЖДП Цех И 1" (Minsk TPO Section N 1). Both postmarks still have the Soviet star and "CCCP" at the top.

The envelope was sent by a private individual to ""Дайджест" игра "Супершанс" (Digest game Superchance) as seen as several other envelopes shown before.

For Turkic republic and/or language development fans - Kyrgyzstan is here in the spelling "Кыргыстан" as used in Kyrgyzstan itself instead of the previous "Киргизстан" which conforms to Russian (but not Kyrgyz) spelling rules. Estonian collectors will remember the sudden addition of an extra "Н" to the Russian version of Tallinn, giving "Таллинн" instead of the earlier "Таллин".

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You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you