Zemstvo stamp

A Zemstvo stamp issued in Bielozersk province.

A Zemstvo stamp was a Russian local stamp used widely in rural areas from 1865. It was named after the Zemstvo local administrative districts created in 1864. The stamps ceased at about the time of the 1917 Russian revolution.

Background

The Russian post in the nineteenth century was a monopoly of the state through the Imperial Post. Most state post offices, however, were in towns, leaving many rural areas a long distance from the nearest post office. The Zemstvo Post (or Rural Post) was introduced in 1864 to fill this gap and at first it operated without official approval.[1] In 1870 a law was passed formalising the arrangements and which stated that "The Rural Post is authorised to carry ordinary correspondence, also journals, circulars, remittances, registered letters, and other mail from the post town, to all more or less distant portions of the district as may be deprived of postal communications." [2]

The law also stated that "The Rural Post is authorised to employ special postage stamps on the express understanding that their design differs entirely from those used by the Imperial Post".[2] The postmen were also not allowed to use the post-horn emblem of the Imperial Post on their bags.[3]

The first Zemstvo Post was established at Vetluga in 1864 but no stamps were used.[3]

Stamps

According to Chuchin's catalogue, at least 3000 different Zemstvo stamps were issued, however, records are incomplete and it is likely that there are many still to be discovered.

The first Zemstvo stamp was issued by Schlisselburg in September 1865. According to Chuchin, in 1864 there were 36 Zemstvo governments with 371 districts and stamps were used in 162 districts. By 1892 there was a Zemstvo Post in 150 districts but not all issued stamps and in some the post was free.[3]

Collecting

A Zemstvo stamp issued in Kungar province.

Zemstvo stamps were officially sanctioned local stamps. As such they appear only in specialised catalogues. The principal catalogue in English is the Chuchin catalogue of 1925 as updated by Barefoot. Chuchin numbers are widely used to identify Zemstvos.

A number of catalogues were produced in Germany and Russia before the revolution but some are incomplete and other were published before the cessation of the service and therefore do not give a full history of the stamps. Recently, as collecting Zemstvos has become more popular, new catalogues have started to appear in the Russian language.

See also

References and sources

Notes
  1. ↑ Edwards, Fred W. Rural Stamps of the Russian Empire in Stamp Collectors' Fortnightly, September 1910.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Quoted in "Russian unorthodoxy" by Charles & Francis Kiddle, Stamp Magazine, January 2008, pp. 80-81.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Chuchin, F.G. Russia Zemstvos. Revised edition. Ed. J. Barefoot. York, England: J. Barefoot Ltd., 1988, p.6.
Sources

External links

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