| 1899-1917 Russian Stamps Used In Finland |  Top |
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US$ | ||
401226 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Facit #R2P2II Pair [1903 Russian 2 kop Vertically Laid Paper; Underprint Type II (1905)] (VF) Pair on 26 April 1908 business post card used within Finland from Backboda (mailed at the RASEBORG railway station) to Helsingfors. First canceled with a bold, SUPERB strike of Finnish Railway Station straight-line handstamp "RASEBORG". Then bears dated (26 April 1908) railway side cancellation, bi-lingual in Finnish / Russian text (the Finnish text is faint, the Russian text is clear). Finally with a 26 April 1908 Helsingfors tri-lingual receiving postmark. This style of straight-line, all capitalized, large-font cancellation was only used at railway stations, both for postal use and freight use. Postally used examples on full envelopes or cards is quite scarce and sought after. The post card itself is interesting; It is an order for a quantity of the first three volumes of a multi-volume world history series of books by Dr. Otto Sjögren. The standard text indicates that the purchaser is a "commissioner" (i.e. commission sales person, probably traveling a large sales territory) for this book series. This is an example of the classic door-to-door (or farm-to-farm) sales method that was prevalent at that time. The combination of a railway station cancellation on a card bearing Russian stamps is very unusual! ACTUAL item. |
45.00 |
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243302 "View EXACT ACTUAL Image"){kind=small} |
Russia Used in Åland: Facit #R7P2 [10 kopek, vertically laid paper] (damaged from placement over edge of card) on 8 March 1906 picture post card (fancy embossed design). This divided address-side card was used in 1906 before this format was approved in late 1907 for general use between UPU countries; in 1906 divided address-side cards were only being used domestically in some countries, or by agreement between a few countries. Mailed at JERSÖ (no post office) and picked up by a rural carrier using RURAL LETTER CARRIER #939 NUMERAL CANCELLATION; This rural route was established 1 February 1905 -- this is early use. Date canceled at MARIEHAMN (bilingual postmark) to the U.S. In this period, Russian stamps were required on mail to other countries, however examples from Åland are hard to find. Even domestic covers within Åland or from Åland to Finland are scarce with numeral cancellations. However, examples to other countries are extremely scarce. Despite the damage to the stamp, this card is very attractive -- and extremely scarce! ACTUAL item. |
45.00 |