 Last USSR illustrated PS Cover |
USSR Illustrated Postal Stationery Covers with Geographic Topics |
| Советские художественные и сувенирные маркированные конверты местной тематики | |
What happened after 1991?The last illustrated cover with a Soviet value stamp was ordered on the 3 April, 1992 and does in fact show a Belorussian topic. (Cf. ill. above). By the end of 1991 it became obvious that covers with geographic topics, that had been ordered from the printers by the regional telecom administrations of the USSR, now should be delivered to various independent states and not as originally thought to a republic within the Soviet Union. They were clearly not suitable for use in the Russian Federation since their topics were now from a foreign country and a USSR value stamp was definitely not suitable in an independent country. Thus, gradually the value stamps were altered, to one of the republic in which they were to be used.The tradition of issuing vast amounts of postal stationery covers with a standard value stamp were continued by the new postal administrations of the Russian Federation, Belorussia and the Ukraine. Here they are listed separately: Russian Illustrated Postal Stationary with Geographic Topic Over time, they have gradually lost their Soviet look and have developed individual national traits, and now even a new oblong "Euroformat" is produced parallell to the customary A6 size. In five further republics traditional covers were issued, but only as a transitional measure to avoid deleting large print runs already ordered: Moldova (1), Kazakhstan (10), Uzbekistan (2), Kirgiziya (4), Turkmenistan (3). To simplify matters here, those 20 covers are appended to the USSR list, with a special note. After that no more USSR style PS covers with standard value stamp were issued in those countries. The remaining new republics did not issue "transitional" covers and if any in fact had been ordered, the new administrations apparently did not want them. Some countries issue PS covers but of entirely new designs with original value stamps and with no relation to the traditional USSR look. Beyond the scope of this collection is the fact that USSR PS covers with various overprints were used as provisionals for some time in the new independent states. First with upgraded rouble values, later with overprints in the new currencies and finally as plain stationery that had to have stamps affixed just as any other stationery item. The destiny of PS covers in Estonia is outlined in Provisional Postal Stationery of Estonia Back to start Literature: Вестник филателии: 1995:5, p 12-13; 1998: 4, p. 15-19. First published in 2001 by Bert Hoflund * bert@algonet.se | |