The most rare stamps of the Russia

Posted by Mike Hammelton on September 5th, 2018

It is known that the first postage rare stamps in Russia was issued on December 22, 1857. The first brand was toothless, as the perforating machine issued from Vienna came late and needed adjustment. Appearance of the brand was invented by the senior engraver of the Expedition for the preparation of state securities Franz Mikhailovich Kepler. It depicted mail horns, over which rose the emblem of the Russian Empire, and the inscription: "10 kopecks per lot." One lot was equal to fourteen grams of the letter. If the envelope weighed more, then the brands, accordingly, needed to acquire more.

The drawing of the first state brand of Russia in various modifications was popular until 1923. Further on, the postage stamps of the Russian Empire were replaced by USSR stamps. Some of them today are very, very expensive, representing a philatelic rarity.

"Tiflis Mark" is a very rare postage stamp issued in the Russian Empire for the city post of Tiflis (now Tbilisi) and Kojori in 1857. The release date and symbolism allow us to speak of the "Tiflis Unica" as the first Russian brand.

The nominal value is 6 kopecks. The figure shows the coat of arms of Tiflis, and above it there is a two-headed eagle with wings down.

Before the First World War, only three copies were found. On October 5, 2008, at the largest philatelic auction of David Feldman, one of the three known in the world at that time copies of the Tiflis Unica, formerly owned by Zbigniew Mikulski, was sold for 480,000 euros.

According to the official website of the National Academy of Philately of Russia, in the world at the moment only five copies of the unique brand are known.

"Levanevsky with an overprint" - the philatelic name of the airmail stamp of the USSR with the portrait of the pilot Levanevsky and the overprint of a limited edition in honor of the interrupted flight Moscow - North Pole - San Francisco (USA).

There are rare varieties of this brand - with a lowercase letter "f" in the word "San Francisco" - five marks in a sheet (one row) with an overturned overprint (presumably one sheet) and an inverted overprint with a lowercase letter "f" (presumably five pieces) .

The stamp with an overprint was issued by the People's Commissar on August 3, 1935, to the planned flight of Sigismund Levanevsky, Georgy Baidukov and Vasily Levchenko on an ANT-25 airplane on the Moscow-North Pole-San Francisco route and was intended to pay for mail on this plane. On that day, an attempt was made to fly to a distance of 2 thousand kilometers, but it was interrupted due to engine malfunction.

According to some reports [an overturned overprint was made on several vintage sheets on the special order of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Henry Yagoda, who was known as a philatelist.

According to reports, "Levanevsky with an overprint" of good quality in 1995 cost $ 150, with a line "f" - $ 250, with a "reverse" - $ 5000, with a line "f" on a "reverse" - $ 15,000. In 2003, Levanevsky with an overprint »of good quality was already $ 350-400, with a line" f "- $ 500-600, with a" rewind "- $ 10 000, with a line" f "on a" rewind "- $ 40 000-50 000.