The 1921 B14a and B15a issues from Russia show a higher catalog value for what is listed as Pelure paper. Is there a simple test that one can do to find out if their stamps are printed upon this type of paper? I purchased the set from a fellow collector who was unloading from his "Junk" files. Not sure just what I'm looking for to tell the difference?
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 28 Nov 2015 11:09:11pm
re: Russia Stamps
Pelure paper is very thin, crisp, semi transparent and rather greasy looking. For comparison and if you have them, Several issues from 1921-1922 Russia were printed on it.
I couldn't find a good Russian example that showed the properties of pelure paper but this Romanian one gives a pretty good indication. The right hand image shows the reverse. It looks very flimsy:
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 03 Dec 2015 11:24:57pm
re: Russia Stamps
Here is a comparison of wove`stamp paper and pelure paper on Russia type A40.
The regular paper is at left, you can see the print is solid with well defined lines and the paper is mostly opaque. The pelure paper seen at right shows a blurry print with the paper being semi-transparent. The pelure paper is similar to wax paper which is non porous and is not a good base for the ink to form clean lines.
Below at right is the Serbian stamp that Scott notes as an example of Pelure paper. With it's wove paper counterpart from the same type at left.
Pelure paper is a poor choice for stamp printing. Inferior papers such as this are usually used in times of war or economic depression when suitable paper is scarce.
Thanks Mitchell,
That explains pelure paper for me. My main collection focus is US and Canada but I do have a small WW collection that I work on occasionally. It helps to know what I am looking at.
I also found a lot of information on BNA in the articles section of this site.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 15 Dec 2015 08:11:54pm
re: Russia Stamps
Tusken, sorry but my knowledge in general of cancels is quite weak. I have no idea on this one nor do I see any similar ones in my early Russian collection.
It's really rather odd and I'm probably just losing my mind but I see several faces in the lines of the cancel itself. One at the very top at right, two at the bottom at both sides, one at the bottom of the right leg, and of course a Madonna with child above it on right leg and a few more along the lines.
Here's a different view:
"The NINGPO listing shows stamps from Romania, nothing to do with Russia."
Virgilp, you would seem to imply that there is a distinction between Russian and Romanian pelure stamps. I should have thought that pelure paper was pretty much the same whichever country it came from. Can you explain?
"All the RSFSR stamps were forged in great quantities primarily for postal fraud."
I'd be interested to know your source for this statement, Charles. It may perhaps be 'common knowledge' among Russia collectors, but there must presumably be some sort of evidence. Why, I wonder, in the RSFSR period (and not others)?
That's a lot of sources. You will be aware on forums like this one that very seldom is reference made to authentic primary sources - few collectors being academics in the field of philately - and that broad generalisations soon take the form of received and uncontested wisdom. To refer to multiple sources deters those interested from following the point up. Where would you advise the interested collector to start? Which of Dr Ceresa's books... which issues of the Rossica Journal, and where might these be found (apart from on your shelves)?
I have struggled in the past to find many authoritative papers, articles or books on those aspects of philately in which I am interested. My small collection, culled online from university depositories which are all but impossible for the layman to access without heavy financial outlay, barely scratch the surface of philately. I surmise I am not alone in this: catalogue compilers must surely rely on historical research (where available) made at the time of publication. I doubt that much is undertaken in the way of updating that research.
For example, you mention that 95+% of issues at this period were forged. It is therefore pertinent that my catalogue (Stanley Gibbons Part 10, 7th edition) mentions forgeries only in respect of the Rostov-on-Don Famine Relief issues of 1922, and the single air overprint of 7.11.1922. Do the compilers have access to your level of information? This is important, because the catalogue is often the main, or indeed only source of information most collectors use.
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