Guthrum
07 Apr 2018
06:42:09am | Here's a stamp kindly included as an 'extra' from my Estonian dealer, which I hope someone can tell me more about:
(It's not actually in best condition, is it, but let that pass!)
The initials at the top read "D.O.S.A.A.F.", which (it says here) was the "Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy, a paramilitary sport organisation in the Soviet Union, concerned mainly with weapons, automobiles and aviation."
The words in red across the middle translate as "Strengthen the defence of the homeland", and at the foot of the stamp is an abbreviation "chl." which I do not know, but the next word means "contribution". The value and year of issue are clear.
So what we have here, I guess, is a label you could buy in support of said organisation, but which doesn't make the postage stamp catalogues. The value seems comparatively high (many sets issued in 1984 begin with a 5k value). The year is interesting, too, as you will recall the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984 was boycotted by the USSR in a tit-for-tat response to the previous Olympiad. Might there be a connection?
I'd be grateful if anyone could shed any light on these speculations, and maybe mention other stamps in this series, if there were any.
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