webmaster for the ISWSC http://iswsc.org and ATA http://www.americantopicalassn.org 10 Dec 2004 12:43:07am
recieved this in a lot from Ebay, actually 3 strips of them and wondering what it is. Checked out some Russian Society Sites, Alltheworldstamps and no dice. As I am a relatively new collector, no Scotts for Russia yet.
Babble fish translation on the major text is "Radio" and "Coupon"
All help is appreciated. Many thanks and I am glad I joined this club.
It was (is?) stamp used to pay for the right to posses radio receiver. 1.5 rubel per month. After paying at post office one half of the stamp was pasted in the book of payment the other half was archived. The clerk (or payee) entered, in the lower part of the stamp registration number , month and year paid for. Penalties are imposed upon those that use radio without paying the fee.
Another stamp was (is?) used for TV.
This form of tax is still in use today in Russia and in some (if not all) of the countries of former Soviet Block (known as IC in philatelic world).
I am not sure if this particular stamp is used today or was used for certain period of time. Someone actually living in Russia could determine that.
Any way, it is stamp that has some similarities to tax stamp as we know.
