Russia 1919 B.N.R.

B.N.R. (Byeloruskaya Narodnaya Respublika - Belarusian People's Republic)

According to the National Archives, the chief of Mission, Colonel Ezovitov in the command of General Balakhovitch (shown left) sent a memo to the Latvian Minister of Finance requesting the issue of stamps for their postal needs and to raise finances.

He requested 1 million of each of the 5, 10, 15, 50 Kopeck and 1 Ruble.

Approximately 500,000 would be imperforate with gum and no gum for philatelic sales and the other 500,000 gummed & perforated for postal use.

This is where the controversy on these stamps begins - Were they legitimately postally used or are they simply Cinderellas?

This partial document is regarded as being some proof that the stamps were certified for postal use.

However a somewhat unsavoury character enters the picture…..Georg Eger - an influential stamp dealer (shown below)

An article appeared by Georg Jaeger in which he describes documents from Col. Esovitov that note the stamps were used to pay for mail correspondence within the army group.

In 1920 he publishes an article detailing the dates of issue and
their postal use.

His role in the whole affair is dubious as he was the editor of the magazine that published the articles.

There is little doubt that he fabricated some covers with the cancel “Moloskovitsy 09/11/19”.

The above is probably a Jaeger creation as the postage far exceeds the requirement.

There is also little evidence that any postal service even existed within the B.N.R. during a time of civil war.

By all accounts, Col. Esovitov and Georg Jaeger were the driving force in producing what most Russia specialists consider to be a fantasy issue and that the main purpose was to raise capital for the army group from stamp collectors. On the other hand they may have been postally issued but never used as the army unit was disbanded.

The Original Issues

According to R. Polchaninoff (Rossica 1990)
The design was attributed to R. Zarinsh (also spelled Zarrins) who created banknotes and the first stamps of the RSFSR.
The drawing is from an album entitled “Illyustrirovannaya Rossiya” (Illustrated Russia), vol.3, page 252, published in 1897.
The 15 kopek values are 33.5 x 26.4 mm whereas the other values are 33 x 25.75 mm. 

From the table above one can note that the 15k was delivered first and the others together at a later date. The 15K is different than the others with some speculating another designer was involved.

It is just a small leap of imagination to speculate that there were some modifications made to the other values after the 15K was designed.

According to William Lesh in the 1985 Rossica Journal, there were 4 forgeries of this issue and possibly a 5th.

There is speculation that there was a later reprint (1939), however Colonel Ezovitova requested that as the printing was completed that all printing plates be destroyed. The destruction was verified in notations of March 29 1920 but this may not be the case as some “forgeries” are very accurate.

These so called “reprints” are very plentiful and considering that an initial production of 1 million of each value is not a huge number, the amount of these stamps still available after 100 years is very surprising.

The Original Imperforates - it appears the imperforates are more abundant which would indicate the premise that these were destined for collectors is correct.

The Original Perfed Issues - The 50 K is printed in Dark & Light Blue (Uncommon)

Forgeries

Forgeries are extremely plentiful and 4 types can be identified.

A few expert has determined there is a fifth type but little information is available.

Most stamp packets tended to have them so most WW collections have them.

The numbering system I have used does not necessarily conform with others as the forgers are unknown.

The 15K appears to be the most common and given the changes from the original is a good subject for comparison and the differences are obvious.

Reprint or Forgery?

A reprint produced in 1939 is mentioned but no further details can be found.

The reproduction is very good and it might be a “reprint” but since it was not authorized, it really falls more into the category of forgery.

The reprints were printed on white paper with glue, which eventually turned slightly yellow. There are four varieties of perforation: 11 1/4, 11 1/4 x 10 1/2, 11 1/2 and 10 1/2.

Nevertheless, it is quite easy to distinguish a reprint from originals by the absence of a third fold on the girl’s sleeve. The dots that represent the fold are missing on the right reprint image.

A selection of reprints

The 50K are perfed 10.5 & 11.5

Above, reprints can often be found as CTO's

Above, a sheet of reprints?

Forgery #1
Like the main issue, these forgeries were printed on white paper with glue on sheets of 112 stamps. Perforated stamps are 12 1/2.
The forgeries resemble the reprints, but the print quality is not too high, because the cliche is made rather sloppy. The size of the picture is about half a millimetre smaller than that of genuine brands. As with reprints, the third shadow on the girl’s sleeve is missing

Forgery #2

Forgeries of the second type were printed on white paper without glue with sheets of 50 stamps per sheet, which are periodically found on sale. Stamps with perfs are either rare or non existant.

The cliches were made from photographs of genuine brands, so fakes have the corresponding signs. For example, a 15 kopeck mark differs from other brands of the issue, as well as a genuine brand.

The shadows on the girl’s sleeve are also present.

Nevertheless, it is quite easy to distinguish fakes from genuine stamps, both because of the numerous cliché errors and the faint guide lines that can be seen around stamps - the key trait shown below (left).

Forgery #3 - Imperforate Stamps

Counterfeits are printed on poor quality paper without glue, which eventually greatly darkened. 

Perforated stamps are 12.5. cliché made extremely carelessly. This is especially evident on the value tablets with nominal values, which are often quite shifted or skewed.

The denominations were probably printed with the same the same cliché and the value was then applied.

Based on my research this type of forgery appears to be very predominant and perhaps the most common.

It also appears to have the most inking, color and design issues.

Forgery #3 - Perfed stamps, paper variations are common

References

The Postage Stamps of Russia, 1917 - 1923. Volume 3- Dr. R. Ceresa

White Russia - Notes on the Genuine and Forgeries. 1992 - Leslie Fletcher and William Fletcher

The "Asobny Atrad" issue of Bulak-Balachovich - Stanley Hornby

Asobny Atrad of Bulak-Balakhovich. Rossica Journal. 1964 - R. Polchaninov

The Asobny Atrad Design Theme. Rossica Journal. 1990 - R. Polchaninov

“Balachovka”, the Asobny Atrad Issue of the Bielarusin (Bielarussian) National Republic. Rossica Journal. 1985 - William Lesh

Klaseboer Forgery CD 2 2019

Appreciation to several members on Russian forums  for providing notes and images