Russia 1921 Charity Issue

 Pomgol was the name of two organizations created in the Russian SFSR during the Russian famine of 1921. 

The name is an abbreviation of the Russian term "Relief for Starving".

Initially, scientists, artists, church leaders, public activists, many of which were of non-Bolshevik persuasion tried to establish some form of relief aid but the government disbanded this Pomgol in 1921 and established its own.

Pomgol took an active part in requisition of Russian Orthodox Church valuables. There is some thought that Lenin felt that by weakening the Church, the peasantry would be more apt to accept the "wisdom" of the Bolsheviks.

These stamps to aid victims were printed in small quantities (154,256 for the brown, 189,704 for the green, 437,248 for the red and 66,600 for the blue), so the proliferation of forgeries was a logical consequence. 

Most WW collectors have a few of these.

Type I & II

The main genuine traits

1. The 2 letters that are joined together

2. The number of loops

3. The shape of this building

4. The white line in the roof edge

5. The shape of the paddle-wheel

6. Lack of spacing between the walking stick and the shadow.

7. The sharp outline of the clouds

The main difference between types is the chimney shading or lack of circled on the left stamp. They appear equally on the sheet

Original Stamps

Type I & II

Varieties

Due to different inks, papers & printing errors, the advanced collector can find many varieties.

Red on Cotton Cream paper - Brownish Red

Dark clouds - Paper folds

Dark brown - Pelure paper

Perfin - Set off print

Forgeries

Type I

1. The cloud lines are not well defined but this may depend on inking – so not conclusive

2. The 2 letters are not joined

3. Added loops in the ornament – see below

4. Lacking in definition

5. NOTE - The stick and shadow are separated - this is the main trait that most books describe but the Type II forgery below negates this assumption

Type II forgery

Here we note that the stick and shadow do merge
The letters are joined
The loop ornament is correct
The main added features are;
Overall, not well defined
The window bottom right has a large white dot above it
There is no white line in the roof edge (see below)

Forgery types

Blue Issue

Genuine stamp

The areas of interest in the genuine are;
The face and hair features
The first aid bag on the ground in particular the shape and button
The left hand of the injured, primarily the details of the fingers
The overall fine details

Forgeries

There are at least 2 types

Type I forgery
Well executed and good detail other than the framework which is irregular
The hair of both persons is incorrect
The medical bag has no button

Type II forgery

Details are coarser especially lines in the faces that are now blotches

The medical bag is slightly different

Letters are cruder

The main one is the lack of fingers in the left hand of the wounded.

I suspect the cancel is a forgery

This stamp can also be found in many varieties

Set off

These occur when still wet sheets are stacked and a reverse impression is applied to the gum side of the upper layer