This issue of Charity stamps was a 'first' in Russian Philately as it was a compulsory tax levied locally by the Narcomfin Executive in Rostov on Don for the benefit of those suffering under the famine.
The stamps included the word ”pochta” or ”post” in their design and had to be added to all registered letters, parcels, and money orders in addition to the regular postage.
Receipts from the sale of these stamps went into the Fund for the Hungry . Therefore, this was one of the forms of local tax initiated by the Commissioner of the South East Region of the RSFSR and put into operation by the post office.
It was obligated to sell these stamps to collect, in addition to the regular postage, 2000 rubles for registered letters, 4000 rubles for money orders, and 6000 rubles for parcels. Actually, these stamps should be considered as revenues or postal tax stamps.
They were lithographed from designs of philatelist A.L. Manerick and printed in two colors (red and green) in sheets of 133 stamps. The left two- thirds of the sheet was printed in green and had Scott numbers B30 and B33, while the right one-third of the sheet was printed in red and had Scott numbers B31 and B32. They were printed on white unwatermarked paper and issued imperforate. The total printing was 740 sheets.
These stamps were issued on April 19, 1922 and sold in Rostov on Don, Novocherkask, Millerov, Nakhichevan, and other cities of the South East region.
Forgeries
Because of the great demand for these stamps, they were extensively counterfeited. The largest number of these counterfeits were made in 1924 by Kull who used zinc cuts (line etching) .
These forgeries are well executed but contain muddy imprints of the fine lines.
The paper of the originals is smooth, while the forgeries were printed on paper with a high wood content and they have a slightly yellowish tint.
Apparently a second batch was produced in Russia in 1969
B30
Genuine Issue
size 57.5 X 47 mm.
1 & 1a, The left “P” is different than the right one and the same height as the other letters.
2. All the letter have a dot after them
3. Note the shape & direction of lines of hair strands
4. Note the shape of the collar
5. Note the lines on the arm and the sleeve
6. Note the shape of the boot and the rock on the ground
7. Circles are generally complete (I have seen some partial)
8. The top of the “A” is broken
9. The sickle is in front of the hammer and note the shape of the handle
10. The left “2” is wider and larger than the right one
11. Note the size of the top bar on the “T” and the dot afterwards
12. The stem on the right is larger than the one on the left
Genuine on dark paper
Forgeries
Type I ForgeryThe sickle is in the back of the hammer on the forgery
The boots of the right peasant are very different
Note: The "A" is indented as in the genuine
Type II ForgeryThe "A" is not dented
The circles on the sides of the hammer/sickle are open
The first "P" of the first top word is shorter than the other letters
The "A" letter in the center is not dented
The hammer/sickle is different - note the handle
The handle on the wrong side as in the Type I
The paper is a cream color
Type III ForgeryThis forgery has the dented "A"
No stops after the top left "RSFR"
No stops after "2t"s"
Sickle handle has no shading
Type IV ForgeryGood copy with the broken "A"
All the dots on "RSFR" but weak
Printed on light buff paper
Collar and sleeve on the right peasant different than original
The right peasant pants have noticeably wider white stripes
Always found with a bogus cancel
With fake cancel on dark brown paper
Forgery on dark paper
B31
Genuine Issue
1. Corner is complete
2. Arcs are visibly separated from the dome on both sides
3. The hand clearly shows 4 fingers
4. The fold is made up of two pleats that join at the bottom
5. The folds are distinct lines
6. The dot is visible but weak
7. These 2 dots appear in the blocks I have but I do not know if they are constant
Forgeries
B31 TI Forgery
1. The corner is broken
2. The folds comprise of one thick line
3. The folds are just a blob of color
4. The T and dot are prominent. All the bottom letters are thick.
5. There is an oblique appendage below the left leg of the A
B31 Type II Forgery
1. The corner is complete but they tend to all have a bevelled edge rather than a sharp corner
2. The curved line touches the dome
3. No fingers showing but there is a thin line across the palm
4. The lines are very distinct
5. The dot is almost invisible
Forgery with fake cancel on dark brown paper
B32
Genuine
1. The T's do not touch the circle frame line
2. The dots are evenly spaced
3. The sleeve clearly shows the lines
Genuine triple
ForgeriesType II forgery
1. Left T touches frame
2. Arm shading shows irregular dots
3. Right sleeve shading completely filled in
Forgery on dark brown paper
Forgery with fake cancel on dark paper
very crude forgery
Crude group of forgeries
B34
Genuine
Pay close attention to the seed bag and the lines in the soil.
Forgeries
B33 Type I Forgery
This is the common forgery
1. Dots are missing
2. Hair is different and shaded
3. The bag has a protrusion or an added pleat
4. Large white area
5. A constant break her
B33 Type II Forgery
Some authors mention an uncommon very well executed forgery with the following features.
The first 2 letters CP are shorter than the others
There are some breaks in the outer frame
The basket weaving is defined and uniform
Forgery with fake cancel on dark paper
Miniatures
Miniatures
These are seldom offered on auctions.
They are imperf. and without gum. These miniatures came from the Soviet Catalogue of 1924. In this catalogue a miniature version of the complete sheet was printed in the back of the catalogue on newsprint somewhat similar to that used for some of the original printings.
They were cut out and sold as some "rare special printing"
All four designs in the two colours are printed on the same sheet in the same manner as the original issue.
A closer examination shows that they have many "flaws" that resemble some of the full size forgeries. As they were then readily available, they may have been the basis for future forgeries.
Genuine rare cover
Genuine blocks
Biography
l. Soviet Stamps of Pomgol (llelp for the Hungry) by A. Kolesnikov
Soviet Collector, 1966 No. 4. (Russian)
2. O>eck to the Forgers, translated from Gennan by F.H. Kreuter,
Philadelphia, 1935.
3. Handbook for Expertising Soviet Postage Stamps, Y.N. Vovin, Moscow 1972
4. Postage Stamps of USSR, 1958 (lwssian) (lwssian)
5. Enigmatic Cover, V. Karlinsky,"Philately,USSR",1967,No.3. (RussiM)
6. Soviet Postage Stamps,1917-4l,V. Karlinsky,''Philately ,USSR" 1968 No.4
