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.
B30 Genuine
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
It is not uncommon to find these stamps as double and even triple error prints
B30 Forgeries
This is probably the most accurate one and common forgery.
In this forgery;
In this forgery;
In this forgery;
In this forgery;
In this forgery block on yellowish paper I call the Black Eyed Peasant we have many differences aside from the black and tiny eyebrow less eyes.
This forgery appears to have the most variations.
There is confusing and contradictory information on the types and numbers with authors mention only 2 and up to 4 "types".
I found it difficult to match them up so I am presenting some finds in no particular order.
The genuine is on the left.
The main differences are:
The sickle is in the back of the hammer on the forgery
The boots of the right peasant are very different
The circles on the sides of the hammer/sickle are open
The first P of each top word are shorter than the other letters
The first P of each top word are shorter than the other letters
The A letter in the center is not dented
The hammer/sickle is different - note the handle
The hair of the left peasant is different
The left 2t is missing the dot
The W shaped letter in the central word is lacking the downwards serif
The paper is yellowish
The top P's are shorter
The left 2t has a short right bar
The letters are thicker
The handle of the hammer is heavily shaded
The A is not dented
The shading and wrinkle in the right peasants sleeve is different
This might be a more modern forgery
Now the puzzle
Note on the left top and bottom stamps, the sickle handles are different as are the boots on the right peasant.
All the stamps show varying degrees of shading on the right peasant.
B31 Genuine
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
B30 TII Forgery
B31 Forgeries
There is some confusion here also about the types.
Generally 2 forgery types are proposed and I found one to be abundant while the other was scarce.
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
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
1. The T's do not touch the circle frame line
A genuine triple print
In the forgery;
B32 Genuine
2. The dots are evenly spaced
3. The sleeve clearly shows the lines
B32 Forgery
The T touches the circle frame
The lines in the sleeve are a single shading
The hand and wrist has uneven dots
The cancel is probably a fake to greatly increase the value
A very crude overinked forgery
Miniature copies of Nos. 830-833 exist, taken from the 1933 Soviet catalogue.
Another type I with some top letter variations
B33 Forgeries
B33 Type I Forgery
This is the common forgery1. 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 here
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
A genuine double print
Original Blocks
There are some breaks in the outer frame
The basket weaving is defined and uniform
Multiples tend to be more often genuine
Genuine stamps on a cover
Cancels appear genuine but no guarantee
An unrelated agricultural label
