March 10, 2019 Comments Off on The Soviet Union in postage stamps Views: 1607 Looking Back, Nostalgia

The Soviet Union in postage stamps

Postage stamps of the Soviet Union were issued from 1923 until the dissolution of the world’s first socialist state in 1991. The common label legible on each postage piece was “Почта СССР” which in Russian stands for “Post of the USSR.” Various themes from the country’s history, politics and culture can be explored upon looking at collection samples.

Soviet stamp showing the orbit of Sputnik 1

USSR stamp, Aspidka, 1931, 50 k. Scanned and processed by Andrei Sdobnikov – Personal collection

Worker, Red Army soldier, and peasant, Gold Standard issue of 1923. This is from the first Soviet definitive issue, worth 1, 3 and 6 kopecks each. A kopek is equal to one-hundredth of a rouble.

Faces of the most eminent political figures, milestones of the Soviet space program, important sports championships hosted, and motifs depicting production and manufacturing in the U.S.S.R. were altogether immortalized within the widespun Soviet postage stamps production.

Postage stamp of the Soviet Union. Steam icebreaker Georgy Sedov, Captain K.S. Badygin and Chief Engineer D.G. Trofimov. 1940, CPA 730.

Commemorating the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow over postage stamps

1981 Bandy World Championship in Khabarovsk

Some of the most esteemed Soviet postage stamp designers included Ivan Dubasov, especially credited for producing the Lenin Mourning issue and the first stamps portraying Vladimir Lenin in 1924. His best competitor was perhaps Vasily Zavyalov, who alone authored more than 600 postage stamps. His first was the “Lenin Mausoleum.” His sons Lev and Alexander also became painters and authors of stamps.

“Iron, 8 million tons” A Soviet Union stamp dated to 1929

“Give the country annually 127 million tons of grain”, 1946

“By 1980 livestock, cattle and chickens will be significantly increased. Production of meat will grow almost 4 times, milk almost 3 times”, Decisions of the XXII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—into Life” series, 4 kopecks, 1962. Offset. Comb perf. 12½:12. Multicolor. Artists V. Zavyalov, A. Shmidstein.

Personalised Kartonka “All-Soviet Philatelic Exhibition”, 1932. Designed by V. Zavyalov

In some instances, postage stamps revealed landmark sites belonging to Moscow or other cities across the vast union of republics, as well as beyond the country’s borders. The reason had to be special for the latter to happen.

A USSR stamp commemorating the historic Soviet-American Intermediate and Short-range Nuclear Weapons Treaty which brought an end to the Cold War era. Date of issue: 17th December 1987. Designer: Yury Artsimenev Michel, catalog number: 5779. 10 K. multicoloured. Flags of USSR and USA, Spasskaya Tower (Kremlin, Moscow) and Capitol (Washington).

The Soviet Union 1939 CPA 710 stamp (Sochi 30k). Seriesː Caucasian Health Resorts of the USSR

Soviet stamp showing Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, Kiev and statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 1989

A USSR stamp, 30th Anniversary of International Atomic Energy Agency. Date of issue: 29th July 1987. Designer: G. Komlevv Michel catalog number: 5741. Scott 5584 20 K. multicolored. Emblem and Vienna headquarters of International Atomic Energy Agency.

A postage stamp depicting Moscow’s Gorky Street

On postage stamp: Lenin Library, Moscow

It’s considered that over 4,000 stamps were issued in the U.S.S.R by the mid-1970s alone. Production continued until the dissolution, of course. But it was during that decade that the release of the first national catalog of postage stamps followed, after which began a tradition of annual supplements to the original edition.

Two USSR stamped illustrated covers, 10th anniversary of Filatelia SSSR Magazine, 1976.

The annual publication Soviet Collector and the monthly magazine Filateliya SSSR both took on the tasks to comment, describe and explain the Soviet postage stamp designs. Today, the Soviet postage stamps live as memorabillia that attests to this bygone era of history.