People love to collect, and a variety of things. And it can be not only expensive paintings or antiques, but also the most ordinary postage stamps. However, inveterate philatelists simply will not turn their names into “ordinary” ones!
The most expensive brands of the USSR - what are they? And what is their collection value? This is what will be discussed in this article.
Postage stamp - what is it?
As soon as serious postal services began to function in the world, their organizers immediately asked the question: "How can I determine if a particular postal service has been paid?" And so the postage stamp appeared - a special sign with its face value, which is a fact of confirmation that a particular postal service has been paid.
A postage stamp is a small piece of rectangular paper with a specific (notched) border. It usually contains information about the face value of the brand itself, as well as the postal service number. On any brand there is also a certain drawing with an inscription, thanks to which these products have become an object of interest for collectors.
Types of Postage Stamps
There are several main types of postage stamps:
- official (state-established sample);
- unofficial;
- stamps of private postal services.
During the Soviet Union, stamp collecting was quite a fashionable and popular activity. And today, many philatelists collect stamps of this particular historical era. The most expensive brands of the USSR - what are they? We will talk about this later.
Stamp collecting
There is a special term for this type of collecting: “philately” (the word “atelia” is translated from Greek as “fees, duty”).
For the sake of justice, it should be noted that the so-called philatelists are not limited to collecting stamps alone. They also collect envelopes and a variety of postcards. Well, philately in England was "born" in the middle of the 19th century.
Many of the major philatelists of our time began to collect their first stamps in early childhood. Gradually, their collection grew, in the end, expensive stamps of the USSR could well be in the bins of such collectors.
Philately is not just a hobby
Philately is not a simple hobby, as many may think. Indeed, this hobby carries a huge cognitive potential, stimulating curiosity, interest in the history of the native country among young people and the younger generation. Philately is a historical and semantic phenomenon that is still awaiting its researchers in the future. But today a whole series of books and scientific works is devoted to her.
In addition, a postage stamp is not just a scrap of paper. It is also a real work of art, albeit small in size. Postage stamps are a kind of "business card" of the state, the creation of which has worked more than a dozen talented artists.
Philately is not cheap. Vivid proof of this is the most expensive brands of the USSR, prices for which are sometimes comparable to the price of a one-room apartment or a brand new car! Therefore, not everyone can afford to purchase individual copies of postage stamps.
Expensive stamps of the USSR: the price of stamps
November 7 is a significant date for all domestic philatelists. It was on this day, in 1918, that the first Soviet postage stamp in history was issued. The artist Richard Zarins worked on it.
Postage stamps (expensive) of the USSR have a very different collection value. If some of them can be purchased for a thousand or two Russian rubles, then for individual copies you will have to pay several thousand American dollars! It all depends on the circulation of a particular postage stamp. Nevertheless, those who wish to purchase small "pieces of paper" for such a huge amount of money are quite enough.
Expensive stamps of the USSR: TOP-5
Each state has its own valuable postage stamps, which collectors hunt in the literal sense of the word. Below we present to your attention the most famous, rare and, of course, expensive brands of the USSR.
- “40 Years of the Soviet Circus” is a brand that has never been published. The reason is quite interesting: the creators of the postage stamp could not decide in which year the Soviet circus was founded. Only one copy of this brand is known, which was sold at auction for 13.8 million rubles.
- Cardboard is a block of four stamps dedicated to the first philatelic exhibition. There was also only one such block, which was recently sold for 776.25 thousand dollars.
- "Consular fifty dollars" - a postage stamp issued in the distant 1922 in a small edition of 75 pieces. The price of one such brand is about 63 thousand dollars.
- "Transcarpathian Ukraine" is another rare postage stamp of the USSR, only one copy is known. And it was he who was sold at auction for 29.9 thousand dollars.
- "250 years of the Battle of Poltava" is the rarest Soviet stamp of 1959, with the release of which a curious story is associated. It is known that the issue of the brand was banned at the last moment due to the visit of Nikita Khrushchev to Sweden. No more than forty brands got into circulation, each of which today costs about 15-20 thousand dollars.
Finally...
Perhaps every avid philatelist wants to get valuable and expensive stamps of the USSR for his collection. Even despite the fact that their cost can reach several thousand dollars. In addition, to find such instances, you can spend a lot of effort and personal time.