Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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It is an unissued set of eight Russian Occupation of Latvia. Not listed by Scott, but your copy looks to be a forgery. A picture of it is shown under Russia in the Scott Illustrated Identifier at the back of the catalog.
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Thanks for the info. I have a 5 kon, 10 kon and a 60kon. Guess all are forgery.
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Not necessarily. I merely said that the one you posted the image of looks like one. You would have to post images of the others.
I have looked it up. There are two types of forgeries. My reference only has an image of one type. Your stamp does not match that forgery. However, under the description of the genuine stamp, it is stated that reprints were made from worn plates and the image of the stamp is "smudgy and lacks details".
I do not believe that your stamp is a genuine one, but may be a reprint, rather than a forgery, from its appearance.
This set of stamps was not issued because before the stamps could be put on sale the Russian occupation ended, and the Latvian government was back in control of its country following the end of World War I. Dealers in Germany got hold of the unissued stamps, and sold them at a high price. Some unscrupulous types took advantage of that and created a couple types of forgeries to deceive collectors. Also, reprints (not sure if these were authorized, but probably were not) were made and came onto the market as well.
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I agree with Michael that this stamp looks like a late reprint from a worn plate.
There are lots of these stamps around in different states so they don't have much financial value.
However, they do represent a fascinating piece of history.
As Michael has said, Scott refers to them as the Russian Occupation of Latvia which has an element of truth in it but the story is quite complicated.
In the Russian Civil War, various "white" anti-communist armies fought against the Red Army. However, they did not cooperate with each other and in fact were often hostile.
Some catalogues such as SG call the army behind this stamp the "Western Army" and it was one of the smaller and less effective forces.
Its name was actually the "West Russian Volunteer Army" and it was created and supported by Germany to reflect its interests in the Baltic region (once its forces had been obliged to leave the region after the Treaty of Versailles).
The army was made up of German, Baltic and some former Russian POW troops under the label of the "West Russian Volunteer Army" and led by the maverick Pavel Bermont-Avalov.
It nominally declared its support for the white leader Admiral Kolchak whose forces were on the Siberian front but I don't believe it ever did anything to further the anti-communist cause.
In 1919 the army attacked Latvia which with Lithuania has recently become independent when the Germans gave up their previous occupation.
The army occupied by a small part of Latvian territory, was defeated by Latvian and Estonian forces, retreated to Lithuania, was defeated by Lithuanian forces, retreated to Germany and shortly after ceased to exist.
So this stamp really reflects the failed German re-occupation of Latvia and Lithuania under a Russian flag.
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Thank you both for your replies and info. I have added them to the back of Latvia
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I have another Russian stamp that I can't find in the Scott catalog, any help would be appreciated.
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re: Another Russian stamp
It is an unissued set of eight Russian Occupation of Latvia. Not listed by Scott, but your copy looks to be a forgery. A picture of it is shown under Russia in the Scott Illustrated Identifier at the back of the catalog.
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re: Another Russian stamp
Thanks for the info. I have a 5 kon, 10 kon and a 60kon. Guess all are forgery.
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re: Another Russian stamp
Not necessarily. I merely said that the one you posted the image of looks like one. You would have to post images of the others.
I have looked it up. There are two types of forgeries. My reference only has an image of one type. Your stamp does not match that forgery. However, under the description of the genuine stamp, it is stated that reprints were made from worn plates and the image of the stamp is "smudgy and lacks details".
I do not believe that your stamp is a genuine one, but may be a reprint, rather than a forgery, from its appearance.
This set of stamps was not issued because before the stamps could be put on sale the Russian occupation ended, and the Latvian government was back in control of its country following the end of World War I. Dealers in Germany got hold of the unissued stamps, and sold them at a high price. Some unscrupulous types took advantage of that and created a couple types of forgeries to deceive collectors. Also, reprints (not sure if these were authorized, but probably were not) were made and came onto the market as well.
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re: Another Russian stamp
I agree with Michael that this stamp looks like a late reprint from a worn plate.
There are lots of these stamps around in different states so they don't have much financial value.
However, they do represent a fascinating piece of history.
As Michael has said, Scott refers to them as the Russian Occupation of Latvia which has an element of truth in it but the story is quite complicated.
In the Russian Civil War, various "white" anti-communist armies fought against the Red Army. However, they did not cooperate with each other and in fact were often hostile.
Some catalogues such as SG call the army behind this stamp the "Western Army" and it was one of the smaller and less effective forces.
Its name was actually the "West Russian Volunteer Army" and it was created and supported by Germany to reflect its interests in the Baltic region (once its forces had been obliged to leave the region after the Treaty of Versailles).
The army was made up of German, Baltic and some former Russian POW troops under the label of the "West Russian Volunteer Army" and led by the maverick Pavel Bermont-Avalov.
It nominally declared its support for the white leader Admiral Kolchak whose forces were on the Siberian front but I don't believe it ever did anything to further the anti-communist cause.
In 1919 the army attacked Latvia which with Lithuania has recently become independent when the Germans gave up their previous occupation.
The army occupied by a small part of Latvian territory, was defeated by Latvian and Estonian forces, retreated to Lithuania, was defeated by Lithuanian forces, retreated to Germany and shortly after ceased to exist.
So this stamp really reflects the failed German re-occupation of Latvia and Lithuania under a Russian flag.
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re: Another Russian stamp
Thank you both for your replies and info. I have added them to the back of Latvia
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