In this (irregular) series, I examine some of the many political changes reflected in stamps. Of the numerous examples, I arbitrarily select a few from one of my favorite stamp issuing periods for political changes, 1910 to 1930.
Image 1: 80 hryvnia stamp prepared for Ukrainian People's
Republic, 1920.
The
Ukrainian People's Republic (Українська Народня Республіка) or UNR, was a short-lived republic established in the Ukraine after the defeat of Germany in 1918 and the consequent evacuation of German forces from the Ukraine. The UNR was mired in war, uprisings and counter-uprisings throughout its short life, although it did find time to commission a set of 14 postage stamps to be printed in Vienna by lithography.
Image 1 is one of these stamps, an attractive bi-color which shows an imagined scene of "Cossacks on the Black Sea", as well as the heraldic trident symbol of the Ukraine. The stamp designs were strongly influenced by the graphic design ideas of Koloman Moser (1868-1918) and other artists of the Wiener Werkstätte (Eng. Vienna Workshop).
In 1920, before the Vienna stamps could be placed into postal service, most of Ukraine was conquered by the Red Army. The UNR disappeared as a practical government, although various rebellions fomented by UNR personnel continued for many years. The series of stamps, now known as the Vienna Issue, were sold to collectors. The entire set can be picked up on Ebay for a few dollars.
Image 2: newspaper stamp originally issued for
Austrian post in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1913.
The Bosnian Girl
Image 2 is one of a series of four stamps issued in 1913 by the Austrian postal authorities for use in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Austrian government then ruled. This series became known as the "Bosnian Girl" series.
Originally the Bosnian Girl series was issued imperforate, that is, without the little separate holes that are called "perforations". One separated imperforate stamps with scissors.
After Austria collapsed in 1918, Bosnia and Herzegovina was incorporated into the new formed country called the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia. For a time the local authorities in Bosnia simply used stocks of Austrian stamps, generally but not always overprinted with the new country's name. Some of the Bosnian Girl stamps were perforated and used for regular postage in the new country. Image 2 is an example of one of these stamps.
Image 3: British stamp over-
printed Saorstát Éireann 1922
The Irish Free State
When the Irish Free State was established in 1922, an effort was made to issue newly-designed stamps for the Free State, however this proved to be more difficult to organize than had been anticipated, and the Free State used, for many years, British stamps overprinted, in various configurations and ink colors, with the name of the Free State in Irish.
Image 3 is an example of one of these overprinted stamps. These stamps were the first ever to bear the Irish language, although by then Irish was little spoken in Dublin, so much so that several typographical errors were made in the plates used to make the overprints on the stamps.
The chief error error was that the accent over the first "e" in Éireann was omitted on one, or in some cases two, of every stamp on the overprinted sheet. These errors were manually corrected at the printing plants by clerks simply inking an accent on each sheet. In some cases the accent mark corrections were reversed, or in certain rare cases, omitted entirely.
Stamps with omitted accent marks are valued at up to $8,700 according to the Scott postage stamp catalog. Image 3, Scott Number 48, is valued at $3.50 in the unused state, as shown here.
Image 4: Latvian stamp printed on German military map
Independent Latvia
When the government of newly-independent Latvia set about to print the country's first postage stamps in December, 1918, there was no ready supply of good quality paper at hand.
Someone discovered a trove of abandoned German military maps in Riga, which had been occupied by German forces. These were simply trimmed to the right size, flipped over to the blank side, and run through the presses to produce Scott No. 1, of which Image 4 is an example. Despite the unique nature of each stamp, bearing a different portion of the map used to produce it, the stamps depicted in Image 4 are valued at only $1.00 each in the Scott catalog.
Like the stamps of the Irish Free State, the stamps of Latvia were the first stamps ever produced in the local language, here of course Latvian. The humble little stamps shown in Image 4 were also a measure of the collapse of two empires, the Russian as well as the German.
Image 5: Argentina stamp commemorating 1930 revolution.
Revolution in Argentina
The stamp shown in Image 5 is the top value (50 pesos) of a series of stamps issued in Argentina to commemorate the revolution (or coup, depending on your point of view, of 6 September 1930.
Look closely at Image 5. On the left center, a symbolic female figure (personifying Argentina?) marches alongside the drummer on the right. She carries the flag of Argentina in her left hand, and in her right the torch of victory. Troops with fixed bayonets march behind the drummer, and on the left behind the symbolic figure are people marching and waving their hats in the air. Behind them are warships and airplanes, apparently military are seen in the sky -- what kind of revolution was this?
Some clue can be gained from the civilians, who are shown wearing business suits. The 6 September coup/revolution represented a bloodless overthrow of the democratically-elected president Hipólito Yrigoyen (1855-1933) by mutinious Army troops under the command of the rightist José Félix Uriburu (1868-1932). This marked the beginning of an era known in Argentine history as the Década Infame (1930-1943) and also set the precedent for military intervention in Argentine politics which continued up to 1982.
Most of the values of the series are very inexpensive, with catalog prices for most $1.00 or below. Image 5 shows the highest face value stamp, 50 pesos, which is rare. This particular example, which appears to be in excellent unused condition, sold for $375 in April 2010, but that was well below the catalog value which is given as $750.
A note on values.
I have included values to show that this is not necessarily an expensive hobby. Even the smallest and least expensive collection can include items of historical interest. I don't encourage people to attempt to speculate in the prices of stamps, this is really quite a tricky business which should be left to the experts.