ETHIOPIA
Another rare seal and the only one known from that country.
It fetched a high price on eBay. Again the size and date are not known.
| Updates. The above was written by Steve Hiscocks. I have only converted to HTML. No pricing as yet. |
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| #1 |
| Hisc. | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH1 | 1 | #1 | Blue / red. Ethiopian crowned lion and banner. | - | - | - |
FINLAND
Finland was a Grand Dutchy of Russia from 1809 to 1917 and the Russian Emperor was the Grand Duke,
which accounts for the Romanov double-headed eagle on the 1878 and 1886 seals shown below.
#5 [now #6]was used to seal a folded telegram in 1937 and bears a slogan which I am told translates roughly as
"Use State Telephones" in Finnish and in Swedish.
| Updates. The above was written by Steve Hiscocks. I have merged the addenda into this, moved the Russian Empire period items to Russia, and re-numbered them. No pricing as yet. |
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| 1857 | 1918 | 1978 onwards |
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| #1 1917 | #2 1919? |
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| Hiscocks listed this as being two widely separated parts of a seal. I am discarding it as being parts of his #4 on the right. |
#3 1923-5 |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | #1 | Moved to Russian Empire (Railway). | - | - | - |
| - | - | #2 | Moved to Russian Empire (Railway). | - | - | - |
| - | - | #7 | Moved to Russian Empire. | - | - | - |
| RH1 | 1 | #8 | 1917 Imperf. Posthorns. | - | - | - |
| RH2 | 2 | #6 | 1919? Imperf. Crest and Winged wheel. | - | - | - |
| RH3 | - | #3 | Imperf. Black on white. - discarded | - | - | - |
| RH4 | 3 | #4 | 1923-5, Imperf. Black on white. | - | - | - |
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| #4 1924 | #5 1940 |
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| #6 1934-41, 46mm | #7 1947-49, 44.7mm |
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH5 | 4 | #9 | 1924 Imperf. Winged wheel. S.W.R. / F.S.J. | - | - | - |
| RH6 | 5 | #10 | 1940 Imperf. Winged wheel. V. R. | - | - | - |
| RH7 | 6 | #5 | 1934-41 Imperf. Black on white. Slogans. | - | - | - |
| RH8 | 7 | #11 | 1947-49 Roulette 5¼. Black on white. Advert. | - | - | - |
| Note 1. The wording on #6 translates as "Use the national telephone." in Swedish and Finnish. |
| Note 2. The wording on #7 translates as "Telegram can be delivered to the nearest telegraph office by telephone." in Swedish and Finnish. |
My notes: According to wikipedia VR or VR Group (Finnish: VR-Yhtymä Oy, Swedish: VR-Group Ab) is a state-owned railway company in Finland.
Formerly known as Suomen Valtion Rautatiet (Finnish State Railways) until 1922 and Valtionrautatiet / Statsjärnvägarna (State Railways) until 1995.
What was type #7 above is probably #P3 of Russia but the scan is too poor to see. Since Imperial Russian seals would
have been used in the Grand Dutchy of Finland at this time I have moved it to Russia along with the former #1 and #2.
Type #2 was listed as 1909 (Hiscocks Type #6) but has an emblem that looks like that of 1918. I have (provisionally) changed it to 1919.
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| #8 1975 |
This is Bi-lingual, having 'Post and Telegraph Service' in Finnish and Swedish.
It was not used as a seal, simply stuck on the front of an unaddressed tri-lingual aerogram (French, Finnish and Swedish)
Perhaps as a first day cover ?
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH9 | 8 | - | 1975 Red on yellow | - | - | - |
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| #9 1978 ? |
This is Bi-lingual, having 'Post and Telegraph Board' in Finnish and Swedish.
The arms appear to match the 1978 style, so this could be very recent. I have no idea if these were ever used as seals, or simply as etiquettes.
| RH # | Type. | was | Description | Mint | Used | On telegram |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RH10 | 9 | - | 1978 ? Red on white | - | - | - |
If anyone can provide scans to help with this, I am happy to give appropriate credit.
