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RUSSIA

The Romanoff Tsars in pre-revolutionary Russia were symbolised by a two-headed eagle as were the Habsburgs in
Austria. Seals bearing this symbol are fairly common. I have never yet seen two exactly the same however
from which I deduce there is probably much yet to be discovered.

Updates. The above was written by Steve Hiscocks. I have re-organised,
re-ordered and added quite a few, using 'RH' (Revised Hiscocks) numbers.
No pricing as yet.

The Russian Empire became very extensive and came to include quite a few formerly independent countries. Finland was a Russian grand duchy until, after the Russian Revolution, declaring independence in 1917.
Some others (Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia) are reflected in seals shown below. Others probably also exist. Some later became part of the Soviet bloc.

Roughly west to east, these were :

Country	Cities	Other pages
Moldova	Chisnau
Ukraine	Kiev, Odessa, Sumy
Belarus	Minsk, Brest-Litovsk
Georgia	T'bilisi/Тбилиси
Armenia	Yerevan/Ереван
Lithuania	Vilnius, Verzhbalov	Lithuania_Seals
Latvia	Riga, Jakobstadt	Latvia_Seals
Estonia	Tallinn/Таллинн	Estonia_Seals
Azerbaijan	Baku/Баку
Turkmenistan	Ashgabat/Ашхабад
Kazakhistan	Almaty/Алматы
Uzbekistan	Tashkent/Ташкент
Tajikistan	Dushanbe/Душанбе
Kyrgyzistan	Bishkek/Бишкек

In addition to above, Telegraph receipts for Riga, Latvia and Kiev, Ukraine can be seen on my Russian Telegraph stamp page.
As can be seen from the table above, I am missing telegraphic information for many countries that must have had a telegraph service at some time.
I would really like to hear from anyone that can help to fill any of those gaps.

I have pages on this site for the other countries on this map, with the notable exception of Afghanistan. Again, I would really like to hear from anyone that can help on that.


1721-1917 Russian empire	1918-20 Russian SFSR	1920-78 РСФСР (SFSR)	1978-92 РСФСР and star	1992(May)-93(Nov) Российская Федерация.	Nov 1993 Onwards Russian Federation

The first and last of these, have at the centre St. George and the dragon. This is the coat of arms of Moscow.
There is a useful Russian 'keyboard' at Lexilogos.com.

Just Romanoff eagle and 'ТЕЛЕГРАФЪ'

Without serifs.


#RE1 1885-87, 24.1mm (left claw over 'E', large letters.)	#RE2 24.2mm (different tail)	#RE3 23.5mm (lettering different i.e. 'A', no dot after 'Ъ')


#RE4 1886-9, 23mm (left claw over 'T', smaller letters.)	#RE5 (different tail) 24.3mm (left claw above 'T', small letters.)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHRE1	RE1	#1	1885-7 Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE2	RE2	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE3	RE3	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE4	RE4	-	1886-9 Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE5	RE5	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-

With serifs, dot after 'Ъ'.


#RE6 1896-9, 23.3mm (side ornaments)	#RE7 1890? 23mm (sceptre clear of wings)	#RE8 28.4mm Tall letters, well clear of top.


#RE9 1877-8, 24mm Different tail, bigger wings.	#RE10 23.2mm dot below-left of tail (like #RE9 but touching top frame)	#RE11 1892 Different tail, small lettering (used in St Petersburg)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHRE6	RE6	#3	1896-9 Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE7	RE7	Latvia #1	1890? Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE8	RE8	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE9	RE9	#5	1877-8 Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE10	RE10	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE11	RE11	-	1892, Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-

With serifs, NO dot after 'Ъ'

#RE12 23.3mm


#RE13a 1889-90, 23mm Tail-tip hits corner of 'Г'.	#RE13b 1890, 23.4mm Tail-tip near top of 'Г'.	#RE13c 1895, 23mm Tail-tip further to right of 'Г'.
These appear to be slight variants of the same thing. like seals of some other countries, the centre part seems to move about within the frame. This is perhaps attached to the rim by the crown.

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHRE12	RE12	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-
RHRE13	RE13	#2	1889-95 Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle.	-	-	-

'Management' types (with 'УПРАВЛЕНИ|Е' or 'УПРАВЛЕНИ|Я')


#M1 for ВИЛЕН ОКРУГА (Vilen district) I have not been able to identify this place.	#M2 32.6mm No lightning bolts on post-horns.	#M3 32.3mm Different post-horns. Imperf.


#M3 33mm Perf.11½	#M4 31.5mm 'НАЧАЛЬНИКА КИШИНЁВСКАГО ПОЧТОВО-ТЕЛЕГРАФНОГО ОКРУГА CHIEF OF THE CHISINAU POSTAL-TELEGRAPHIC DISTRICT' - Moldova	#M5 (For St. Petersburg)


#M6 (Penza post-telegraph administration)	#M7 33.4mm (Looks like an etiquette, but sealed something)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHM1	M1	-	Imperf. Dark blue. Post horns & T-bolts below eagle.	-	-	-
RHM2	M2	#7	Imperf. Brown-orange. Post horns only below eagle.	-	-	-
RHM3	M3	-	Imperf. Brown-orange. Post horns & T-bolts below eagle.	-	-	-
RHM4	M3	#8	Perf. 11½. Orange-brown. Romanoff eagle design.	-	-	-
RHM5	M4	-	Imperf. Romanoff eagle. Red on white. (CHISINAU)	-	-	-
RHM6	M5	#9	Rough perf. 11. Blue. Post horns design. (St. Petersburg)	-	-	-
RHM7	M6	-	Imperf. Romanoff eagle. Black on white.	-	-	-
RHM8	M7	-	Scalloped. Romanoff eagle. Red on white.	-	-	-

Hiscocks added the following note:

Note. Neither #7 nor #9 has been seen sealing a folded telegram or an envelope so confirmation of
their status is needed. #8 has been used but it is not known whether it was on a telegram.

Head Offices (КОНТОРЫ НАЧАЛЬНИКА)

#M8

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHM9	M8	-	Imperf. Black on white Post-horns & T-bolts below eagle.	-	-	-

Main Station


#D1 28.3mm, Main Station	#D2 29.8mm, Main Station	#D3 29.7mm, Main Station (bottom-right text)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHD1	D1	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Main Station-1	-	-	-
RHD2	D2	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Main Station 2	-	-	-
RHD3	D3	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Main Station-3	-	-	-

For designated area


#D4 (For Brest-Litovsk, Belarus)	#D5 1867. (For Moscow)	#D6 NovGorod, (New town/city) Russia - I am assuming that this is Veliky Novgorod rather than the smaller Nizhny_Novgorod (Gorky).


#D7 29.9mm (For Odessa, Ukraine)	#D8, 30.8mm (For Odessa, Ukraine)


#D9 (For Riga, Latvia)	#D10, 29.9mm (For Jakobstadt (Jēkabpils, Latvia)


#D11 29.8mm (For Verkhnedneprovsk, now Dnepropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine)	#D12 (For Verzhbalov, Lithuania)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHD4	D4	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Brest-Litovsk	-	-	-
RHD5	D5	-	1867. Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Moscow	-	-	-
RHD6	D6	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. NovGorod	-	-	-
RHD7	D7	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Odessa-1	-	-	-
RHD8	D8	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Odessa-2	-	-	-
RHD9	D9	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Riga	-	-	-
RHD10	D10	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Jakobstadt	-	-	-
RHD11	D11	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Verkhnedneprovsk	-	-	-
RHD12	D12	#4	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Verzhbalov	-	-	-

Post-horn types


#P1 (small arrowheads)	#P2 22mm, 1908-10 (medium arrowheads, ribbons changed)	#P3 22.7mm, 1909-19 (big arrowheads)	#P4 23mm, 1913, used in Moscow. (medium arrowheads), asymmetric crown and tail.


#P5 22.5mm, 1915 - Different tail, orb clear of wings. used in Сумь (Sumy, Ukraine)	#P6 22mm, 1917 (October) (Tall crown, broken lightning bolts. used in Петроград.)	#P7 22.3mm, 1918 (Ribbons well clear of wings, eagle skewed)	#P8 24mm, (small eagle, post-horns and thunderbolts intertwined)

The thunderbolts on these differ in the arrowheads and the 'diamonds' between them. The post-horns differ in shading.

A cautionary note: Петроград / Petrograd should not be confused with Петровград / Petrovgrad (1935-46), now Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia.
The Russian city of Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) was re-named Petrograd in 1914 after the outbreak of WWI to remove the German parts of the name.
The name was changed again to Leningrad (Ленинград) in 1924, then back to Saint Petersburg in 1991.

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHP1	P1	-	Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP2	P2	#6	1908-10, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP3	P3	-	1909-19, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP4	P4	-	1913, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP5	P5	-	1915, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP6	P6	-	1917, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP7	P7	-	1918, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP8	P8	-	Imperf. Black on white. Small Eagle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHP9	P9	-	1922?, Imperf. Black on white. Eagle and emblem.	-	-	-

The seal on the right was displayed in two pieces laid across a telegram from Harbin to Irkutsk dated 13 August 1922.
It may have been removed from the telegram, though there were no obvious signs of that, or it may have nothing to
do with the form. Either way, it is certainly unusual in that it is in a rectangle, the top shows the double-headed
eagle and the bottom has some emblem that I have not been able to identify. In some ways it is similar to some of
the seals of Finland. 1922 seems a bit late for a double-headed eagle! I will designate it as Type P9 for now.
Can anyone identify the emblem ?

Soviet types


#S1 1917 or later. 22mm (РСФСР with Hammer & Sickle)	#S2 1917 or later. 21.9mm (Hammer & Sickle)	#S3 1917 or later. 21.3mm (Hammer & Sickle)

#S4 45mm

#S5 1941, 50mm (printed width)


#S6 1941, 20.7mm (not sure which way up)	#S7 1949 (used in Moscow)

S6 was used in Львів (L’viv; Polish:,Lwów) on a Soviet Telegram dated April 1941
This complicated city had been under Austrian, Ukrainian and Polish control and was soon to come under Nazi control.

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHS1	S1	-	Imperf. Black on white. РСФСР with hammer & sickle and post horns.	-	-	-
RHS2	S2	-	Rough perf. Black on white. Communist hammer and sickle with post horns.	-	-	-
RHS3	S3	-	Rough perf. Black on white. Communist hammer and sickle with post horns.	-	-	-
RHS4	S4	#10	Imperf. Black on white. Communist hammer and sickle with thunderbolt.	-	-	-
RHS5	S5	-	1941 Imperf. Black on white. Hammer and sickle with thunderbolts.	-	-	-
RHS6	S6	-	1941 Perf. 10¾ between. Black on white. Telegraph thunderbolts.	-	-	-
RHS7	S7	-	1949 Perf. 9Black on white. 'Телеграмма'	-	-	-

Railway (with 'ЖЕЛЉЗНЫЯ ДОРОГИ' or abbreviated 'ЖЕЛ. ДОР' or simply 'Ж. Д.')


#R1 27.8mm (For Perm Railroad)	#R2 (For СҌВЕРНЫХЪ Railroad ?) Northern Railroad ?	#R3 21.4mm (For South West Railroad)

	НИКОЛАЕВСКАЯ КАЗЕННАЯ ЖЕЛЕЗНАЯ ДОРОГА. NIKOLAEVSKAYA state railways.	КАЗЕННIЯ ЖЕЛЕЗНIЯ ДОРОГИ. State railways.
#R4 (For B. & P. R. Railways ?)	#R5 (Nikolaevskaya State Railways)	#R6 31.8mm (For State railways)

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHR1	R1	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Perm	-	-	-
RHR2	R2	-	Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. СҌВЕРНЫХЪ	-	-	-
RHR3	R3	-	Imperf. Blue on white. Romanoff eagle. South West	-	-	-
RHR4	R4	-	Imperf. Black on white. Inverted Romanoff eagle. B. & P. R. Railways	-	-	-
RHR5	R5	-	1891-1900? Imperf. Black on white. Romanoff eagle. Nikolaevskaya МПС	-	-	-
RHR6	R6	-	Imperf. Black on white. 'МПС' (Ministry of Railways)	-	-	-


#R7 1878, Finnish government Railway ФИНЛЯНДСК Правительств	#R8 1886, Finnish government Railway ФИНЛЯНДСКИХЪ Правительств

RH #	Type.	was	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHR7	R7	Finland #1	1878 Imperf. Black on white. Romanov Eagle.	-	-	-
RHR8	R8	Finland #2	1886 Imperf. Black on white. Romanov Eagle.	-	-	-

#M1 1926

КИТАйСКОй ОСТОЧНОй means 'Chinese Source'. Under that ЖЕЛѢЗНОй ДОРОГИ means 'Railroad'.
A fragment is known from a telegram to Paveliev, Manchuria printed in Russian and Chinese dated 1926
This is from a telegram to Harbin, China from Manchuria printed in Russian and Chinese dated 1926
Both telegrams are of the Chinese Eastern Railway, or Китайская восточная железная дорога (КВЖД), which crossed Manchuria.

RH #	Type.	Description	Mint	Used	On telegram
RHM1	1	1926 Imperf. Red on cream ?	-	-	-

If anyone can provide scans to help with this page, I am happy to give appropriate credit.