BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Polish Culture Old Polish stamp

Here's an old Polish postage stamp from the 1960s I've found courtesy "Bolshaya Sovetskaya Encyclopedia", 3rd edition. Probably no one is old enough to remember when stamps like this were around... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'll ask my dad. He might actually recognize it.

I still remember this stamp, it was a series - I think everone had a different color shade. I used to collect many stamps, but during one of my visit to Poland I noticed that the most important (among them some beautiful Soviet stamps and old Nazi stamps) were missing together with their albums.

For a long time 60 grosz was the cost of the letter and 40 grosz a cost of the postcard - also the fonts of these stamps are very familiar - at least for 60-es!

Yes, I heard about how your stamp collection was stolen. It's very sad that you can't even trust people anymore. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> It's not even the monetary worth of the collection, but the effort to collect them, and the emotional attechment to them. If I could, I would share my stamp collection with you. The only stamps I have now from Poland, though, are the stamps you sent me. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The font (except for the word "Polska") is called "Journal". It was the most common sans-serif font used in the socialist countries at the time - there were both Latin and Cyrillic sets. The most popular font for book printing, though, was "Literaturnaya". Probably you would recognize it, too. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The USSR produced a lot of very fancy stamp series to highlight the history and culture of the country. Actually, in 1991, they began printing stamps for national instruments of all the republics, but they had to stop before they could finish, because the USSR ended before they had run through all the republics. Anyway, considering most people in the USSR sent letters in envelopes with the stamp preprinted, the Soviet Union produced a phenominal amount of culturally-interesting stamps.

Today, Russia is beginning to restart the tradition, but mostly, the post offices use only the small standard-issue stamps. The only country I know that continues the Soviet tradition of printing so many different series and varieties of stamps today is Belarus. In every letter, it's like a picturebook of the country's history and culture - it's very interesting to look at!

Eric,

you are right, Soviet stamps were very pretty. I almost do not want to talk about it.. because of the bad memories it brings.
Czechoslovakia had also a unique style of stamps. I did not like it very much but it was really unique.

This stamp is from the World cap of Gliders in Leszno in 1968

I am (slowly) working on copying my stamp collection to the internet. So maybe you'll find some of your favorites there.

Do you know who could have stolen your stamps?

The oldest Polish stamps I have are the 1919 issue, Scott A10 with the Eagle and face values of 3F and 15F These only have the eagle and are mint. The second set are the 1920 issue with Eagle and Fasces, symbolic of a united Poland and are Scott A11. I believe the F represent Northern Poland. My oldest Russian stamps are from 1857 and 1858 and I also have a few from The Army of the North issued in 1919. Early Russian and Finnish stamps can be very hard to classify because they are very similar. Some Eastern European countries issued very nice stamps but they were pre-cancled with the gum remaining on the stamp. The significence of these stamps is that they were a means to raise revenue and sell to collectors. These stamps were never meant for postal use. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bob,

you are a real colector. I need to visit you soon and maybe steal some from you <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> like somebody did to me

Eric,

I believe that the collections of all world stamps should be available on the internet. But I did not find just one good source for all!

Eric and Jaga. The Scott number for this stamp is A494. It was issued on May 29, 1968 to commorate the 11th Int. Glider Championships at Leszno. The face value of the stamps ranged from 60g to 5.50Z. The 60g was the Zephyr, 90g Stork, 1.50Z Swallow, 3.40Z Flies, 4Z Seal, 5.50Z Pirate. During this same year there was also the series of famous Polish Paintings and came in four different sets issued at different months. The series were issued in Lithograph, Typograph and Engraved processes.
Jaga a computer may be good for some things but in the world of stamps it is a very poor last resort. It is better if you can find a stamp dealer near where you live and become friends. The advantage of this is that you have face to face source of knowledge, help and honesty. One other thing you will actually be able to see what a stamp looks like. One example, the 2cent 1919-1928 issue of George Washington. There were different engravers envolved with that stamp and there are many different types of stamps because each engraver left his own mark. Books have been written about this stamp and some types are quite valuable even in cancelled condition. Only good detective work by direct observation can determine the type of stamp and it's value: Computers do not work or help.