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Russia, Offices in Turkey
1st January 1863
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| Russia, Offices in Turkey #1 |
imperf, no wmk, typographed
Printed in St. Peterburg
| Description | Date issued | Paper | Sc # | SG# | Mi# | Y&T# | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 kopecks blue | 1st January 1863 | 1 | |||||
| 6k light blue | thin | 1a | 1 | ||||
| 6k light blue | medium | 1b | 2, 2a | ||||
| 6k dark blue | 1866 | chalky | 1c | 1 |
The first, and most impressive Offices Abroad stamp was Russia’s 1863 general issue. The image area on the stamp is about 48x48mm and the inscription translates as, “Dispatch under wrapper to the East”. Russia was followed in Turkey by issues for the Offices of Austria Hungary, Britain, France, Germany Italy and Rumania, while the Greek and Egyptian services did not use specific stamps and can only be distinguished by cancellation.
As regards the Russian issues, the #1 was followed in 1865 by a series of stamps for mail handled by the Russian Company for Navigation and Trade, or ROPIT and these were later overprinted with the names of various Lantine cities. These will be added to this page in due course.