Need Help With Ville De Varsovie Revenue

I could use a little information about this 10-kopeck stamp. I believe it is a revenue, and there was a small note with it that said "Ville de Varsovie." If that was right, it has some connection to Poland. I didn't have any luck finding anything similar online. Any ideas, information, history? (It looks better in person.)

I came up blank also (except for the link back to this thread!). There may be something buried in all the French language sites, but I certainly wouldn't know.

The inscription is in Cyrillic characters and the value is in kopecks. I suppose it could have been used in Poland pre WWI, but I think I would look under Russia. Unfortunately, I can't translate the cyrillic inscription. Perhaps someone here can.

A little more information. According to information online, the figure is variously referred to as syrenka or syrena, and depicts a freshwater mermaid known as a melusina who, according to legend, chose the location of Warsaw. Apparently she has been part of the coat of arms of Warsaw since the early 17th century. She is also on one of the two first local post issues of Warsaw during World War I.

So, I'm pretty clearly dealing with a Warsaw issue, it seems.

Thanks for thinking about this.

Collin

I can now make out that the first word in the inscription does in fact refer to
Warsaw.

I looked in Scott for both early Poland and early Russia, but I didn't see it in either place.

Of course, that's not to say it wasn't there, just that I didn't see it.

Sorry,
KirkS

The inscription reads "Varshavskaya Gorod. Upravleniya" in Russian, which means "Warsaw City Government (or Administration)"

It is in Cyrillic, and Polish uses the Latin alphabet.

Think Soviet occupation? 1940's That's the only time I can think of that had Russians in charge of Warsaw.

Actually, it reads "Varshavskavo Gorod. etc."

Sorry

Check out this link http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/PS250.htm

It is a quick outline of Polish history. Turns out Poland (thus Warsaw) was run by the Russians for quite a while. I guess this does not narrow down your search.

However, the letters in the Russian script (specifically the second to the last letter which looks like a capital "i" , which is no longer in the Russian alphabet after 1917) and the ending of the word Warsaw ("-avo" rather than "-ovo") are archaic and definitely pre WWI.

--Dave Cottrell, who paid more attention in Russian class and less in East European History

I found another one online, identified as a City of Warsaw revenue stamp on a 1907 document. I have very few eastern European revenues, but I'll have to at least look for a Barefoot Poland catalogue to flip through. If this is representative of the Polish revenues of the era, maybe I can look for a couple more.

Thanks to all for the help, esp. Dave's translations.

Collin