The Stamps Of Tannu Tuva.

Author Unknown.



Gibbons Stamp Monthly 1927



1927
Steiner Page 2.

Originals: crackled white gum.
Reprints: Smooth gum

1934
Steiner Page 17. (Air)

Author : BC
2014

I like Tanu Tuva stamps, they were sold to collectors in canceled-to-order forms.
I have 2 philatelic covers.

Nice.
Not seen those before.
Nice Registration handstamp from Kizil (Tuvan = Red) The Centre of Asia.

This is a good example of how the romance of stamps and mysterious "far-off lands" brought so many of us into collecting stamps. You can't get much more romantic than Tannu Tuva, more correctly just "Tuva" which has always been a somewhat fake "country" that was really a republic of Russia, but is nevertheless a far-off steppe land of herders and great scenic vistas.

Its stamps were a staple of the packet trade many years ago, widely available and not so hard to find. In fact, this is an early example of the kind of stamps produced mainly for stamp collectors that became so controversial later when "sand dunes" emirates in the Persian Gulf and some African and Caribbean countries began flooding the market with colorful stamps as a money-maker. This continues today with many countries in these regions -- and with Mongolia, Tuva's neighbor. Since they were from far, far away and depicted the daily lives of unusual people the stamps of Tuva became widely known when they were issued. It was also the heyday of stamp collecting (1920s and 1930s). Despite their purpose being mainly to be sold to collectors, however, they really are beautiful and mysterious stamps.

You might know of the great CalTech scientist, Richard Feynman, whose lectures are still widely listened to and whose brilliantly witty books and make complex scientific issues a little more understandable for those of us who often have our minds boggled by science. As a child collecting stamps, Feynman fell in love with Tuva because of its stamps, and as an adult he wanted to travel there using his status as a scientist to gain entree to a region the Soviets wanted Westerners kept of for no good reason I can think of. So he tried to arrange permission to do so with the Russian government Unfortunately, he died before he could make the trip. A "Tuva or Bust" campaign was organized following his death, and some of his colleagues managed to go there.

I've always thought that Feynman's fascination with Tuvan stamps shows how much collecting stamps, even as a child, can add romance and inspiration to our lives.

Here are several sets from Tuva on album pages I designed. Last two pages show same set, perforated and unperforated:

(continuation from previous post):

Once again, lovely work Phil.
I committed to Black "open top" stamp mounts, when I bought 7Kg of second hand.
I really like the "Clear" and shall begin to use them when my blacks exhaust.
A majority of my France collection, is in clear.

Hi Rod, I also started with black mounts with my first album of Kingdom of Laos and later I moved to clear mounts which I think more delicate.

An old presentation pack of the 1935 Tuvan wild animal stamps, written in English. It contains inside the complete set on a background of an animal design. On the front and the back are several photos and a short summery about the Tuvan People's Republic published in 1937 in the New York Magazine:




This pack was made by the American company "Tasco Brand Hobby Packets" as their logo on the pack indicated (very tiny). They were specialized in creating presentation packs of stamps and medals for collectors in around 1930-40's.

Lovely ephemera Phil
I really like this sort of thing,
adds spice to the album pages.
Thanks so much for posting.

The 1934 set is beautifully drawn. But the 20 kop black stamps is brutal!

Agree with you, Ringo. I sure in those days it was usual and normal to draw hunting scenes.

Here is a set of 14 stamps depicting local motives, issued by Tuva in 1927, shown earlier in this thread by Rod on Steiner album page. The stamps were designed by Olga Fodorowna Amosova and were printed by State Printing Office in Moscow. Michel catalogue lists them as #15-28. Michel No. 23, 25 and 28 have two different perforations.

I will show the stamps in two parts. Here are the first seven of them:

I find the use of colour choices on these issues rather unique,
makes them immediately recognisable.
I wonder if Madame Amossova had input there?
One of the great stamp sets in my humble opinion.

Agree with you, Rod. I also like very much this 1927 set with local motifs. Here is the second group of seven of them: