Recently Acquired A Registered Soviet Letter Needs Appraisal

Hi everyone, just joined this new site and I am enjoying myself reading all the great posts.

Well let me get on with why I'm here. I just recently acquired a registered soviet letter (just the envelope) from former soviet union with 2 paper stamps and an ink stamp with pick and sickle on it. I know it's worth a substantial sum and I just wanna get it appraised for personal reasons - how do I do this? please respond at your earliest convenience.

Regards,

Stampmanman

Hello Stampmanman and welcome to the forum! As this type of cover normally sells for less than $1 (if a buyer can be found), in order to help you, why do you think yours is worth a "substantial sum"?

You will probably have better luck getting responsive suggestions by raising the question in a more appropriate SCF forum. This forum is focused on classic (pre-1940) US. Perhaps the moderators can redirect the inquiry to the right place.

He has the rare "pick and sickle" variety, not the dime-a-dozen "hammer and sickle"?

Ikey - hilarious! Reminds me of the deranged pirate who had a skull and square bones flag.

How do "you know it's worth a substantial amount"?

Jenny2U: Much appreciated.

EssayK: Thanks.

Canada Stamps: You need a tissue? 'Cause there's something brown on your nose.

Ikey: So I accidentally confused my Soviet proletarian implements, and rather than gently inform me about it to facilitate positive change, I've been ridiculed instead. Okay. I stand to be corrected, and you've aired your grievance. You're smart, I'm stupid; You're handsome, I'm ugly etc.

By the way, Passive aggressive-maneuvers like sarcasm at other's expense especially in front of an audience are a weak person's imitation of strength and superiority. Nice to meet you too. o_O

Glen Estes: Lol and yeah I was informed of the item's value by a mildly reputable source so I reckon my claim needs amending.

Shoot me people, geez lol.

Stampmanman, welcome to the "forum." Sorry, you've been treated like the new kid at school. Things will get better, so don't sweat the small stuff. There is a WEALTH of knowledge to be learned at this site from people who are willing to share what they know.

I would add to jenny2u's succinct analysis by saying that just about all modern covers fall into the $1 category (dealer's price, rather than value) with very rare exceptions. With most modern covers, the value is the value of the stamp(s).

Then how do we account for the fact that, in the bargain boxes & kilo piles, most modern stamps sell for a penny or two, while most modern covers sell for a quarter or two?

If we are talking about most modern collectible covers - first flight covers, crash covers, censor covers, etc - then the stamps are almost always completely irrelevant to their value.

I'm open to the opposite point-of-view, but I'll need it explained to me.

Stampmanman: I thought that the pickle-sickle thing was sufficiently trivial that it would not sting as much as it did.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

stampmanman: also a welcome to the forum and web site from me. It's hard to tell from the scan, and I don't see a date on the postmark. But, I'm guessing that what you have is a post-Soviet era cover.

I was in the Caucasus Mountains in 1997 to do Mount Elbrus, which is the highest mountain in Europe. I bought several pieces of postal stationary, with a picture of the mountain on the envelopes, at a souvenir stand. Three of the four were ready to go. They have the same postage as yours; a stamped envelope with wording "noyta cccp" underneath the pre-printed stamp, which is in Cyrillic, and two newer stamps on top. The "pocc etc." is Cyrillic for Russia. Also, Soviet postage stamps usually had the wording "cccp" on them somewhere. That's Cyrillic for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. My stamps of Russia are attached over the printed stamp and have a year date of 1995.

Can you take a closer look at your cover to see if the two stamps are dated?

bookbndrbob: I appreciate the response. Must mean something when multiple people are saying the same thing. Hm...

Climbersteve: Thanks for the response. I decided to add some more photos to help conclude the analysis of it once and for all.

stampmanman: thanks for uploading the additional scans. It does appear that you have a piece of Soviet era postal stationary that was converted for use after the Soviet Union ended. Dates on your stamps are 1992, which is after the end of the Soviet Union. It is an interesting piece, however, with the young girl. As an aside, what appears to be "Mockba" in the address is Cyrillic for Moscow.

There must have been an absolutely enormous remainder of unused Soviet-style postal stationery and post cards at the time of this mailing. When I visited the main post office in Tallinn, Estonia in 1991, stacks of these were lying around on counters. They were free to all postal patrons who needed envelopes and cards.

Interestingly, I've seen lots and lots of the post-Soviet covers in dealers' cover boxes, but I can't remember ever seeing one of the picture post cards in used condition.

Welcome Stampmanman.

Please don't take offense by this but if you only knew how many times we have seen someone coming in here thinking or after being told by someone, never named, that what they had was worth a "substantial" amount, you'd understand the sarcasm a little.

This is a great place with great people and unlimited knowledge shared here. Value of things here is not usually the most prevalent subject being discussed aside from by the people that go away upset that their fortunes will not be realized .