What Country(Ies)?

Anyone know where these are from? Not sure they're even from the same country.

Thanks.

Transcaucasian Federation of Soviet Republics - Armenian issues, c1922. But - these were only genuinely issued with surcharges. The unsurcharged stamps are from part of the original printing left with the printers or from unauthorised reprints.

So, they're not worth anything to a collector?

$3.20 total CV 2014 Scott 1940-1940 catalogue.

Much less in real life. I have so many in my feeder albums, I could stitch them together for wallpaper.

There are some interesting stories behind these stamps.

I particularly like the first one here which shows a view of the ruined medieval city of Ani seen from one the caves there.

Thanks for the info, guys. My grandfather was Armenian and moved to the U.S. when he was a kid. These are all from his collection, as are the rest of my stamps.

The are actually listed under Armenia, Volume 1, not Transcaucasia.

Paul -

Make sure you thank your Grandfather! He made a big sacrifice in leaving his native country to come to the United States. He gave you a gift. Don't look at it from a $$ value standpoint, but as a good place to build a family history album.

Good luck!

Although the stamps don't carry a high catalog value, the background is fascinating.

I wrote a brief history on the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR) at DCStamps (http://www.dcstamps.com/?p=1227).

The TSFSR was formed on Mar 12, 1922, when the Soviets completed their conquest of the three fledgling Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

For a while, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan issued postage stamps as separate entities, and your stamps were from Armenia during this period. The TSFSR begin issuing stamps as a combined entity on Sep. 15th, 1923, replacing the stamps from the separate countries by Oct. 1st.

The TSFSR postage stamps weren't used for very long, as they were superseded by stamps of the Soviet Union in 1924.

You guys know your stuff! Another interesting item: this is the cover and inside spread of a 4-page booklet.

oldguy, I appreciate the sentiment. I never actually met my grandfather. He died 6 years before I was born. He passed the stamps on to my dad who passed them on to me. He, too, is no longer around.

Paul
What an interesting little booklet. It helps make the history come alive. Who published it, and does your collection include any more such booklets?

Here is an interesting fact about the 4 Azerbaijan stamps at the top right of the booklet.

They are part of a set of 10 stamps which were originally issued by the Azerbaijan Republic on thin, white paper in Oct 1919. They are sometimes called the Moussavat Issues, named after the ruling political party.

However, after the Republic of Azerbaijan was taken by the Bolsheviks in April, 1920, the new Soviet government reissued the set of 10 stamps on thick grayish paper, so you can see that your stamps are the re-issue during the Soviet era.

Here is a link to my Azerbaijan album which shows both issues: http://www.dcstamps.com/?page_id=4650

Interesting. I think that's the only booklet in the collection. I'll look again. Not sure who published it. If I can remember where I put it after I scanned it, I'll scan the back page as well.

Thanks for the info!

I looked at the back of the booklet. It's from the Jamestown Stamp Co.

I found this in another old album: