Latvia 1992 Post Office Generated Cover With Added Stamps

Here's another one from 1992. And the same problem with trying to describe the cover. I'm guessing the 50kap cover was produced by Latvijas Pasts but is there some sort of catalog number for it? Interestingly the back reads that the cover is for sending items to Denmark. The additional stamps are Sc 325, 326, 151, and 152. Any help you folks could provide would help a lot.

Your cover is an item of postal stationery - a stamped postal envelope. These are not listed in Scott, but maybe in a specialized Michel catalog or a specialized catalog for Latvia.

This cover is listed in the specialized catalogue of Latvia as # A6 ( listed too in Michel catalogue)
Date of issue is 1991,May 4

Postage can always be added to any basic envelope for other destinations that cost more or for a later rate change. The envelope is obviously not only for use to Denmark.

I just found it weird that they would specify a particular country for it's use. It would be interesting to know the back story on why just that.

The prestamped envelopes were issued to commemorate the first anniversary of the declaration of Latvia's re-independence.
The flap of the 15k envelope bears the inscription "Valid for dispatch within Latvia,as well as to Azerbaijan,Belarus,Georgia,Estonia,Kazakhstan,Kirgiz,Russia,Lithuania,Moldova,Tajikistan and the Ukraine",but the flap of the 50k envelope bears the inscription "Valid for dispatch to Denmark"

(from the specialized catalogue of Latvia)

Here are pictures of envelope # A4




Those envelopes were reprinted twice.Reprint II may be recognized by the flap of the envelope that bears no inscription.

John Freibergs: It's not unusual for countries to specify destinations for an item of postal stationery. I've seen this on various types from numerous other countries in Latin America and Asia as well. It probably just made it easier for customers and postal clerks to know what they need without knowing actual postal rates.

Thanks everyone. It's nice to learn something new.

The stationery shown in the images posted by the original poster (OP) was issued May 4, 1991 to cover the 50 kopeck rate for an airmail letter of the 1st weight class (>=20g) abroad. There are two variations of this stationery, the second being without imprinted text on the backflap - a reprint done at the end of 1991.

First a little background story: The postal service of the Soviet Union worked on a dual basis - the postal services of the union republics and the all-union postal service. The first performing the collection and distribution of mail within each of the Soviet republics. The latter performing transport and exchange of mail between union republics and the rest of the World.

The postal service of the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic independently raised their postage rates for domestic mail as of January 1, 1991. On May 4, 1991, they issued four stationery envelopes with imprinted postage stamps to cover the new postage rates. Three of these were for domestic use (at the time domestic was still considered the USSR) with 15 kopecks as face value. The fourth, the 50 kopeck stationery, was intended for destinations abroad.

There was one hurdle though - at the time of issue of these four stationeries, the all-union postal service only recognized mail franked with Soviet issued postage as being correctly paid. The 15 kopeck stationeries were accepted by and exchanged directly with the Estonian postal service as well as the Lithuanian postal service. All mail abroad had to go via Moscow, but the 50 kopeck stationery was accepted by the Danish postal service via a bilateral agreement between the two postal services - a direct mail exchange via the newly opened flight connection by Scandinavian Air Systems (SAS) between Copenhagen and Riga.

Latvian independence as a sovereign state was officially restored on August 21, 1991, after the failed Soviet coup. Latvian postage stamps were issued again on October 19, 1991, and Latvijas Pasts was again a member of the UPU. As of December 1, 1991, Latvijas Pasts were exchanging mail directly with all countries of the world.

Below the 50 kopeck stationery solo use to Denmark, postmarked July 28, 1991, Riga RPPC (postal centre).

Thanks Baltija it's nice to learn a little of how the cover happened.