Started My Russia Collection Today

The stamps of Russia have intrigued me since I was a child and after much deliberation I started my collection today by purchasing some 1940's and 50's sets at auction. Very exciting! Will share pics as stamps are received.

I will no doubt be reaching out to fellow collectors of Russia in the coming months for help and advice and will be deeply appreciative of any assistance that can be provided.

Peace

The interesting stuff is pre-1945 in my opinion. Later issues, particularly after the fall of the USSR, is often very pretty but little better than wallpaper. These can be had relatively cheaply as year sets, but beware: they will fill your shelves up very quickly. Good luck and have fun. Looking forward to seeing updates from time as and when.

"We will bury you".

Catalog with the Russian sauce:( CCCP at the right)
http://skandinav.eu/index.htm

I was wondering who is V. Zagorsky?

https://zagorsky-stamps.com/index.p...rmation_id=4

Rog what range of years do you have in mind for the Russia collection?

Shermae - I am thinking that I will stop at 1955. I will probably use a Palo album and that is a volume cut-off point which coincides well with the issues that I really like. Will likely start at the very beginning but I really love the stamps from the 30's, 40's and early 50's. I cannot explain it but they speak to me. The designs and subject matter really evoke a place in time. Machinery, architecture, civil works, scientists portraits, sports, aviation/military and so on. I really love these stamps.

rogdcam - there is a lot there! I find that the Russian stamps speak to me, too, in a similar way. I just have too many other projects to get wrapped up in this area. One of these days, though, I may dip my toe in this very large pond. The idea of cutting off at a certain point certainly makes the task seem more manageable. I would pick the late '50's or early '60's as my cutoff, but if the Palo 'break' is 1955, that sounds like a perfect break-point. Let us know how it goes.

Russia stamps end in 1917 and then continue again in 1991. Between 1917 and 1922 is gets a little fuzzy and likely philatelically interesting. From 1922 to 1991 it is Soviet Union. If I were to collect Russia I would end in 1922.

Scott just lists everything chronologically but Michel distinguishes between Russia and Soviet Union.

Will you include satellite groups like Finland stamps based on the Russian, White army, right army and so?
If you venture to WWII you'll have the USSR controlled zone in Germany, also a satellite topic.

Rob - I intend to do so. At first I hope to be very focused on one or two basic periods and areas and move on when those are complete or reasonably so. I have a history of "shotgun" collecting and want to change that.

Roger: have you checked out the Rossica Society for Russian Philately (rossica.org)?

Like you and others, I have an interest in Russian philately. I kept my Russian material, including some Tannu Tuva, when I downsized the world wide collection couple years ago. Steve

Many thanks Steve. I was not aware of Rossica and after taking a look I will join this week. Quite awesome!

Well, I was going to go with a Palo hingeless but ended up with Scott. I will mount the stamps myself and enjoy doings so and I still have a soft spot for Scott. I have a large number of sets on the way and will post as I go.

Well I started my new Russia Album, 1918-1958, this week and am thus far pleased with my album/mount choices with one or two exceptions. Taking others opinions and input I opted to go with Hawid clear mounts and I am very happy that I did. The quality is high and they are my first top load mounts. Sooooo much easier and less stressful placing stamps in these. Should have done it long ago for my US collection. Same with the color choice. I was forever a black mount guy but I have to say that the clear mounts look nice to my eye AND they are forgiving when it comes to alignment issues. As far as the Scott album goes well it is a Scott album. I wanted the Scott numbers. The layout and paper and binder are so familiar and old school to me in a good way. One of my complaints is that some of the listed souvenir sheets have spaces and others do not and there really seems to be little logic to it. The other goes for sets that were issued both perf and imperf but only have spaces for one type.

Anyway, I will be sharing pics of some pages soon for anyone interested.

I have been considering Russia as well.

My primary interest has been in the pre-1917 period and all the states. Scott is familiar and I too like the clear Hawid mounts on Scott pages.
https://www.amosadvantage.com/produ...IA-1857-1917

I then came across this site and became more interested in the DIY approach following a lot of the ideas from these pages. I like the header on the pages but only for page 1. I am attracted to the insert rows with information about the stamps.
http://www.ruskystamps.com/previews.html


I just worry the PC work is more time consuming than I can allocate and I might be taking on more pages than I will have stamps. My history has been Specialty pages or just print the Steiner designs on Specialty sized paper and mount away often leaving diluting what I thought was a collection across a binder of pages.

I do want a few USSR stamps so the next Scott volume to 1958 would be plenty...1940 if I print my own. Look forward to any pics you share. THX