RSFSR Siberia 1920 Very Early Bolshevik Mail Sent Abroad - Rare

EARLY BOLSHEVIK MAIL SENT ABROAD DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Irkutsk 1920 (14 May) – International postal stationery card 5k red-brown (Provisional Government issue) sent to Borgo/Porvoo, Finland. The 5k indicium is revalued at 5 roubles to pay for the correct international rate (as Irkutsk felt under Soviet control on 7 March 1920, the Bolshevik tariff of 10 March 1920 applied: ordinary card sent abroad 5 roubles). Transit postmark Petrograd 14 June 1920, one month later, with a departure strike on reverse PETROGRAD 16 JUNE 1920. Very Fine.

Interestingly, although the card was rightly sent franked, once it reached Petrograd the free post to foreign ordinary mail was in effect since 7 June 1920.

A very rare card and possibly the earliest Soviet card sent abroad after the service re-opened, one of only 4 or 5 early Bolshevik recorded mail sent abroad in June 1920.

Michel P 29

Note: from early 1919, all postal communication from Soviet controlled areas to foreign destinations was stopped, and Soviet postal services to foreign countries resumed only in June 1920. Early mail from Bolshevik Russia sent abroad at that time is very elusive. The city destination of Porvoo is located about 50 km east of Helsinki, on the Finnish southern coast.

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