International Postage Meter Stamp Catalog/Russia
Russia
[edit | edit source]- After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the constituent countries, including Russia, returned to their former separate and independent status. Soviet inscribed stamps (“CCCP”) continued to be used without alteration for many years. (See UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS for these issues.) Catalogued in this section are stamps inscribed “RUSSIA”, “РОССИИ”, “РОССИЯ”, “ROSSIJA”, “РФ” (RF = Russian Federation) or are without country inscription but have a Russian town mark.
- The stamps are grouped according to appearance:
- A – Provisional issues without country inscription
- B – Frank is upright octagon
- C – Frank is horizontal octagon
- D – Frank is rectangular
- E – Frank is rectangle with indented arcs at the corners
NOTE: The counterfeiting of Russian meter stamps is reportedly widespread. Several stamps listed in this section are probably unauthorized fakes. The suspicious stamps are noted accordingly.
GROUP A: Provisional issues without country inscription
[edit | edit source]- All have octagonal franks with inner rectangular box around the value figures.
- Some of the stamps in Group A are inscribed "CCCP" and would appear to be stamps of the Soviet Union. These stamps were altered in some way, usually with a change in the denomination indicator, and were first used after the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991.
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A1.1. Kuibyshev (MV).
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A2.2. Perm (MV).
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A3. Kuibyshev (MV).
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A4. Perm (MV).
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A5. Postalia (MV).
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GROUP B: Frank is upright octagon
[edit | edit source]Sub-group BA: “ПОЧТА” stacked at left, “РОССИИ” or “РОССИЯ” stacked at right
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BA1. Perm (MV).
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BA3. Perm (MV).
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BA4. Perm (MV).
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BA5. Kuibyshev (MV).
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BA7. Perm (MV).
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BA8. Perm (MV).
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BA9. Kuibyshev (MV).
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BA10. Perm (MV).
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BA11. Perm (MV).
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BA13. Perm (MV).
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BA15. Perm (MV).
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Sub-group BB: “РОССИЯ” stacked at left, “ПОЧТА” stacked at right
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BB2. Kuibyshev (MV).
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Sub-group BC: “РОССИЯ” stacked at left, “ROSSIJA” stacked at right
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BC2. Perm (MV).
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Sub-group BD: “РОССИИ” or “РОССИЯ” horizontal at top or bottom
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BD3. Postalia (MV).
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BD4. Kuibyshev (MV).
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BD6. Kuibyshev (MV).
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BD8. Postalia (MV).
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BD10. Kuibyshev (MV).
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Sub-group BE: Town name is included inside the frank
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Sub-group BF: Inscribed “РФ”
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BF2. Kuibyshev (MV).
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GROUP C: Frank is horizontal octagon
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C1.1. Pitney Bowes-GB “6300” series (MV).
- “РОССИЯ” above "С.П.Б." at top, “РУБ” at bottom.
- “ПОЧТА” stacked at left, and “ОПЛАТА” stacked at right.
- M# with “PB” prefix below frank.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋000

C1.2. Pitney Bowes-GB "6900" (MV).
- As Type C1.1 but with “ПОЧТА РОССИИ” at top, post horn at bottom.
- M# below frank.
- “КОП” stacked at right.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋000


C1.3. Pitney Bowes-GB “A900” series (MV).
- Very similar to Type C1.2 but value figures are larger.
- “ПОЧТА РОССИЯ” at top, post horn at bottom.
- “РУБ” stacked at right.
- A. M# below frank
- B. Without M#, solid block low between TM and frank
- TM: SC, DC
- V/F: ≋0000

C1.4. Pitney Bowes-GB “A900” series (MV).
- As previous C1 types but with “РФ” at top, “ПОЧТА” at bottom.
- M# below frank.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋0000.oo

C2.1. Neopost “Electronic” (MV).
- The octagon frank is nearly as tall as it is wide.
- “РОССИЯ” at top, “ПОЧТА” at bottom above meter number.
- Meter number with “NE” prefix breaking bottom frame line.
- “P” at right.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋000

C2.2. Neopost “Electronic” (MV).
- As Type C2.1 but with “ROSSIJA” above M#, and “0” instead of “P” at right.
- M# with “NE” prefix breaking bottom frame line.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋000(+0)

C3.1. Frama “M/E” (MV).
- Frank with double outer frame line.
- “РОССИЯ” at top, “RUSSIA” at bottom.
- “РУБ” stacked at left and “КОП” stacked at right.
- Value figures thick.
- TM: DC
- V/F: 000000

C3.2. Frama “M/E” (MV).
- As Type 3.1 but with “ПОЧТА” at bottom and “РУБ” stacked at both sides.
- Value figures thick.
- TM: DC
- V/F: 00000
GROUP D: Frank is rectangle
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Sub-group DA: Frank has full or partial simulated-perforation border
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DA1.1. Perm (MV).
- Upright frank with simulated perforations along top and left and thick straight frame line at right and bottom.
- “РОССИЯ” in panel at top, “ПОЧТА” in panel at bottom.
- Value figures stacked, and date figures vertical.
- A. “РУБ” stacked in side panels. V/F: 000
- B. “РУБ / K” stacked in side panels. Bottom bank of value figures double zero. V/F: 00.00
- TM: SC
- a. As A, with dashes but no "K" below “РУБ” (shown)
- b. Town mark unengraved


DA1.2. Perm (MV).
- Frank frame as Type DA1.1 but “РУБ” at top, “ПОЧТА” stacked at left and “РОССИИ” stacked at right.
- Fixed “0” at bottom center.
- A. Wide spacing between TM and frank. Sides of inner box extend to bottom frame line
- B. Narrow spacing between TM and frank. Inner box without bottom frame line
- TM: SC
- V/F: 000(+0) 0000(+0)

DA1.3.
- Frank frame as with Types DA1.1 and DA1.2.
- Small open circle or solid dot at top, “РУБ” at bottom.
- “ПОЧТА” stacked at left and “РОССИИ” stacked at right.
- A. Wide spacing between TM and frank
- B. Narrow spacing between TM and frank
- TM: SC
- V/F: 000 0000

DA2.1. Perm (MV).
- Frank frame as DA1 types but much wider.
- “РОССИЯ” in panel at top, “ПОЧТА” in panel at bottom.
- Post horns in vertical line field above “РУБ” in side panels.
- Value figures stacked, and date figures vertical.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000

DA2.2. Perm (MV). [Probably very rare]
- As Type DA2.1 but with “19000 r.С.П.Б.” in top panel. The initials stand for St. Petersburg and the number is the city's postal code. The country name [РОССИЯ] appears only in the town mark, not in the frank.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000

DA2.3. Perm (MV).
- As Type DA2.1 but with “0” at bottom instead of “ПОЧТА”.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000(+0)

DA2.4. Perm (MV).
- Frank same size as Types DA2.1 and DA2.2 but the post horn ornaments have been moved to the lower corners.
- “ПОЧТА” at top, and “РУБ” at bottom.
- “РОССИЯ” stacked at left, and “ROSSIJA” stacked at right.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000

DA2.5. Perm (MV).
- Frank same size as previous DA2 types but without a panel at top.
- “РОССИЯ” is stacked at left and “ПОЧТА” is stacked at right. Both are above post horn ornaments and “РУБ” in the bottom corners.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000


- DA3. Neopost “Electronic” (MV).
- Horizontal frank with single line simulated-perforation border all around.
- A. “РОССИЯ” at top and “ROSSIJA” at bottom above M# with “NE” prefix which breaks bottom frame line.
- B. Without “РОССИЯ” - only town name at top and number at bottom of TM.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋0000


DA4.1. Francotyp-Postalia “EFS3000/NEF300” (MV).
- Upright frank with thick, solid outer frame, simulated perforations on the outside and straight on the inside.
- Inscribed “ПОЧТА/ РОССИИ” at top.
- Post horn in panel at bottom.
- M# below frank.
- A. With currency indicator "P" at right below value figures
- B. Without currency indicator
- TM: SC, SC with bars
- V/F: 00000

DA4.2. Francotyp-Postalia “EFS3000/NEF300” (MV).
- Similar to Type DA4.1 but the frank is square instead of upright.
- With simulated perforation outer frame line and straight inner frame line.
- Inscribed “ПОЧТА/ РОССИИ” at top.
- Post horn in panel at bottom.
- M# below frank.
- TM: SC, SC with bars
- V/F: 00000
NOTE. Type DA4.2 is suspicious and may be an unauthorized fake.


DA5. Francotyp-Postalia “T-1000” (digital).
- Similar to Type DA4.1 but frank is taller and narrower and spacing is narrower.
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- A. Meter number below post horn at bottom
- B. Without meter number
- V/F: 00000

- DA6. Appears to be Hasler "Mailmaster” (digital).
- Upright frank with simulated-perforation outer frame line and panels at top and bottom.
- "Россиу" in top panel, and “ПОЧТА” in bottom panel.
- Small “РУБ” below value figures.
- TM: DC
- V/F: 0000
- NOTE. Type DA6 is suspicious and may be an unauthorized fake.

- DA7. Unidentified, probably Perm.
- Frank has straight frame lines at the sides with five simulated perforations at the top and bottom.
- “ПОЧТА” reads up at left, and “РОССИЯ” reads up at right.
- Date and value figures are also vertical reading up.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000

- DA8. Unidentified.
- Similar to Type DA6 but with different font and with “РОССИЯ” in the top panel.
- One example seen dated 1995, although this may be incorrect as the impression appears to have been printed digitally.
- Date and value figures are printed at a different resolution to the rest of the impression.
- TM: DC
- V/F: 000
Sub-group DB: Frank with straight line border
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- DB1.1. Perm (MV).
- Upright frank with inner box around value figures.
- “ПОЧТА” at top, “КОП” at bottom, “РОССИЯ” stacked at left, and “ROSSIJA” stacked at right.
- M# breaks bottom frame line.
- Value figures stacked and date figures vertical.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 000

- DB1.1.1 Perm (MV).
- Upright frank with inner box around value figures.
- “РОССИЯ” above “ROSSIJA” at top, “ПОЧТА” at bottom, “КОП” stacked at right.
- M# does not break bottom frame line.
- Value figures stacked and date figures vertical.
- TM: DC
- V/F: 000


- DB1.2. Perm (MV).
- Large square frank with “ПОЧТА” at top, “РОССИЯ” stacked at left, and “ROSSIJA” stacked at right.
- A. “КОП” above meter number at bottom center. M# with "N" prefix
- B. “КОП” at both sides below country names. M# with "ПП No" prefix
- TM: SC with date in frame
- V/F: 0000

- DB1.3.1. Perm (MV).
- Frank frame as Type DB2 but with M# with “N” prefix at top, “РУБ” at bottom, “РОССИЯ” stacked at left and “ПОЧТА” stacked at right.
- TM: SC with date in frame
- V/F: 0000

- DB1.3.2. Perm (MV).
- As Type DB1.3.1 but with “191040 С-ПБ.” at top.
- TM: SC with date in frame
- V/F: 0000

- DB1.4. Perm (MV).
- Horizontal frank with panels at top and bottom.
- Top panel contains “РОССИЯ•ROSSIJA”, bottom panel contains “ПОЧТА”.
- Small “КОП” breaks lower panel line at right.
- M# with “ПП” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- The components of the frank can vary slightly in size from one machine to another. Possibly the frank dies were machined individually rather than through automation.
- Although the spacing between the town mark and the frank can vary from 4 to 6mm, the distance between the centers of the date and value figures is fixed at 43 mm.
- TM: large SC, 27 to 31 mm in diameter, with bars above and below the date.
- V/F: 0000
- a. M# 15009 is known to have been used postally in 2007, however there is no official record for a licence having been issued for it.

DB2.1. Hasler “Mailmaster” (MV).
- Similar to Type DB1.4 but the space between “РОССИЯ" "ROSSIJA” does not contain a stop.
- M# with “AH” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- TM: SC as with DB1.4 but wider spacing at 12mm
- V/F: 0000

DB2.2. Hasler “Mailmaster” (MV).
- Similar to Type DB2.1, but “РОССИЯ • ROSSIJA” above “ПОЧТА” at top.
- “КОП” below lower panel line rather than breaking it.
- M# with “AH” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 0000

DB2.3. Hasler "Mailmaster" (MV).
- Small upright rectangle with “ПОЧТА” above “РОССИИ" in panel at top.
- “РУБ.” at bottom.
- TM: SC with bars
- V/F: 0000 00000
NOTE. Type DB2.3 is suspicious and may be an unauthorized fake.

DB3.1. Neopost “Electronic” (MV).
- As Type DB2.2 but frank is not as tall.
- M# with “NEN” prefix.
- Date figures widely spaced.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋000

DB3.2. Neopost “Electronic” (MV).
- As Type DB3.1 but “РОССИЯ ROSSIJA” in top panel and “ПОЧТА” in bottom panel.
- Small "КОП" above lower panel line at right.
- M# with “NE” prefix.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋000

DB3.3. Neopost (digital).
- Horizontal rectangle with “РОССИЯ•ROSSIJA” above “ПОЧТА” in panel at top.
- Inner panel lines do not touch the sides.
- “КОП” breaks lower panel line at right.
- M# with "NE1" prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- Large value figures with oval zeros.
- TM: SC with bars
- V/F: 000000

DB3.4. Neopost (digital).
- Similar to Type DB3.3 but the frank is taller and the value figures are shorter.
- With small asterisk instead of round dot between “РОССИЯ" and "ROSSIJA".
- M# with "NE4" or "NE8" prefix.
- TM: SC with bars
- V/F: 000000



- DB4.1. Francotyp-Postalia “Jetmail” (digital).
- Square or nearly square frank with “РОССИЯ ROSSIJA” or “РОССИЯ · ROSSIJA” in panel at top, and “ПОЧТА” in panel at bottom.
- Small “КОП” at lower right.
- M# with “FP 2” or "FP 3" prefix breaking bottom frame line.
- A. Frank 23-24 mm square
- B. Frank, 28 mm square
- C. Frank 30-31 mm square
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000 000000

DB4.2. Francotyp-Postalia “EFS3000/NEF300” (MV).
- As Type DB4.1 but frank is horizontal rectangle rather than square.
- "ПОЧТА" is large.
- M# with “FP 5” or "FP 7" prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000

DB4.3. Francotyp-Postalia “EFS3000/NEF300” (MV).
- As Type DB4.2 but frank is smaller, nearly square.
- "ПОЧТА" is much smaller than with DB4.2.
- M# with “FP 5” prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000

DB4.4. Francotyp-Postalia “T1000” (digital).
- Very similar to DB4.3 but “ПОЧТА” below country name at top.
- “КОП” is below the lower panel line.
- M# with “FP No” prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000

DB4.5. Francotyp-Postalia “EFS3000/NEF300” (MV).
- Very similar to DB4.1B but wider spacing between the town mark and frank, and the date figures are more widely spaced.
- “КОП” is below the lower panel line.
- M# with “FP 3” prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 00000

DB5.1.1. Pitney Bowes-GB “6300” series (MV).
- Horizontal frank without inner box or lines around value figures.
- “РОССИЯ • ROSSIJA” above “ПОЧТА” at top.
- “КОП” below right of value figures.
- M# with “PB22” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋000

DB5.1.2. Pitney Bowes-GB “6300” series (MV).
- Similar to Type DB5.1.1. but the frank is not as tall, and “РОССИЯ - ROSSIJA” is alone at top and “ПОЧТА КОП” is in a single line at the bottom.
- M# starts with “22” but is without the "PB" prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋000

DB5.1.3. Pitney Bowes-GB “6300” series (MV).
- Nearly identical to Type DB5.1.2. but the top inscription has "RUSSIA" at right rather than "ROSSIJA”.
- M# with “PB22” prefix.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋000

DB5.2. Pitney Bowes-GB “A900” series (MV).
- Very simnilar to DB5.1.1 but the value figures are much larger.
- M# with “PB25” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- TM: SC
- V/F: ≋0000

DB5.3. Pitney Bowes-GB “A900” series (MV).
- Similar to Type DB5.2 but with “РОССИЯ ROSSIJA” in panel at top, and “ПОЧТА” above M# at bottom.
- M# with “PB” prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- TM: DC
- V/F: ≋0000
Sub-group DC: Frank with 2D barcode and straight line town mark
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- DC1.1. Pitney Bowes (digital).
- Frank is rectangle, slightly wider than tall, divided into three horizontal panels.
- The top panel contains “РОССИЯ·ROSSIJA" above "ПОЧТА".
- Central panel contains the value figures.
- Bottom panel contains "КОП" at right.
- M# with "PB3" prefix breaks bottom frame line.
- At far left is a 2D square barcode.
- Printed in dark blue.
- TM: Straight line between the barcode and the frank, date above town above what is probably a routing (ZIP) code
- V/F: 0000000


- DC1.2. Pitney Bowes (digital).
- As Type DC1.1 but with "RUSSIA" instead of "ROSSIJA" in the country inscription.
- Printed in blue.
- Meter number with "PB3" prefix.
- V/F: 0000000
- a. Printed in non-standard color, brown
- a. Printed in non-standard color, brown

- DC2.1. Neopost (digital).
- Similar to Type DC1.1 but smaller.
- Printed in blue.
- Meter number with "NE1" or "NE2" prefix.
- TM: Straight line
- V/F: 0000000

- DC2.2. Neopost (digital).
- As Type DC2.1 but with "RUSSIA" instead of "ROSSIJA" in the country inscription.
- Printed in blue.
- Meter number with "NE2" or "NE5" prefix.
- TM: Straight line
- V/F: 0000000

- DC3.1. Francotyp-Postalia (digital).
- As Type DC2.1 but the frank is nearly square.
- Printed in blue.
- Meter number with "FP5" prefix.
- TM: Straight line
- V/F: 0000000

- DC3.2. Francotyp-Postalia (digital).
- Similar to Type DC3.1 but with "RUSSIA" instead of "ROSSIJA" in the country inscription.
- V/F: 0000000

- DC3.3. Francotyp-Postalia (digital).
- As Type DC3.2 but with date as DDMMYY.
- V/F: 0000000
GROUP E: Frank is rectangle with indented arcs at the corners
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- E1.1 Perm (MV).
- Frank is horizontal rectangle with arcs inset at the corners.
- “ПОЧТА” at top and “РОССИИ” at bottom.
- “РУБ” stacked at left.
- Inner box around value figures extends to right side.
- TM: SC
- V/F: 000(+0)

- E1.2 Perm (MV).
- Type E1.1 modified by the removal of “РУБ” and the vertical bar to the left of the value.
- TM: SC with frame around date.
- V/F: 000(+0)

- E2. Francotyp "CC" (MV).
- Frank similar to E1 but vertically oriented.
- “РОССИЙСКАЯ / ФЕДЕРАЦИЯ” (Russian Federation) at top and “ПОЧТА / РФ” at bottom.
- “Р” at left and "K" at right sides.
- Inner box around value figures.
- TM: SC with frame around date.
- V/F: 00.00
GROUP PC: Special designs generated by personal computer
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GROUP PO: Special stamps used only in Post Offices
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