In the Russian Empire, savings stamps were used starting in 1890.
On January 1, 1900, the third issue of Russian savings stamps was released. These were accumulation-purpose stamps in three denominations: 1, 5, and 10 kopecks.
The stamps were intended to be affixed to special accumulation forms, issued free of charge at savings banks.
The forms were designed to be filled with stamps of a single denomination. After the form was completed, it was submitted to the savings bank, and the corresponding amount was credited to the depositor’s account. The stamps affixed to the card were cancelled, most often by applying a roller handstamp of intersecting lines. Cancelled cards were destroyed after the prescribed period had elapsed. The introduction of such stamps gave low-income people the opportunity to save without visiting the bank and to buy stamps at any time and in different places.
In 1915, the use of savings stamps for their intended purpose was discontinued.
In 1918, due to a shortage of low-denomination postage stamps and the complete cessation of deposits at savings banks because of the outbreak of the Civil War, savings stamps denominated 1, 5, and 10 kopecks began to be used as postage stamps. The circulation of these stamps soon ceased on its own, since the rapid падение exchange rate of paper money caused postal rates to rise constantly, and low-denomination postage stamps fell out of use.
This continued until March 1920, when, for the payment of postal items, due to the continuing decline in the value of money, stamps almost exclusively in ruble denominations were needed.