Twenty-first nationwide charity issue. Line perforation 11 1/2.
Postage-and-charity stamps in aid of soldiers and their families. Artist Richard Germanovich Zarrin (Zarrinsh) was the designer of almost all Russian banknotes of the early 20th century and the first Soviet postage stamp.
On September 2, 1914, the head of the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs, V. Pokhvisnev, submitted a report to the Minister of the Interior in which he noted that the Imperial Women’s Patriotic Society had already issued during the war with Japan “patriotic postage stamps, the proceeds from which went to benefit the orphans of the active army.” After listing the conditions under which they had been published and certain changes of the day, the head of the Directorate summarized: “...taking into account that the right to issue patriotic stamps had already once been granted to the Imperial Women’s Patriotic Society, I would consider it proper... to authorize the issue of the said stamps, granting that right to the Society again.” Minister N. Maklakov agreed with this proposal.
The stamp design was developed with the participation of EZGB.
On September 18, 1914, the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs notified in advance the postal and postal-telegraph offices of the empire about the issue of “patriotic” stamps with denominations of 1, 3, 7, and 10 kopecks, and reported that:
- the selling price of the stamps was set with a surcharge over the face value of 1 kopeck for each stamp;
- postal and telegraph fees which, under the existing rules, are paid with stamps may be paid with patriotic stamps, and for accounting purposes their face value, not the selling price, is taken into consideration;
- the purchase of patriotic stamps and the payment of postal items with them is not obligatory for anyone and is left to the discretion of senders.
The stamps of the Imperial Women’s Patriotic Society were officially used as postage stamps during 1914–1917. In this period they could be used to pay for all types of postal correspondence.
The sale of patriotic stamps was ordered to cease on November 19, 1917 (Order of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs No. 62338 of August 19, 1917).
However, these stamps remained in postal circulation for quite some time thereafter.