At first, the stamps were produced only as they were actually needed. Then, when collectors became interested in them and did not hesitate to pay large sums for rare stamps, the production of these stamps gradually began to be adapted not to the needs of the zemstvo, but to collectors’ demand. As a result, an entire trade in zemstvo stamps emerged, the monopolist of which was the brother of the former chairman P.P. Ganko, who did not abandon this profitable occupation even after he himself took the chairman’s seat.
To give zemstvo stamps special value in the eyes of collectors, the stamps were produced in relatively small quantities—far below the real need for them—so that the supply would be quickly exhausted and they would become a rarity.
The price of such rare stamps rose to fabulous figures: for a 3-kopeck stamp, enthusiasts paid up to 100 rubles. Sometimes the board chairman used a “brilliant” technique: he ordered stamp issues with some exceptional feature distinguishing them from the rest of the order (an inverted numeral, a different color, no perforation, etc.), and in a limited quantity. He purchased such issues in full at face value into his personal ownership, and then sold them at a high price.
Alongside this, even those stamp issues that were ordered by the board for the needs of the zemstvo post were often produced with certain peculiarities to attract still greater attention from collectors.
Operations with stamps were conducted by the board chairman P.P. Ganko on an enormous scale. He published a stamp catalogue in which some specimens (of one kopeck) are priced at 40 rubles. A complete set of various examples of zemstvo stamps printed with all sorts of artificial combinations—inverted postmarks, lack of perforation, changes of color, etc.—is sold by him, excluding those that have already become the rarest and are valued at hundreds of rubles apiece, for 476 rubles 10 kopecks, whereas he himself acquired these stamps from his own board for 5 rubles 75 kopecks.
Among other things, in a foreign magazine these operations are advertised with an image of the “seal for packets of the Poltava zemstvo board.”
Citing a whole series of characteristic examples of the activities of the “collector-monopolist” P.P. Ganko, the audit commission says that an unbearable atmosphere has developed in the zemstvo, one that has a demoralizing effect on the zemstvo staff.
One of the members of the audit commission of the Poltava district zemstvo, Mr. Bykov, learned about Mr. Ganko’s trade by chance abroad. It turns out that among foreign collectors the modest name of the chairman of the Poltava district zemstvo board enjoys wide renown. Russian major collectors are also well acquainted with Mr. Ganko’s “business.”
The audit commission’s report sparked heated debate.
Summoned to answer, Mr. Ganko denied selfish motives in his trade.
“I was a collector, like many others,” he declared.
The audit commission proposed that the assembly recognize the actions of P.P. Ganko as not in keeping with the dignity of the board chairman. The assembly adopted this resolution by secret ballot.
The “Ardatov type” stamp is the philatelic name for the fifth design type used by EZGB for issuing zemstvo postage stamps from 1902 onward. According to published sources, the name was assigned after Ardatov Uyezd, for whose stamp printing it was used for the first time. Third edition.
On March 1, 1903, the zemstvo post of Poltava Uyezd (Poltava Governorate) was opened. Mail was dispatched twice a week from the district center, the city of Poltava, to 17 volosts of the uyezd. Zemstvo postage stamps were used to pay for private correspondence: ordinary letters were paid with 3-kopeck stamps, and registered letters with 6-kopeck stamps. They are very diverse in printing method and purpose (official, for ordinary and registered wrappers, money correspondence, etc.).
In 1908, commemorative stamps were issued for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava.
Many issues depict the district coat of arms. The stamps were printed in private printing houses, and from 1905 at EZGB.
Imperforate stamps are of unofficial origin and were intended for collectors. Stamps were cancelled with circular, oval, and rectangular postmarks.