It was previously believed that the first issue of the Armenian SSR consisted of Russian Empire stamps with a hand-applied purple or black overprint of a five-pointed star in a rectangular frame, the abbreviated name of the republic (in Russian and Armenian), and a new denomination figure printed in black or red ink. However, the authors of the monograph *Post and Postage Stamps of Armenia*, H. Zakiyan and S. Saltykov, established that these were a speculative commercial issue that has nothing in common with the official issue of postage stamps of the Armenian SSR. These stamps were never in circulation, and all cancelled stamps bear fake cancellations.
Overprint on 1 Kopeck 1994.
Armenia.
