A local issue caused by the revaluation of stamps in circulation, establishing a single price of 250 rubles regardless of face value. At the time of the revaluation, the Sebezh post office had only standard Russian imperforate stamps of 1-kopeck and 2-kopeck denominations, and perforated 15-kopeck stamps in stock. Initially, the 15-kopeck stamps were revalued. They were offered for sale at 250 rubles each, and this new price was written on the stamp by hand in red ink. After some time, a new denomination “250” (rubles) was overprinted on the 1- and 2-kopeck stamps. The revaluation was carried out with a hand-held metal stamp in black ink.
Sebezh is a town in the southwest of Pskov Oblast, Russia.
By the time Soviet power was established in Sebezh, the town and its uyezd were part of Vitebsk Governorate. After the proclamation on January 1, 1919 of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus, most of Vitebsk Governorate, including Sebezh Uyezd, was transferred to the newly formed state. However, already on January 16, a plenary session of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) adopted a decision to return Vitebsk Governorate (together with Smolensk and Mogilev) to the RSFSR; this was supported by the First All-Belarusian Congress of Soviets held on February 2–3 in Minsk. The three mentioned governorates were not included in the united Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic proclaimed on February 27, 1919 in Vilnius.
On March 24, 1924, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), Vitebsk and Mogilev Governorates were transferred to the Byelorussian SSR as part of the first enlargement of its territory; however, three uyezds of Vitebsk Governorate (Sebezh, Nevel, and Velizh) remained in the RSFSR and were included in Pskov Governorate. In 1926, during the second enlargement of the Byelorussian SSR, petitions were submitted to include Sebezh in Belarus as well, but they were rejected.
In accordance with the resolution of the Presidium of the VTsIK of August 1, 1927—under the administrative-territorial reform carried out in the USSR (which provided for the abolition of the division into governorates and uyezds)—Leningrad Oblast was formed. The town of Sebezh became part of the Velikiye Luki Okrug of this oblast and became the administrative center of the newly established Sebezh District.
A significant number of provisional issues are associated with the Civil War of 1918–1922. At that time, there was no stable central authority across most of the country, many regions became independent, and widespread inflation resulted from devastation and war. Frequent tariff changes and the inability to supply the postal network with stamps of the required denominations led to periodic revaluations of available stocks in accordance with instructions from the People’s Commissariat of Posts and Telegraphs of the RSFSR, which did not provide for any overprints. However, in some places, postal institutions still applied overprints to the revalued stamps being sold, or simply wrote on them by hand. All these stamps are characterized by extremely simple overprint techniques.