GPS June 2020

It is assumed that only a smaller portion of the printed issue was
delivered to Russia while the larger portion remained in Berlin. The
majority of uncancelled stamps as well as the few full sheets known
today (Images 19a & 19b) certainly originate from the “Berlin portion”.
All the cancelled copies should originate from the “Russia portion” and
somehow made their way to the philatelic market after the war. The vast
majority of “Vlasov stamps” got lost or were destroyed. Roughly 2,000
sets worldwide are said to exist today.
Fake “Vlassov stamps” appeared on the market a few years ago. They
originate from a very prolific stamp producer in Taiwan and are easily
identified by the perforation (Image 20). At least one fake cover is presently
known having genuinely cancelled “Vlasov stamps” pasted onto an
envelope (Images 21a & 21b). A similar philatelic cover was reported by
Rostislav Polchaninoff already in 1955, as well as three gummed stamps
cancelled “Berlin”. These items, however, were never seen.
Image 20. Fake “Vlasov stamps” (below) compared with genuine copies (above).
Share your research.
Submit an article for a
future issue!
216
German Postal Specialist