British Post in Batum

Batumi (formerly Batum ) is a city on the Black Sea coast and since 1921 the capital of Adjara , an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia , the territory of which was occupied by the British armed forces during the Civil War .

At the beginning of World War I, Batum was part of the Russian Empire and was the administrative center of the Batumi region . In April 1918, troops of the Ottoman Empire entered the city, and on December 15 of the same year, after the defeat of the Central Powers , the British troops, which remained until July 1920.

During the British occupation, stocks of postage stamps came to an end, so on April 4, 1919, the British administration issued its own stamps. On the toothless stamps with the inscription “BATUM POST” a plant was depicted, which in Russian-language philatelic literature is often mistakenly called the “ palm tree ”, in English - the “ aloe tree” ( English aloe tree ), but in reality it is the southern cordilina ( Cordyline australis ), which grows around the city. Stamps were lithographed on gray paper.

On April 13, 1919, the British administration made the first reassessment. On the stamps of the Russian Empire of the 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st issues, a two-line gray-black overprint of the name of the region was made: “BATUM. ABOUT. ” And the new face value .

On November 10, 1919, the second issue of Batumi postage stamps with the original design took place. All stamps were overprinted with the text "BRITISH / OCCUPATION" ( "British Occupation" ) and were not issued without it.

From November 27, 1919 to March 10, 1920, the remaining stocks of Russian stamps of the 17th, 18th and 21st issues received different overprints of new denominations of the region’s name and indications of the British occupation. On April 1, 1920, overprints of new value were made on Batum stamps of the original drawings.

High inflation made it necessary by 1920 to reissue (third) the issue of stamps with a "palm tree" (which initially had face values ​​of 5 kopecks ) with face values ​​of 1 to 50 rubles . These stamps came out July 19, 1920 with an overprint of "BRITISH OCCUPATION" , but all brands of the series without overprints are known. Their rarity is 10 times higher. Stamps without overprints were not in circulation.

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  Batum stamps of the second issue
  with the overprint "BRITISH / OCCUPATION" , 1919
  ( Mi # 13-14, 17-18; Yt # 9-10, 13-14)

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  Batum's registered letter envelope , past mail and canceled on March 2, 1920. On the stamps of the Russian Empire there are overprints: “BATUM. AREA. / R. 10 R. / BRITISH OCCUPATION ” and “ BATUM / BRITISH / R. 15 R. / OCCUPATION / REGION ”

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  The cover of the early Soviet philatelic magazine “ Crimean Collector ” (No. 2, October 1922), the design of which uses the mark of the stamp with the “palm tree” (1919)

Despite the short duration of the British occupation, many postage, stamps and other stamps with the image of the southern cordilina remained (it is possible that the stamps were stamped after the end of the occupation). Overprints on Russian stamps are not common, and in 2003 some of them cost more than 500 US dollars .

There are many falsifications and fakes of both the Batum brands and their overprints ^[2] .

The postal administration of present Georgia has repeatedly notified the Universal Postal Union of modern counterfeit stamps with the inscription in English “Batumi Post” (“Batumi Post”) ^{[3] [4]} .

• Directory of domestic signs of postage. - M. , 1991 .-- S. 178-185. - (Appendix to the journal “ Philately of the USSR ” and “ Philately ”: Collection of 3 volumes; T. 2.)
• Krivtsov V. Post of Batum and occupation // Soviet philatelist . - 1923. - No. 1-2. - S. 7-18.
• Krivtsov V. Falsification of Batum stamps // Soviet philatelist. - 1923. - No. 7-8. - S. 21-30.
• Myaskovsky I. F. Fake brands of Batum // Information Center "WHITE and RED". - 2012. - July.
• Pashkov B. S. Research of counterfeit stamps of Russia during the Civil War // Soviet philatelist . - 1928. - No. 6. - 5-8.
• On the release date of the last series of Batum brands // Philately. - 2007. - No. 11.
• Torey Gordon Turkish stamps in Batum . // Rossika. - 1964. - No. 67. - S. 54.
• Flegchin Ya. Fake Batum stamps // Soviet philatelist. - 1923. - No. 3-4. - S. 24-26.
• Ceresa RJ British Occupation of Batum // The Postage Stamps of Russia, 1917-1923. - Ross-on-Wye , 1993-1994. - Vol. 4 (Transcaucasia). - Pts. 13-16. (eng.)
• Hughes WE Postage Stamps of Batum. - 1935. (English)
• Rossiter S. , Fowler J. The Stamp Atlas: A Unique Assembly of Geography, Social and Political History, and Postal Information. - 1st edn. - L. , Sydney: Macdonald, 1986. - 336 p. - ISBN 0-356-10862-7 . (eng.)

• Section “ 5. The Caucasus - Transcaucasia of the Information Center“ WHITE and RED ” ”
• Rossiter, Stuart; Fowler, John & Wellsted, Raife. Batum Iran (Persia ) . Stamp Atlas . Sandafayre Stamp Auctions. Date of treatment December 15, 2010. Archived March 10, 2012.
• Batum Stamps Stamp Library . Sandafayre Stamp Auctions. Date of treatment December 15, 2010. Archived March 10, 2012.
• Batum British Occupation Country List . All World Stamps Catalog sponsored by Stanley Gibbons . - The Batum stamps of the period of British occupation in the Stanley Gibbons online catalog. Date of treatment December 15, 2010. Archived March 10, 2012.
• Batum Stanley Gibbons Shop . Stanley Gibbons Ltd. - The Batum stamps of the period of British occupation on the Stanley Gibbons website. Date of treatment December 15, 2010. Archived March 10, 2012.
• Batum (British Occupation ) . A — Z of postal authorities. Encyclopaedia of Postal History . Stampsite: The Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities; BlackJack - Information about the brands of Batum during the period of British occupation in the database "Encyclopedia of the history of mail. Encyclopedia of Post Offices. " Date of treatment December 15, 2010. Archived December 4, 2008.