Vol. 3. No. 1

Issue No. 25

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RMENIA: This month we chronicle a large number of surcharged stamps of the 1920 issue which have just made a belated appearance in the stamp market, though we are given to understand that they were obtained by reliable people who were on the spot at the time of issue. We also chronicle a new pictorial issue which will probably interest many collectors. Unfortunately, there was not time to have illustrations made for this number of the Journal. A set of the stamps sent by Mr. Edouard Locher is marked "Bolshevist Armenia," and we notice on several of the stamps the favorite Bolshevist deIvice of a hammer and sickle. Mr. V. M.

federal council, in whose hands was the work of forming the proposed Republic of Central America, has suspended its activities. Guatemala, Honduras and Salvador had agreed to join the Federation. Costa Rica and Nicaragua declined, but it was hoped they would reconsider and come in at a later date. After the overthrow of President Herrera in Guatemala the new government repudiated the agreement to become a state of the new republic. And now Honduras is said to be taking steps to resume its position as a separate state. There seems nothing for Salvador to do but make the disagreement unanimous.

following description of the subjects depicted:

"The 1, 3 and 250 rubles have ornamental designs taken from old Armenian manuscripts.

"The 2, 25 and 100 r represent mythological subjects from old Armenian

monuments.

"5 r. The ruins of the ancient city of Ani, capital of the Bagratide dynasty. Armenian soldier.

"50 r.

"500 r. Mountain of Alagheur and plain of Shirag.

"1000 r. river Arasc.

Armenian fisherman on the

"2000 r. Town of Erivan, showing the Post Office. Mount Ararat in the background."

CENTRAL American Republic:

Ac

cording to the daily press, the American Minister at Tegucigalpa (capital of Honduras and of the proposed Federation of Central American states) has notified the State Department at Washington that the provisional

a horizontal pair of the 10 cents green of 1894 (No. 10 in the catalogue) without the vertical perforation between the stamps.

EGYPT Messrs. Bright & Son write

us: "The 10 mil. unpaid stamp recently issued in blue was only on sale for a few days when it was withdrawn, the new one being printed in red. We understand from a correspondent that only 2,000 of these stamps were printed and that the balance left at the post office was destroyed. This should easily be a £1 stamp and is, in fact, being offered at that figure. A companion stamp to this, that should also be good, is the 4 mil. red, unpaid, recently issued. This was changed to green after a very short life."

the

"It may interest your readers to know that we have been shown a new series of the above stamps overprinted on the ordinary Hedjaz series of 1917 with zigzag roulettes. The overprint is an Arabic inscription reading longways, meaning of which we understand is ‘Government of the Land of the Prophet', also date at sides in Arabic characters '1340'. The 1 para, % piastre, piastre, 1⁄2 piastre and 2 piastres, have the overprint in black and the 1 piastre in red. Of the unpaids the 20 para and 2 piastres the overprint is in black and the 1 piastre in red. We have also seen a further provisional overprinted as last but the inscription is framed; it also has a new value in Arabic characters, half anna on 1 para, black overprint.

"Our correspondent who sent us these stamps writes us as follows:

"I am enclosing a set of the Hedjaz stamps with new overprint. I understand only 200 complete sets of stamps were issued, and as the postoffice officials put the stamps on the correspondence, they are hard to get in mint condition, only, I presume, by bribery. registered letters are not from Arabia all stamps have to be sent at a risk or by messengers going to Suez.'"

As

RUSSIA: We have received three

large rectangular labels which are said to be the Famine Relief stamps, announced some time ago as being in preparation, but they do not agree with the advance notice which we quote from the Philatelic Magazine of Nov. 17, 1921.

se

"The Moscow journal, Prawada for September 30th, 1921, publishes particulars of an artistic contest inaugurated by the Soviet Department of Posts and Telegraph to secure designs for a ries of Famine Relief stamps. These stamps (in denominations 100, 150, 500 and 1000 roubles) must bear the initials 'R. S. F. S. R.' (Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic), the inscription 'For the Hungry' and the value. The first prize was 200,000 rbls. Entries for the competition closed on November 1st, 1921."

same

The three labels which we have received are all of the same design, showing refugees fleeing along the bank of a river. They are printed in brown red, yellow green and brown and are of the denomination, 2250 rubles. We are unable to read the Russian inscriptions beyond the word "marka" (stamp). It is possible that these are merely charity labels, without postal franking value, and we are not including them in our chronicle until we obtain definite information about them.

As a matter of information we quote from a letter of Mr. Charles P. Skinner: "A few days ago a Russian friend gave me a cover that he had just received, prepaid with ten of the new 1,000 ruble stamps (Scott No. 186), making 10,000 rubles postage. The letter was an ordinary one, not overweight, and registered. He told me that his correspondent advised him that the rate for ordi

nary letters was now 5,000 rubles and for registered letters 10,000 rubles.

HONDURAS: The Toledo Stamp Co.

send us a vertical pair of the 5 cents blue green, of 1891 (No. 53), which lacks the horizontal perforation between the stamps.

IBERIA: It would be interesting to know exactly what is taking place in eastern Siberia, both politically and in a philatelic way. Despatches published in the daily press make it evident that fighting is going on and an attempt being made to establish a new government in opposition to that of the Far Eastern Republic. As usual with matters in that part of the world, Japan is suspected of