Estonia
I prefer to focus on the pre-UPU period of postal history and I really pay the most attention to the 1860's. That doesn't mean I won't appreciate other items. After all, my postal history hobby has its roots in stamp collecting (philately) and I can be influenced by certain stamp designs that got my attention at an earlier point in my life.
The Viking ship issue of 1919-1920 from Estonia is one such stamp. So, when I ran into a this item in a dealer box some years ago for less than ten dollars, I decided it was okay to take it home with me.
The issue with things like this is that I am not knowledgeable about the rates and routes for this area during the early 1900s. So, I tend to pass on items like this unless it is very inexpensive, making it a reasonable cost to pay for the opportunity of learning what it is that is going on with the cover in question.
This time around, I was lucky to find a very useful website compiled by Sijtze Reurich that provides all of the Estonian rates for this period.
Estonia: Postal Rates 1918-1944
If you visit this site, do a little exploring because he has other resources for that period and region. I am very appreciative of the efforts people, like Sijtze, put into web resources of this sort. What worries me is that their work can disappear so easily over time.
After a little additional research, the display page I created looks like the one shown below. The two empty boxes hold off-cover examples of two stamps from the Viking ship series from Estonia.
Source list from the Estonia rate site:
I am hopeful that Mr. Reurich will not mind if I place his resource list at the end of this blog post. I have not reviewed these sources as he has, but I do not want to lose the list so that I CAN review them if I wish.
Czarist Period
A.V. Kiryushkin and P.E. Robinson, Russian Postmarks: An Introduction and Guide, J. Barefoot Ltd., 1989
N. Jakimovs and V. Marcilger, Postal History of Imperial Russia in Pre-independent Latvia, Framic, 1995
V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986
Ivo Steyn, ‘Russische posttarieven in 1918’, Het Baltische Gebied, July 1996
Postgebiet des Oberbefehlshabers Ost
Harry von Hofmann (ed.), Das Postgebiet Ob. Ost auf dem Territorium der späteren Republik Lettland 1915-1920, Harry von Hofmann Verlag, 2006
Stefan Petriuk, ‘Stadtpost Wilna’, Philatelia Baltica, June 1985
Jeroen van de Weide and Ton Welvaart, ‘Eerste inflatieperiode in het Generaalgouvernement Warschau en bezet Rusland; enkele woorden over de Duitse inflatie voor Polenfilatelisten’, in: Inflatieperioden en geldhervormingen in Oost Europa, Filatelistische Contactgroep Oost Europa, 2007
Michel Deutschland-Spezial-Katalog 1988
Independence
V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986
E. Mattila, Viron Postimaksuja – Postal Rates of Estonia 1918-1940, Suomen Filatelistiliitto, 1987
Soviet Occupation I
V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986
German Occupation
Vello Mändvere, ‘Postal Tariffs in Occupied Estonia 1940-1944’, in: Eesti Filatelist 1984-30
Soviet Occupation II
Michel Ganzsachen-Katalog Europa Ost 2004/05
Survey provided by Anton Welvaart, 1986
Vladlen Aronovich Karlinskii, ‘Soviet Postal Rates’, Rossica 75 (1968)
Independence Restored
Eesti Vabariigi Postmargid ja Tervikasjad Kataloog 2005 – Catalogue of Estonian Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery, Eesti Muinsuskaitse Seltsi Filateeliatoimkond, Tallinn, 2005, 7th ed.
Karl Lukas, ‘Neue Auslandsposttarife der Eesti Post’, Eesti Post 48 (2009)