POSTAL HISTORY

In the beginning of the 13th Century the Estonian territory consisted of eight Land-States. Some initial steps had been taken to form a Confederation of these lands. This development was interrupted by the arrival of foreign military forces under pretext of christianization of the area. The dispatch of messages during ancient Estonian Independence before the 13th Century, had been verbal, mainly by means of mounted couriers. 

THE JAAN LUBI FORGERIES

It is known that forgeries of Estonian stamps were produced by different persons in different parts of the world. This article, however, only deals with forgeries carried out by Jaan Lubi of Viljandi. They are not the most difficult ones to distinguish, on the other hand, as always cancelled they may escape the attention of collectors, who frequently consider cancelled stamps as less worth examination of their genuiness. 

ESTONIA STAMPS 1918-1941
ON-LINE CATALOGUE

The catalogue is based on the awarded "Eesti/Estonia Philately & Postal History Handbook" written by Vambola Hurt and Elmar Ojaste. The original handbook/catalogue consists of more than 760 pages and covers more or less all aspects on Estonian philately. For practical reasons, the on-line catalogue only covers stamps from 1918 to 1941. 

ESTONIAN AIR MAIL

March 1918. Air Mail of Saaremaa.
German aircraft with Field Post Mail on arrival to the airfield of Papisaare.

July 19, 1921: The first airmail arrives to Tallinn from Stockholm. At the extreme left, Jüri Ots, the manager of the Estonian air company - Aeronaut. 

ESTONIA - HISTORY IN BRIEF

Northernmost of the three Baltic republics which were made independent after World War I. Estonia had a strategic importance in the eastern Baltic, and as such, was seized in 1721 by Peter the Great, who wished to extend his maritime outlets. Apart from the period between the two World Wars, and conquest by the Germans, Estonia remained a Russian province to August 20, 1991 when it re-established  independence. 

ESTONIAN RARITIES

The first Estonian stamp booklet was produced in 1930. The stamps of the Coat of Arms Issue were used - one block of six of the 5 Senti value and three blocks of six of the 10 Senti. As the price of the booklet was rather stiff, not many were bought by the collectors. Only a very limited number (less than 10?) still exist today. 

LAST UPDATE
August 31, 2013