In the former Soviet Union the use of postal stationery was far more
ingrained than in the West. When, after decades of stability, prices and rates
started going up, immense stocks of postal stationery had to be uprated or
revalued by means of an overprint of some kind, as uprating with stamps was too
cumbersome. In this way, a vast, decentralized program of overprinting stationery
issues started, which only accelerated after Ukrainian independence in January
1992, when the Ukrainian economy went through an extended period of high
inflation.
The number of different issues can only be guessed at. In two years 25
provinces, each with on average 20 issuing localities, went through 7 rate changes.
In one city, Dnepropetrovsk, over 500 identifiable stationery issues came into
being during this period, and this was no exception. 250,000 stationery issues for Ukraine as a whole seems about the right order of
magnitude.
Think about that! Obviously. nobody will ever form a "complete" collection of this field. Nobody will ever write a definitive handbook for these issues. And yet again, this stuff is fairly cheap! What more could any philatelist with a sense of adventure want?
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