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Author Topic:   Space Cover 740: Vostok 1
cvrlvr99
Member

Posts: 209
From: Arlington, TX
Registered: Aug 2014

posted 02-11-2024 07:58 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for cvrlvr99   Click Here to Email cvrlvr99     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Space Cover of the Week, Week 740 (February 11, 2024)

Space Cover 740: Vostok 1

Above is a USSR Kniga first day cover (FDC) for Russia (Scott no. 2463 and 2464 [perforated]) commemorating the flight of Vostok 1, the world's first human spaceflight, on April 12, 1961. It carries a special Moscow postmark for the first day, dated April 12, 1961, but was actually postmarked April 13 or 14 when the stamps first became available. Number 2463 is the 3 kopeck stamp picturing Gagarin. Number 2464 is the 6 kopeck stamp showing a rocket arching over the Kremlin with a light blue label printed se-tenant carrying a propaganda slogan from Premier Khruschev.

The cachet is the Kniga red Sputnik 3 cartoon (top) denoting a FDC, with the red globe and rocket below, used for a number of issues between April,1961 and November, 1964. For more information on these (and all space-related Kniga FDCs), I'd highly recommend Jim Reichman's "Kniga First Day Covers with Space Symbolics, Philatelic Study Report 2007-1 (Updated)."

As most of you already know, Vostok 1 launched the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961. He orbited the Earth once and landed back in the USSR, taking the world by surprise. His launch site, at that time, was not identified by the Russians until several years later. So if you see an April 12, 1961 cover postmarked at his Baikonur (also known as Tyuratam) launch site, be aware that it got backdated several years later.

So, how to get covers that were legitimately postmarked on or close to the date of the flight? There are two ways:

Kniga (the USSR postal agency) issued first days for USSR stamps 2463 – 2465 issued in Moscow the day or two after the flight (a FDC for 2463 and 2464 is above), or "Club" covers postmarked at different sites in the USSR, in limited quantities, actually on April 12, 1961. Efforts to make and sell covers for commercial purposes were illegal in the USSR, however local stamp clubs were allowed to make and get-postmarked covers for their members, hence the term "club covers."

Now, changing gears to Gagarin autographed Vostok 1 covers! Gagarin died in an aircraft accident just under seven years after Vostok 1. So his autograph on covers, understandably high in demand, is actually in fairly short supply. And this has led to numerous forged Gagarin autographs to hit the market, most notably in the late 1990's and early 2000's. Buyer beware – you may want to get a Gagarin autograph authenticated before dropping a lot of money on it.

Over 50 years ago I was lucky enough to get this Gagarin autographed FDC for Poland Scott no. 974-975, commemorating his flight, issued on April 27. 1961 (below).

Any of you have some favorite Vostok 1 covers? Let's post them!

Axman
Member

Posts: 362
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 02-11-2024 08:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Axman   Click Here to Email Axman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Your top cover is backdated beyond the 14th April. It is my understanding that the blue Gagarin 3 kopeck stamp was actually issued on 17th April 1961.

Indeed, and on that basis, there was an auction on eBay just some months ago by a well known German dealer for one with a Moscow postmark for 17th April, to which I had a bid that was winning by Miles until the final second. My bid, winning at around £23, was ousted by a snipe bid at the last second. My maximum bid was £177 which I foolishly thought was a reasonably high enough bid to win the thing.

In retrospect, I would still like to own one and should have bid higher...

Here are my two favourite Vostok 1 covers.

The top one is the earliest Russian stamp for the flight, which was produced and released on either the 13th or 14th April. So despite the Kniga cachets for FDC it is still backdated. But is the 'earliest' backdated if you get my meaning.

The lower one is from Czechoslovakia, and was genuinely the first stamp in the world to celebrate man entering the Cosmos on Vostok 1.
I not only like it for its historic value, but I absolutely adore its aesthetic. It sums up the period and moment beautifully.

micropooz
Member

Posts: 1756
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 02-11-2024 10:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for micropooz   Click Here to Email micropooz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Interesting discussion about the 3 kopeck stamp (Sc #2463) being issued on April 13, or 14, or 17, but bottom-line, after April 12.

One of my few Vostok 1 covers is a Minsk club cachet (see above) that I had gotten years ago to use in an exhibit because the mantra I’d always heard was that club cachet covers were correctly dated. Well, lo and behold, it’s franked with a 2463 but postmarked for April 12! This kind'a throws a backdating cloud over any club covers that have USSR Gagarin stamps on them...

Axman
Member

Posts: 362
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023

posted 02-11-2024 11:01 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Axman   Click Here to Email Axman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It can be conclusively stated that there isn't a single example of a cover with a stamp featuring Yuri Gagarin or Vostok 1, postmarked 12th April 1961, that isn't backdated.

cosmos-walter
Member

Posts: 835
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 02-11-2024 01:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for cosmos-walter   Click Here to Email cosmos-walter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Alan, I agre with you: No Gagarin stamp was released on April 12, 1961.

However, there was a special postmark in Kiev which initially was used on the day of Gagarin's space flight. Of course, most covers with this postmark were stamped on one of the next days. Registered letters with this special postmark which were posted on April 12, 1961 are very scarce.

Ken Havekotte
Member

Posts: 3779
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001

posted 02-11-2024 01:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ken Havekotte   Click Here to Email Ken Havekotte     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Does anyone have one of the verified registered letters (covers) that we can see here? Better yet, did Gagarin himself later hand-sign any of them?

yeknom-ecaps
Member

Posts: 872
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 02-11-2024 02:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for yeknom-ecaps   Click Here to Email yeknom-ecaps     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by cosmos-walter:
Registered letters with this special postmark which were posted on April 12, 1961 are very scarce.
cAt the top is an example of a registered card from Efim's website - the faint cancel in the upper right is Kiev April 12, 1961. At the bottom is an example to show the postmark in more detail.

yeknom-ecaps
Member

Posts: 872
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 02-11-2024 02:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for yeknom-ecaps   Click Here to Email yeknom-ecaps     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Along with the Kiev and Moscow "Offical Postmarks," Les Winick's Soviet Space Catalog lists Club Cachets on April 12th from Chelyabinsk (3 different - W136-138), Frunze (W139), Krasnodar (W141), Magnitogorsk (W142), Minsk (W143) - see Pooz's scan, Perm (W146), Poltava (W147), Stalino (W148), Stanislav (W149), Sverdlovosk (W150), Taganrog (W151), Vilnius (W152) and Vinnitsa (W153).

The Kiev Offical Postmark is W140.

Winick has the Gagarin stamps FD as W144.

There are two versions of the Moscow Official Postmark (W145) - CCCP with square letters (see Alan and Ray's scans) and CCCP with rounded letters.

randyc
Member

Posts: 894
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 02-11-2024 04:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for randyc   Click Here to Email randyc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Since Titov traveled with Gagarin to the launch pad in his spacesuit I wonder if a stamp with him was ready to release in-case Gagarin didn't board Vostok-1.

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