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On February 21, 1913 at the solemn ceremony in the Winter Palace His Emperor Majesty received a gift from the head of Main Directorate of Post and Telegraph Offices – M.P. Sevastjanov. The gift included the albums (in morocco bindings) with collection of draft correction imprints and assays of stamps of the Romanov Series. That precious gift was kept by the Emperor to his dying day: that collection of stamps accompanied Nicolas II and his family in their last tours – to Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg. After assassination of the Emperor family part of that collection was ransacked and part was sold abroad. After long-time wanderings on auctions the postage stamps from the collection of the last Russian emperor finally returned to their Homeland, but it happened only in 1994.
On February 21, 1913 at the solemn ceremony in the Winter Palace His Emperor Majesty received a gift from the head of Main Directorate of Post and Telegraph Offices – M.P. Sevastjanov. The gift included the albums (in morocco bindings) with collection of draft correction imprints and assays of stamps of the Romanov Series. That precious gift was kept by the Emperor to his dying day: that collection of stamps accompanied Nicolas II and his family in their last tours – to Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg. After assassination of the Emperor family part of that collection was ransacked and part was sold abroad. After long-time wanderings on auctions the postage stamps from the collection of the last Russian emperor finally returned to their Homeland, but it happened only in 1994.
On February 15, 1913 the General Post-Office got permission to sell all commemorative postage stamps. However, according to the Russian law for insult or outrage upon an image of the Reigning Person one could spend 8 years in penal servitude. And that law was justified with love to father Czar-Emperor developed in Russia, special trembling attitude to members of ruling dynasty. Alas, those factors were not taken into account by the designers of postage stamps with images of portraits of Russian monarchs: after all prior to sending postage stamps had to be cancelled/ flanked – i.e. imprint a stamp on them. But in Russia “dirtying” faces of monarchs was considered sacrilege and therefore employees of post offices refused to carry out their duties
even under fear to be fired. By that time similar series of stamps circulated in many countries of Europe and Asia, and they were canceled/ flanked with similar technique as in Russia. And nowhere their issuing caused such a tremendous public response.
Either way circulation of postage stamps of the Romanov Series continued to 1915. During the World War I due to inflation development Russian government resorted to issuing treasury stamps of exchange tenor – so-called money-stamps. To fabricate those mass surrogate money clichés of postage stamps of the “Romanov Series” of 10-, 15- and 20-kopeck tenors were used – they were applied to thin carton with perforation. Face of these stamps was kept intact without any changes and on the opposite side of money-stamps there was the image of state emblem and legend: "Circulates as equal to change silver coin”.
And later in 1916 money-stamps of 1, 2 and 3 kopeck tenor were also issued. Their circulation was “equal to copper coin”.
This is the story of how excellent postage stamps with images of Russian monarchs transformed into small change coins that in essence was the indication of spirit of the upcoming epoch.
Then in 1917 after the February revolution in Russia so-called “private” agitation issues appeared. Those issues were based on stamp-money of 15-kopeck tenor (with portrait of Emperor Nicolas I). One of such issues was the surcharge (on a block of eight stamps) of text of urgent attachment to “News of the Petrograd Council of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies ”: “DEMISE”. Another issue contained surcharge on quart-block against a background of two intersecting swords and legend: “Brotherhood- Equality- Freedom” and on some postage stamps the swords set their sharp ends to the neck of Emperor Nicolas I…
In 1917 new powers continued issuing surrogate stamp-money printed with application of clichés of postage stamps of the Romanov Series of 1, 2 and 3 kopeck tenor, however this stamp-money didn’t have double eagle on the opposite side.
That stamp-money circulated up to 1918 and scope of its edition was rather large, so many specimens survived up to present times, but in highly worn and crumpled form.
As it was already mentioned the postage stamps of collection of the last Russian Emperor were returned to their Homeland only in 1994 and at present time they are in the main stock of the State Collection of Postal Payment Marks being stored at the Central Museum of Communication named after A.S.Popov in Saint-Petersburg.