U.S. & Worldwide Stamps & Postal History
February 2-3, 2021
Our February 2-3, 2021 Auction will be held live via CherrystoneLIVE. This 1,400 lot sale features United States and European countries, including Austria, France and Colonies, Germany, Italy and Colonies, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Western Ukraine, and many others. Great Britain and British Commonwealth are well represented. Also featured are large die proofs from the American Bank Note Company, issued for various South and Central American countries. The auction concludes with a strong selection of 130+ large lots and collections ranging from single country albums to specialized collections, multi-carton worldwide properties and large cover lots.
| Images | Description | Current Bid |
 | Lot #948 Siberia 1887 (18 Aug) 3k stationery card postmarked in Middle Kara, also Postal Wagon 61 (1.10.87) (Ryazhsk-Vyazma rail line), sent to Simferopol (3.10.87), by a political prisoner N. N. Dzvonkevich (1842-1909), a member of the People's Will "terrorist" group, originally sentenced to death for his part in the 1882 assassination of Gen. Strelnikov, the military prosecutor for southern Russia. His sentence was commuted to life of hard labor and he was imprisoned at Lower Kara from 1884 to 1890. Prisoners could send one card every two weeks. These had to be written in the third person, as if from the prison commandant. The card was then censored and signed by the acting commandant, Cavalry Captain V. M. Yakovlev of the Independent Corps of Gendarmes. The message reads "In the latest post your father received your letter of 6 June from Yalta. He fully approves of your intention to get out of there as soon as possible. Your father does not want to hear any news about his relatives, and he asks you and your mother not to burden yourselves with their welfare since they are unworthy of your efforts. Use your moral strength for the service of all mankind." The daughter, Ekaterina Dzvonkevich-Vagner, was later involved in the 1905 assassination attempt against Alexander Spiridovich, chief of the Kiev Okhrana, card folded in half, with clear markings and text  | Unsold |
