The Alfred F. Kugel Collection, Part Three
February 11-12, 2025

Welcome to the third sale dedicated to material meticulously assembled by Alfred "Al" F. Kugel over a multidecade effort to build an expansive collection of philatelic and postal history items focused on military conflicts of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Upon his passing in 2022, Al Kugel entrusted the American Philatelic Society (APS) with his entire philatelic estate, including 180 boxes of philatelic literature and military postal history material. Much of the material offered across the first three sales has not appeared on the market for decades, many of the items originally acquired through Cherrystone Auctions, where Al was a frequent and valued client. Now, this exceptional collection returns to the marketplace, offering collectors a rare opportunity to acquire significant pieces enriched by Al's extensive scholarship and research.
Al's collection spans global conflicts and military mail from the late 19th century through modern times, with a focus on the break-up of Austrian, German, Ottoman Empire and Russian Empires, military campaigns in the Balkans, with Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Allied Interventions in China during the Boxer Rebellion and in Russia during the Civil War as well as the two World Wars and their aftermaths. An extraordinary array of regional Military and Naval mail from those violent actions form the core of Al's exhibits, China, Japan, and other nations.

This sale will take place via CherrystoneLIVE

ImagesDescriptionCurrent Bid
Lot #5035
United States Postal Agency in Siberia
1918-20 selection of six covers sent by members of the Russian Railway Service Corps, the first Americans to go to Siberia. Included is a cover from Tsuruga, Japan, handstamped "Paquebot", sent by Col. Emerson care of American Consul in Harbin, with Russian franking, also a cover with 3c U.S. franking, U.S. Postal Agency Siberia to Duluth, Mn (both opened and resealed by censor, with additional handstamps), cover (reduced at left) paying 1.50r with Russian franking on both sides, Irkutsk-Krasnoyarsk TPO 198 departure datestamps, addressed to Omsk, incoming mail to RRSC, one from Altoona, Pa, the other from Nagasaki, Japan. A rare group (the Russian Railway Service Corps in Russia was a semi-military organization of American railway engineers and technicians formed by the Department of State in September 1917 at the request of the Provisional Government of Russia to operate the Trans-Siberian, Chinese Eastern, and Ussuri Railways. The first contingent of 350 men under the command of Colonel George Emerson arrived in Vladivostok on December 14, 1917. Shortly thereafter, they left for Nagasaki, Japan, because of unsettled conditions. In March 1918, the Corps returned to Russia and began its work under the direction of John F. Stevens, Chairman of the Advisory Commission of Railway Experts to Russia and later President of the Interallied Technical Board)
Envelope
Price Realized
$5,500.00

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