Post stamps of North Ingria

Post stamps of North Ingria, second series

On March 21, 1920 the Governing Council of North Ingria, in accordance with the proposal of Colonel Yrjö Elfvengren, issued original post stamps.

The first series of post stamps was designed by Lieutenant Franz Kamara from the North Ingrian Regiment on the basis of the so-called “Saarinen’s model" or the first stamps of independent Finland, designed by the architect Eliel Saarinen. The Coat of Arms of Finland was replaced to the Coat of Arms of Ingria and the inscriptions “Suomi” by Finnish and “Finland” by Swedish were changed to "North Ingria" by Finnish.

The second series of post stamps was issued in August 1920. It was designed by Gustav Niemeyer, a German lithographer who lived in Finland. Subjects were as follows: 10 pennies – Coat of Arms of Ingria, 30 pennies – mowing, 50 pennies – plowing, 80 pennies – milking, 1 mark – picking potatoes, 5 markkas – burning Church in Toksovo and 10 markkas – playing the kantele.

One sheet of 10 mark stamps (100 post stamps) was printed erroneously (the kantele players were upside down).

On December 6, 1920, according to the Tartu Peace Treaty, the territory of North Ingria was ceded to Soviet Russia.

In March 1921, the Governing Council of North Ingria issued charity stamps which were produced from the unused part of the second series of the former post stamps of North Ingria by overprinting "To help Ingria". These charity stamps were on sale still the late 1920s.