VOSTOK-1
The flight of Yuri Alexeevich Gagarin on April 12, 1961 is probably the most vivid and complex subject in Soviet/Russian astrophilately. Thousands of stamps and covers have been dedicated to the First in space all over the world. There is even a special term in Russian – Philatelic Gagariniana – collecting Gagarin related philatelic material. I will not write anything on the topic – there are books and many articles by respectable collectors and researches that cover the subject thoroughly. By default I do not collect varieties of paper or stamps but possibly colors of cancellations. A lot stuff is missing due to loose focus - dealing with other topics, but I am adding covers to all areas including this one. I do not pretend on any full or partial coverage and not willing to build any exhibit, just showing what I have…
Mezhkniga cover with official black cancellation
Mezhkniga cover with official black cancellation
MGOK (Moscow City Collector Society) cover with official red cancellation
serviced cover with special postmarks
"serviced" postcard with forged cancellations
"serviced" postcard with forged cancellations
1962
1961
MGOK (Moscow City Collector Society) with official cancellation
MGOK
serviced cover with special postmarks
souvenir sheet
Young Collector Club
Young Collector Club
2nd anniversary of Gagarin flight
2nd anniversary of Gagarin flight
2nd anniversary of Gagarin flight
3rd anniversary
5th anniversary
1971 - 10th anniversary of 1st space flight
I believe this is just a nice astrophilatelic souvenir
1976 - 15th anniversary of 1st space flight
club cover
club cover
FDOI
1981 - 20th anniversary of 1st space flight
There is an interesting story behind Vinnitsa pictorial machine cancellation for 20th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin flight. Boris Vainer, known soviet collector and dealer who lived in Vinnitsa, prepared a special cancellation and arranged it to be used in the post office machine to postmark the covers. Many covers received this “private machine cancellation” and as a result there was an outburst and succeeding trial for interfering soviet postal system. Vainer was not jailed but his life got much complicated and in early 90s he left to Israel. Boris Vainer was also known for collecting postal cancellation devices and used them to create backdated “rarities” like 4.10.1957 Sputnik covers.
private machine cancellation
card issued for 20th anniversary of Gagarin flight stamp and cancellation are not related
this cover issued in 1982 - 25the anniversary of Gagarin graduation from Orenburg military flying school stamp and cancellation are not related
letter postmarked on 13.4.1981
1984 - 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
1986 - 25th anniversary of 1st space flight
25th anniversary special cancellation
combo cover for 25th anniversary of Gagarin and Glenn flights cancelled in Baikonur and Cape Canaveral
55th anniversary Gagarin town
1991 - 30th anniversary of 1st space flight
To Stars-91 philex cover
Tsiolkovsky museum cancellations and cachet
Tsiolkovsky museum cancellations and cachet
Gagarin postcard issued as an attachment to the “Kodry - Moldova Literature” journal, serviced to Moldova capital – Chisinau in 1992.
1996 - 35th anniversary of 1st space flight
Cosmonautics Day
Tsiolkovsky museum
Ulyanovsk club cover
2001 - 40th anniversary of 1st space flight
G&G cachet
reverse
Federation of Cosmonautics cover
G&G cachet
45th anniversary
2004 - 70th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
postmarked aboard ISS on March 9, 2004 and signed by Soyuz TMA-3 commander - Alexander Kaleri
40th anniversary of Gagarin death
2009 - 75th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
postmark is not relevant
2011 - 50th anniversary of 1st space flight
used in Baikonur for private collectors cancellations private design cover signed by the Russian crew of Soyuz TMA-21 "Yuri Gagarin" - Aleksandr Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko
commemorative cinderella
official card with overprint
Space Week on Lenin ice-breaker
Space Week on Lenin ice-breaker
Reshetnev design bureau special cancellation
Novosibirsk Philatelic Society cachet on the backside of the card
2014 - 80th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin
BaikonurSvyazInform special postmark
Gagarin birthplace village post office cancellation on the private card
BaikonurSvyazInform special postmark
BaikonurSvyazInform special postmark
club cover
Gagarin joined the club in 1954 and in 1955 performed his first solo flight in Yak-18 airplane. 80th anniversary of Saratov flying school official postmark
Gagarin monument
Gagarin college
Gagarin college
2016 - 55th anniversary of 1st space flight
2016 marked a 55th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight, that triggered a major astrophilately event in Russia. Twelve and a half thousand full sheets of 2009 Gagarin stamps were overprinted (total 125,000 stamps).
Special postmarks were issued for seven cities and towns, Moscow got two. Additional three alternative postmarks were used in Baikonur, Gagarin, Smolensk and on boad ISS. Moscow Planetarium held special cancellation ceremony on April 11. Several types of official cards and covers were issued plus numerous private designs.
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Due to the small amount of available overprinted stamps many covers got only the clean 2009 values instead of the new ones. As far as I know the full sheets were sold only to the members of the Russian Philatelic Society and then appeared on the market for the much higher prices. Some regions did not get the stamps at all, so to get the covers with 55 years of Gagarin flights cancellations over new stamps proved to be a tricky business (at least for me). As usual many fakes appeared, featuring various anomalies like double overprints etc.
official stamped cachet
surprisingly - no official cancellation, just private stamped cachet
A special event was held a day before - Apr 11th, thus many covers did not get official postmarks or overprinted stamps. This is much less than perfect serviced cover, although have a good "cosmonautics" presentation with red Planetarium stamp.
overprinted stamp
overprinted stamp
overprinted stamp
overprinted stamp on the official card
Gagarin town of Smolensk district got alternative solution - it used the postmark issued for 50 years of Gagarin flight that was adopted for 55th anniversary by changing 0 to 5.
official stamped cachet
overprinted stamp
Kaluga official postcard issue and special postmark. Anyone who applied the postmark in Kaluga post office could get a special official vignette presented below.
BaikonurSvyazInform issued its own cards and special postmark. Here is a serviced piece with Cosmonautics day cancellation and overprinted stamp.
another BaikonurSvyazInform serviced card
Hockey League. 2016
nicely designed private cover with stamped cachet and vignette
another private design
Gagarin readings
Reshetnev design bureau
Reshetnev design bureau cover backside
place of Gagarin's death
2021 - 60th anniversary of 1st space flight
club cachet