1953.CSK.01May Day — Pioneers in the parade
Czechoslovakia·1953
Commemorative set for May Day 1953; the 3 Kčs shows the Pioneers marching in the parade
Series details
Identity
- CodeSeries code YYYY.ENT.SS — year, 3-letter issuing entity, sequence (e.g. 1900.CGH.01).
1953.CSK.01- EntityPostal authority that issued the stamps (country, territory, or historical entity).
- Czechoslovakia (CSK)
- Year
- 1953-04-30
- Event
- Commemorative set for May Day 1953; the 3 Kčs shows the Pioneers marching in the parade
- TypeIssue kind. Charity issue = postage + voluntary surcharge (e.g. 6+4), not an overprint.
- Commemorative
Production
- Designer
- Jaroslav Kaiser and Jaroslav Koukolský
- Printer
- Czechoslovak state printing works
- Process
- Photogravure
- PerforationsHole gauge between stamps (e.g. 12, 13½). Higher ≈ finer.
- Comb 14
Catalog numbers
- DomfilDomfil thematic catalog number (scouting).
- 953.27
- ScottScott catalog number (Americas).
- CS 591
- MichelMichel catalog number (Europe / DE).
- CS 801
- YvertYvert & Tellier catalog number (FR).
- CS 703
- Stanley GibbonsStanley Gibbons catalog number (UK / Commonwealth).
- CS 764
History
Czechoslovakia issued its May Day set on 30 April 1953. Only the 3 koruna value carries Scout interest and is catalogued here as the series piece; two companions from the same set are recorded below as non-scout items.
The 3 Kčs dark carmine, designed by Jaroslav Kaiser and Jaroslav Koukolský, shows a May Day procession filling a Prague street: ranks of young people in white shirts and neckerchiefs marching behind portrait banners and flags, inscribed 1. MÁJ 1953 across the top. Those are the Pioneers of the ČSM, the organisation into which the independent Junák Scout association had been absorbed in 1950 — the same reading the catalogues apply to the Children's Day 3 Kčs of 1952. It was printed in photogravure, 46 × 27 mm, comb perforation 14, in a run of 4,600,000. References are Michel CS 801, Scott CS 591, Yvert CS 703, Stanley Gibbons CS 764, AFA CS 649 and POF 725.
The whole set had an unusually short life. Czechoslovakia's currency reform took effect on 1 June 1953, and these stamps were valid only from 1 to 18 June at one fiftieth of their face value before being withdrawn on 18 June 1953 — six weeks after issue. The 1 koruna companion is the scarce one of the group, printed in just 255,000 copies against millions of the other values.