1961.RUS.01International Children's Day
International Children's Day, 1 June 1961
Series details
Identity
- CodeSeries code YYYY.ENT.SS — year, 3-letter issuing entity, sequence (e.g. 1900.CGH.01).
1961.RUS.01- EntityPostal authority that issued the stamps (country, territory, or historical entity).
- Russia (RUS)
- Year
- 1961-05-31
- Event
- International Children's Day, 1 June 1961
- TypeIssue kind. Charity issue = postage + voluntary surcharge (e.g. 6+4), not an overprint.
- Commemorative
Production
- Designer
- Valery Pimenov
- Process
- Photogravure
- PerforationsHole gauge between stamps (e.g. 12, 13½). Higher ≈ finer.
- Comb 12¼ × 11¾ (4 k: 11¾ × 12¼)
Catalog numbers
- DomfilDomfil thematic catalog number (scouting).
- 961.59/61
- ScottScott catalog number (Americas).
- SU 2487/2489
- MichelMichel catalog number (Europe / DE).
- SU 2492/2494
- YvertYvert & Tellier catalog number (FR).
- SU 2409/2411
- Stanley GibbonsStanley Gibbons catalog number (UK / Commonwealth).
- SU 2594/2596
History
The Soviet Union issued three photogravure commemoratives on 31 May 1961, the eve of International Children's Day. Domfil heads the entry «Día internacional de la infancia / International Children's Day» and prices the set as 961.59/61 (Yvert 2409/2411, Michel 2492/2494, Scott 2487/2489), itemising only the 3 kopek as «Corneta / Bugle» (961.60) and the 4 kopek as «Explorador / Scout» (961.61); the 2 kopek hospital-and-kindergarten design belongs to the same Scott set but has no Domfil motif line in the extract.
Valery Pimenov designed the trio, three million of each, in sheets of fifty, without watermark. The 2 kopek (blue and orange-red) shows a caregiver helping a toddler with a small flag, framed by hospital and kindergarten scenes. The 3 kopek (ochre and violet) is a Young Pioneer camp: a bugler in neckerchief beside a girl planting, with hiking and garden panels behind. The 4 kopek (brown-grey and orange-red, vertical) groups young technicians and naturalists — a space model labelled КОСМОС, a potted plant, a crane and a rabbit — under the Pioneer motto «Be ready to fight for the cause of the Communist Party». Domfil's «Scout» label on the 4 kopek is the catalogue's usual shorthand for Pioneer youth subjects.



