Pioneers planting a tree — 35 bani

On 21 May 1953 Romania issued three commemoratives for the fourth anniversary of the Young Pioneers organisation, founded on 30 April 1949. Domfil heads the set «4 Aniversario de la Organización de Jóvenes Exploradores / 4th Anniversary of the Young Scouts Organization» and numbers it 953.9–953.11.

All three designs are by Ludmilla Kuscenko, printed in photogravure at Fabrica de Timbre in Bucharest on paper watermarked RPR endless rows, each in a run of 2,000,000. The 35 bani black-green shows two Pioneers planting a young tree above the slogan SĂ ÎNFRUMUSEȚĂM PATRIA CU GRĂDINI ȘI LIVEZI — «let us beautify the homeland with gardens and orchards» (Domfil 953.9 «Plantando un árbol / Planting a tree», Michel RO 1425, Scott RO 933). The 55 bani blue shows Pioneers with model aircraft in flight (953.10 «Aeromodelismo / Aeroplane modelling», Michel RO 1426, Scott RO 934). The 1.75 lei brown shows Pioneers at work in a laboratory with their instructor (953.11 «En el laboratorio / In the laboratory», Michel RO 1427, Scott RO 935); this value is perforated comb 14¼ × 13¾, the other two 13¾ × 14¼. Stanley Gibbons numbers the set RO 2289–2291 and Yvert 1304–1306.

Where the earlier anniversaries showed ceremony — saluting, marching, the instructor's circle — this one turns to the practical programme: tree planting, model aeronautics and laboratory work, the Pioneer movement presented through its technical and civic activities. It is the fourth of the anniversary sets, the bani surcharges of the 1952 currency reform having come between the third and it. Note that Domfil's facial column prints 55 b for the tree stamp, but the stamp itself, and every other catalogue, reads 35 bani. The three values are catalogued here in rising face-value order.