Estonia

I prefer to focus on the pre-UPU period of postal history and I really pay the most attention to the 1860's.  That doesn't mean I won't appreciate other items.  After all, my postal history hobby has its roots in stamp collecting (philately) and I can be influenced by certain stamp designs that got my attention at an earlier point in my life. 

The Viking ship issue of 1919-1920 from Estonia is one such stamp.  So, when I ran into a this item in a dealer box some years ago for less than ten dollars, I decided it was okay to take it home with me. 

The issue with things like this is that I am not knowledgeable about the rates and routes for this area during the early 1900s.  So, I tend to pass on items like this unless it is very inexpensive, making it a reasonable cost to pay for the opportunity of learning what it is that is going on with the cover in question.

This time around, I was lucky to find a very useful website compiled by Sijtze Reurich that provides all of the Estonian rates for this period. 
Estonia: Postal Rates 1918-1944

If you visit this site, do a little exploring because he has other resources for that period and region.  I am very appreciative of the efforts people, like Sijtze, put into web resources of this sort.  What worries me is that their work can disappear so easily over time. 

After a little additional research, the display page I created looks like the one shown below.  The two empty boxes hold off-cover examples of two stamps from the Viking ship series from Estonia.

Source list from the Estonia rate site:

I am hopeful that Mr. Reurich will not mind if I place his resource list at the end of this blog post.  I have not reviewed these sources as he has, but I do not want to lose the list so that I CAN review them if I wish.

Czarist Period

• A.V. Kiryushkin and P.E. Robinson, Russian Postmarks: An Introduction and Guide, J. Barefoot Ltd., 1989
• N. Jakimovs and V. Marcilger, Postal History of Imperial Russia in Pre-independent Latvia, Framic, 1995
• V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986
• Ivo Steyn, ‘Russische posttarieven in 1918’, Het Baltische Gebied, July 1996

Postgebiet des Oberbefehlshabers Ost

• Harry von Hofmann (ed.), Das Postgebiet Ob. Ost auf dem Territorium der späteren Republik Lettland 1915-1920, Harry von Hofmann Verlag, 2006
• Stefan Petriuk, ‘Stadtpost Wilna’, Philatelia Baltica, June 1985
• Jeroen van de Weide and Ton Welvaart, ‘Eerste inflatieperiode in het Generaalgouvernement Warschau en bezet Rusland; enkele woorden over de Duitse inflatie voor Polenfilatelisten’, in: Inflatieperioden en geldhervormingen in Oost Europa, Filatelistische Contactgroep Oost Europa, 2007
• Michel Deutschland-Spezial-Katalog 1988

Independence

• V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986
• E. Mattila, Viron Postimaksuja – Postal Rates of Estonia 1918-1940, Suomen Filatelistiliitto, 1987

Soviet Occupation I

• V. Hurt and E. Ojaste, Eesti – Estonia – Estland – Philately & Postal History Handbook Catalogue – Philatelie & Postgeschichte Handbuch Katalog, EFÜR/NY-EFS, 1986

German Occupation

• Vello Mändvere, ‘Postal Tariffs in Occupied Estonia 1940-1944’, in: Eesti Filatelist 1984-30

Soviet Occupation II

• Michel Ganzsachen-Katalog Europa Ost 2004/05
• Survey provided by Anton Welvaart, 1986
• Vladlen Aronovich Karlinskii, ‘Soviet Postal Rates’, Rossica 75 (1968)

Independence Restored

• Eesti Vabariigi Postmargid ja Tervikasjad Kataloog 2005 – Catalogue of Estonian Postage Stamps and Postal Stationery, Eesti Muinsuskaitse Seltsi Filateeliatoimkond, Tallinn, 2005, 7th ed.
• Karl Lukas, ‘Neue Auslandsposttarife der Eesti Post’, Eesti Post 48 (2009)