Illustration of a historical stamp for learning, shown at screen size. Not valid for postage.
How to read it
A tsar’s portrait, ПОЧТА and kopeks: the Russian Empire.
- 1ПОЧТА
- 225 КОП.
- Inscription
- ПОЧТА · 25 КОП.
- Meaning
- ПОЧТА means “post”; КОП. is kopeks.
- Issued by
- Russian Empire
- Today
- Russia and its neighbours
- Year
- 1913. Issued 1913 for the Romanov tercentenary.
- Made by
- Ivan Bilibin, Eugene Lanceray and Richard Zarrinš (design, died 1946)
One fact
The 1913 Romanov set was the first time Russia put its rulers’ portraits on stamps; this one shows Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Source and public-domain rule
Russian official signs of postage. A sign of postal payment of the Russian state. Its named designers also died by 1946 (Bilibin 1942, Lanceray 1946, Zariņš 1939); engravers not recorded here. Under Russian law, state symbols and signs (flags, coats of arms, orders, money and the like) are not objects of copyright, and the postal law defines postage stamps as state signs of postal payment. Wikimedia Commons applies the same reading to stamps of the Russian Empire, the RSFSR and the Soviet Union, to which Russia is the legal successor. Applies only to issuers ru and su. Legal sources: Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Art. 1259(6)(2), Federal Law 176-FZ “On Postal Communications”, Art. 2, Wikimedia Commons stamp guidance (community summary, read through a mirror).
Scan: Марка Российской Империи, 1913. 25 коп. Царь Алексей Михайлович.jpg on Wikimedia Commons (revision 1236330606), licence templates {{PD-RusEmpire}}. Downloaded 2026-10-19, sha256 291ec9ba3f9d…; cropped and cleaned for this site. Facts checked 2026-10-19 against source 1 and source 2. Research record, not legal advice; a human rights review is pending. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
