Auction 248-249 Day 1 Postal History, Foreign countries, Coins, medals and banknotes

Unfranked cover from Chita 5-8-1921 to Budapest (Hungary) sent by the Ministry of Public Health of the Far Eastern Republic. The violet round cachet on the front exempted the letter from postage. The Hungarian authorities probably didn't recognise the handstamp and charged it with 1200 filler postage due, fine/very fine (some wrinkles and small tear at left). Looking at the date of August 1921 one would expect that the cover would be sent via Moscow. But instead this letter went east to Vladivostok and was probably held up in Khabarovsk. It was subsequently found in december during the White attack on this city and sent to Vladivostok (crossed over oval "Doplatit" cancel) for further delivery. That's why the letter did reach Hungary as late as february 1922!
Postal History Russian Civil War in Siberia 1917-1924 - The Dick Scheper Collection