Soviet Union 1934 Dirigible airmail set in demand

Stamp Market Tips by Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Rigid airships, also known as dirigibles, are a very popular subtopic of aviation with topical stamp collectors. Dirigibles are powered aircraft that have a fabric skin stretched over a metal framework. Buoyancy is provided by tanks of hydrogen (or, more rarely, helium) placed around the interior of the ship.

They are sometimes carelessly referred to as Zeppelins, but this name really only applies to dirigibles produced by the German Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Co. Count Ferdinand Zeppelin pioneered the production and operation of rigid airships, making the first successful flight of the LZ 1 airship in 1900.

German dirigibles carried out strategic bombing raids on Great Britain during World War I. After the war, their success as a luxury mode of travel for well-heeled passengers came to an abrupt and fiery end with the Hindenburg (LZ 129) disaster at Manchester Township, N.J., on May 6, 1937. 

After Joseph Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union in 1922, the Bolshevik dictator saw the development of dirigibles as a prestigious demonstration of Soviet technocracy. Soviet dirigibles were used for some scientific and exploratory flights, although their main occupation was for propaganda flights.

In all, six large Soviet dirigibles, USSR-V1 through USSR-V6, were developed and flown. The fatal crash of USSR-V6 on Feb. 6, 1938, effectively ended the Soviet dirigible program.

In 1934, the Soviet Union issued a very attractive set of five Dirigible airmail stamps (Russia Scott C53-C57). The stamp designs show various aspects of airships in operation. The stamps were printed by photogravure on paper watermarked Greek border and rosettes and are perforated gauge 14.

The Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue values the set at $517.50 in very fine grade and unused hinged condition and at $78.65 in used condition. This is still a very popular set that is in demand by both topical and Russia and area collectors, however, prices are way down from the high-water mark of several years ago.

Russia’s disastrously tragic invasion of Ukraine has crippled the Russian economy, driving the stamp market down with the rest of the economy. The set is a good buy in unused, hinged condition at $150 to $200. Postally used sets are seldom encountered. However, sets in canceled-to-order condition are readily available and are quite popular with many collectors. A set in CTO condition with intact gum is a good buy at around $20.

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