1902 (2 Oct) Combination cover of a letter sent from some village in the Luga district (St. Petersburg province) to the city of St. Petersburg.

To pay for the service of the Imperial Russian Post, one 5-kopek and two 1-kopek stamps (issued in 1889) making a total of 7-kopek, have been affixed to the ordinary cover of the first weight class and cancelled in the Luga post & telegraph office on 02.10.1902 (PTK). The letter and arrived in St. Petersburg on 03.10.1902 (the post office attendant forgot to change the month and “IX” instead of “X” still appears).

To pay for the preliminary service of the Luga Zemstvo post to the district capital Luga, a grey-blue 3-kopek Luga Zemstvo stamp has been affixed to the reverse of the cover (Schmidt #17 = Chuchin 17). The Zemstvo stamp on this cover was endorsed by a pen cross, accidentally and luckily covered by the arrival c.d.s.

The recipient is the famous company of photography in the center of St. Petersburg “Bruno Zenger & Co” (Бруно Зенгеръ и Ко).

Covers with Zemstvo stamp handled by the Zemstvo post of the Luga district are rare. Up to now, about 25 covers of the district were recorded.

Bernard Furnon A.I.E.P. certificate