On September 11, a souvenir sheet of four stamps dedicated to Kerch was put into postal circulation in the Archaeological Heritage of Russia series

 

Kerch is one of the remarkable cities of Russia; it is located in the eastern part of Crimea. It traces its history back to the ancient Greek colony of Panticapaeum founded by immigrants from Miletus (Asia Minor) at the end of the 7th century BC. There are many unique architectural attractions here, and the area is constantly being explored and ancient relics are being discovered. Every year, the East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve receives finds from more than 15 international archaeological expeditions carrying out digs on the Kerch Peninsula. Over 30 archaeological and historical collections are considered the main ones.

Among the most valuable exhibits, there are: unique samples of ancient painted ceramics that are genuine masterpieces of Greek applied art, including a patera (fragment) from Panticapaeum dating to the late 7th century BC and a collection of black-figure and red-figure ancient painted vases of the 6th-7th centuries BC.

Of international fame is a lapidary collection, one of the largest in the world, which, in addition to the Bosporan tombstones, contains sculptures, epigraphic monuments and building details from the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, including a sundial from Panticapaeum of the 1st-2nd centuries BC.

The museum houses a terracotta collection, one of the most significant collections of antique coroplasts in Russia, where a special place is occupied by terracotta figurines, everyday subjects, cult masks, as well as a kora head from Parthenius (3rd century BC) and a cult impress from Ilurat of 2nd–3rd centuries AD.

The Gold Hoard contains a unique hoard of electrum coins from the Asia Minor city of Cyzicus, dating back to the 5th century BC; gold and silver coins of Mithridates VI Eupator, Alexander the Great, the kings of the Bosporus, as well as jewelry.

The postage stamps provide images of exhibits from the collection of the East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve: a patera (fragment) from Panticapaeum (late 7th century BC), a kora head from Parthenius (3rd century BC), a sundial from Panticapaeum (1st–2nd centuries AD), a cult impress from Ilurat (2nd–3rd centuries AD); the margins of the souvenir sheet feature the ancient polis of Panticapaeum.

In addition to the issuance of the souvenir sheet, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and Kerch of the Republic of Crimea, as well as an illustrated cover with a souvenir sheet of the 2-nd emission type with numbering inside.


Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 50 rubles each.
Sheet size: 153×104 mm; stamp size in the souvenir sheet: 42×30 mm.
Quantity: 16 thousand (the 1st emission type); 3.1 thousand (the 2-nd emission type*).
* To be on sale as part of an illustrated cover.

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