History
During the British occupation, the stock of postage stamps started to run out, and so in February 1919 the administration produced its own stamps. These were imperforate, depicted an aloe tree and were inscribed БАТУМСКАЯ ПОЧТА, or "Batum Post."
The British later overprinted these with "", and surcharged the remaining Russian stamps in a variety of styles. Inflation also took hold, and by 1920, the tree stamps, which had been as little as 5 kopecks, had to be reprinted in denominations up to 50 rubles.
Despite the short period of British rule, the tree stamps exist in large numbers, but the overprinted Russian stamps are not common, and in 2003 some commanded prices of over $500 USD.
Numerous philatelic forgeries exist of both the basic stamps and the overprints.
Read more about this topic: Postage Stamps Of Batum Under British Occupation
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