Circulation: to be announced
These stamps are mint never hinged (MNH).
Large image here.
The Pomors lived in the north of Russia at the coast of the White Sea. They were hunters and fishers and had a long tradition of hunting in the arctic. They were also skilled traders and sailors and the pomor trade between people in the area was important, trading grain products from Russia with fish from North Norway as the main trade.
The Pomors were also active in most parts of Spitsbergen for centuries and it is believed that the Pomors came earlier than 1596, the year of discovery of Spitsbergen by the Willem Barentsz. They had several hunting stations in Spitsbergen during the 16th century and many sites with remains of such stations from those years have been found on the west coast of Spitsbergen. The Pomors have the longest history of more or less continuous activities and settling in Spitsbergen and their last stations were finally abandoned in the 19th century.