Confirmed varieties of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley

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In 1960 the USSR Post issued a set of stamps dedicated to the VIII Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, USA. The set includes separate stamps devoted to different sports — ice hockey, speed skating, figure skating, alpine skiing and ski jumping — reflecting the Soviet public’s interest in international sporting events of the time.

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The artistic approach of the stamps is dynamic and illustrative: each stamp places a central image of an athlete or athletes against a stylized arc/circle background, reinforcing the sense of motion and speed. The color schemes and headline lettering emphasize the celebratory nature of the issue and make the designs attractive to collectors and sports enthusiasts. The series’ design is associated with the work of Soviet graphic artists of that period.

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Issues like this served several purposes: to publicize an important international event, to demonstrate aesthetic tendencies in Soviet printing, and to act as a modest but visible form of cultural diplomacy during the Cold War. For philatelists and sports historians these stamps are interesting as visual documents of the era and as examples of how sport was represented in Soviet state imagery and postal art.

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Confirmed varieties of stamps of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Ice Hockey

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1. dot over letters "ИЕ" in word "ЗИМНИЕ" #2

2. dot to the right over letter "Е" in word "ОЛИМПИЙСКИЕ" #3

3. dot to the right over letter "Ы" in word "ИГРЫ" #5

4. dot next to the hockey stick #6

5. streak to the left of a head #10

6. dot on "1" in "10" #11

7. dot on ice #11

8. dots under "М" in "ОЛИМПИЙСКИЕ" #15

9. dot after "ПОЧТА" #18

10. dot over "Р" in "ИГРЫ" #19

11. dot over 1st "С" in "СССР" #20

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Confirmed varieties of stamps of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Speed Skating

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1. dot between "VI" in "VIII" #6

2. spot to the left of "СССР" #9

3. spots on the sides "1960" #10

4. dot under the skate #12

5. dot over "5" in "25" #13

6. ​spot over "Т" in "ПОЧТА" #17​

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Confirmed varieties of stamps of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Skier

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1. dot under 2nd "И" in "ОЛИМПИЙСКИЕ" #1

2. dot under "C" in "ОЛИМПИЙСКИЕ" #14

3. spot between the hand and the ski #18

4. spot before "СССР" #20

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Confirmed varieties of stamps of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Woman Figure Skating

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1. dot next to "0" of "60" #7

2. dot in "6" of "1960" & spot on a leg  #15

3. dot under 4th Olympic ring #16

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Confirmed varieties of stamps of 8th Olympic Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Ski Jumper

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1. black dot on "Ч" of "ПОЧТА" #1

2. dot in the 4th ring #1

3. dot to the right of "П" in "ПОЧТА" #3

4. dot next to the "А" in "ПОЧТА" #3

5. green dot over the last ring #5

6. dot over "96" in "1960"#7

7. streak over "1" #9

8. spot on the edge of background #9

9. dot in the 1st ring #10

10. dot to the left of "СССР" #10

11. spot over "1" #12

12. broken "Е" in "ЗИМНИЕ" #14

13. streak under "О" of "ПОЧТА" #16

14. dot over the arm #17

15. dots over the legs #18