Our journey in the world of postage stamps seems to be something virtual, but it also has material aspects.
For example, today, before showing another postage stamp from series Protected Trees and Shrubs, issued in the USSR in 1980, I decided to find and photograph the fruit of the tree depicted on the postage stamp with a face value of 6 kopecks of the USSR.
Many of you know this tree, it's Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata).
In the conditions of a harsh winter, it was not at all easy to do this, and I had to walk for a long time in search of lindens under which I hoped to find its fruit.
At one point, I saw what I was looking for.
A spherical fruit on a thin twig with an adventitious leaf is captured in this photograph.
Lime is a wonderful tree. Its wood is highly valued and is often used by wood carvers as it is easy to work with a cutter.
It was linden that gave rise to my children's business.
In the USSR, there was no such thing as a private business, but I found out that pharmacies accept dried linden blossoms and I was able to get my first cash, which I could spend on postage stamps.
After linden, I also collected other medicinal plants, it was good money at that time, and I was only six years old.
It's good that in our house there were always encyclopedic dictionaries, from which I could find out what medicinal plants look like.
I returned from the pharmacy with a large amount of copper, such as in the photographs below.
To purchase this postage stamp, I would need two coins of five and one kopeck.
As you can see, these coins are older than the postage stamp, and it is quite possible that I earned one of these coins by selling lime blossom, eh. maybe, and for the purchase of this postage stamp, sometimes, the coins are returned back, lol.
Here you see the reverse of the coins with the emblems of the USSR.
If we consider the option of purchasing a postage stamp without change, so as not to stand in a long line at the post office, then two coins of three kopecks could also be used.
The child at that time had a difficult choice: buy a postage stamp, or buy cold and sweet kvass, lol.
Let's move on to the postage stamp, which is very close to the entire community of the Hive, because the linden depicted on the postage stamp is an excellent honey plant, and linden honey is highly valued.
We see that this postage stamp was decided to be deployed vertically, but its proportions were preserved.
Image is very recognizable.
We see the outlines of the crown of the tree, its leaves and overripe fruits. What is missing here is the most valuable, namely, linden flowers.
Information about this postage stamp:
Country: USSR.
Subject: # Flora, # Trees, # USSR.
Series: Protected Trees and Shrubs.
Name: Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata).
Denomination of a postage stamp: 6 USSR kopek.
Michel's USSR catalog code: 5004.
Episode release date: October 29, 1980.
Perforation: comb 12 х 12¼.
Postage stamp size: 30 x 42 mm.
Printing technology: Offset lithography.
Circulation: 7,100,000.
Estimated price for a clean postage stamp: $ 0.14 - $ 0.22.
Estimated price for a canceled postage stamp: $ 0.04 - $ 0.13.
Photo: original from 
Clean postage stamp
To be continued!
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