Balpex

The Baltimore Philatelic Society sponsored Balpex in Hunt Valley, MD on the weekend of September 1.  Society members took the top two awards.  Alfredo Frohlich won a Large Gold Medal and the Grand Award for “Panama, the Evolution of Postal Systems in Panama” (also the Postal History Society Award).  Mark Schwartz won a Large Gold Medal and the Single Frame Grand with “The Postal Markings of Newbury and Newburyport, Mass. during the Stampless Period 1755-1855′ (also the USPCS Medal).

Also winning Large Gold medals were Carol Bommarito for “Adhesive Stamp Usage on Transatlantic Mail to and from the U.S.” (also the BPS Ed Ruckle Memorial Award and the APS Pre-1900 Medal of Excellence); and Richard Frajola for “The Classic Stamps of Nepal.”

Winning Gold Medals were Ed Andrews for two exhibits: “Winterhelfswerk – The Third Reich’s Winter Relief Charity” (also a GPS Gold medal, the GPS Reserve Grand Award, and the AAPE Creativity Award)) and “The 1924 Eagle in Wreath Issue: The First Gold Currency Stamps of Poland” (also the APS Research Medal).  Richard Taschenberg won a Gold Medal for his SFE “The 10 Cent US Envelopes of 1870-1874 (also the UPSS One Frame Exhibit Award).  

Finally, Dr. Steve Berlin won two medals – a Vermeil Medal for “A World of Mail Robbery 1795-Present Day” and a Silver Bronze medal for “Terrorism as Reflected through the Mails 1922 – 1989.  

NOJEX

NOJEX was held the following weekend (Sept. 8) in Trenton, NJ and a large number of USPCS members exhibited.  In this show, Society members took the top three awards.  Nick Lombardi won a Large Gold medal and the Grand Award for “The 1903 Two Cent Washington Shield Issue” (also the USSS Statue of Freedom Award, the Sidney Schneider Memorial Award for the best Exhibit by a North Jersey Club Member, and the Sectional Award for the Best U.S. Exhibit).  Mark Schwartz won a Large Gold and the Reserve Grand Award for “The Postal History of Salem, Mass. Domestic Mail through Sept. 1883, Foreign up to UPU”, and a Large Gold Medal and the Single Frame Grand award for “Boston’s PAID in Grid Cancels on the U.S. Imperforate Issues of 1847-56”.

Also winning Large Gold medals were Larry Lyons for both “The Private Posts set the example for mail handling in the U.S. 1840-1863” (also the USPCS Medal) and “Hussey’s Post”; Cliff Alexander for “Alternative Ways Letters were Carried by Private Individuals and Companies from the Colonial Period to 1851” (also the AAPE Creativity Award and the Postal History Society Medal); Dan Ryterband for “A Country Divided: Effects of the American Civil War on the Mails” (also the Chicago Collectors Club Award and the Military Postal History Award); Marvin & Judith Platt for “The Columbian Envelopes of 1893” (also the American Philatelic Congress Award); Roger Brody for “Prominent Americans Series” (also the Auxiliary Marking Club Award and the Errors, Freaks and Oddities award); and Mark Schwartz for the single frame “The introduction of the First Standardized Federal Town Circles.”  

Gold medals were awarded to Lawrence LeBel for “Boyd’s, A Local Post 1844-1889”; David Steidley for “Uses of the 1c Franklin, Series of 1902”; George Kramer for “For the Love of the Dog” (Also the American Topical Association award); Steve Zwillinger for “India’s One Anna Carmine Issue of 1911′; Larry Lyons for his SFE “Valentines Delivered by U.S. Local Posts”; Kevin Camphausen for his SFE “The Forgeries of Wiley’s Once Cent Local” (Also the APS Research Award; and the AAPE Novice Award); and George Kramer for his SFE “The Transcontinental Railroad”.

A Vermeil medal was won by David Steidley for “American Express in Paris: Mail Handling by the American Express Company in Paris”;  A Large Silver medal was won by John Young for “Picketing Antarctica” (also the Women’s Exhibitors Sterling Achievement Award).  And Bronze medals were won by Don Chafetz for “Morristown, N.J. Military Capital of American Revolutionary War” and Fran Adams for “The Mesozoic Times, Where Prehistory Meets Philately.”

Seapex

Seapex was held in Tukwila, WA the same week as NOJEX.  Among the top winners, David McNamee won a Large Gold medal and the Single Frame Grand award for “Conquest of the Zulu Kingdom 1876-1897” (also the American Philatelic Congress award); and Tony Dewey won the Reserve Grand Award (also the Postal History Society medal) for A Postal History of Hartford, Connecticut as US Post Office: 1792–1897″.

Also winning Large Gold medals were David McNamee for “The Natal Rebellion of 1906” (also the APS Medal of Excellence 1900-1940, and the APS Research award); and Tony Dewey for “The ‘D’ Rate Change Stamps of 1985” (and the APS medal of Excellence post-1980).

Winning Gold medals were H. James Maxwell for “Keeping Pace with Inflation: The Post-War Chinese National Currency Issues”; David McNamee for “The Canoe in Pacific Island Culture” (also the ATA 1st place award; the Lighthouse StampSociety award; and the Society of Australian Specialists/Oceania Bronze award); Tony Wawrukiewicz for both “Operation and Innovation in the Dead Letter Office from 1859-1985” (and the Auxiliary Markings Award) and for “The Ways U.S. Postage Stamps Were Used, 1879-1986; Ralph Nafziger for “The 3¢ 1948 Palomar Mountain Observatory Issue”; John P. Wynns for “Canada: Postal History of the 1927 Confederation & Historical Issues” and David McNamee for his single frame “Tasmanian Savings Bank Packets: Special Registration Concession Rate 1882–1912.” 

A Large Vermeil medal was won by John P. Wynns for “Peru: 1897 Lima Post Office Issue, Stamp Development and Foreign Usages”.  Large Silver medals were won by Dale Forster for “Loose Ship Letters of Australia” (also the AAPE Path to Gold Multi-Frame award); and John P. Wynns for Wings Over the Bahamas: 50th Anniversary of Airmail Services Issue of 1969″ (also the British Caribbean Philatelic Study Group Medal for a Single-Frame Exhibit and the AAPE Path to Gold Single Frame Award).

Three more WSP shows were held in June and August, and USPCS members won a number of medals.  Two of them were specialty shows, proving that Classic collectors do not limit themselves to only classic material.  

National Topical Stamp Show

This is the annual show highlighting topical and thematic exhibits.  This year, it was held in late June in Milwaukee.  At the top of the heap at NTSS were Bill DePaolo, who won the Reserve Grand and Large Gold medal for his ‘The Gentleman from Pennsylvania” and Fran Adams, who won the Single Frame Grand award and Large Gold medal for “The United Nations and Palestine: 1947-1951.   

In addition, Larry Nix won a Large Vermeil medal for “America’s Library – The Library of Congress” and a Vermeil medal for “The American Library Association in World War I”.  Wayne Youngblood won a Large Vermeil medal for his single frame “Lost Almost: The Los Alamos N.M. Post Office and WWII”.

AmeriCover

This show, held on Indepedence, Ohio in mid-August, highlights First Day Cover exhibits.  Receiving a Large Gold Medal was William N. Kelly for “The 3c Iwo Jima Stamp of 1945 and its First Days”.  Ralph Nafziger won a Gold medal for his “The 15c 1978 Viking Mars Issue” and Mick Zais won a Vermeil Medal and the Single Frame Grand award for “Hand Crafted First Day Covers for the 1937 West Point 5c Commemorative.”   

StampShow

This is the largest APS show of the year, and was held in Richmond, Va. in early August.  Besides choosing the annual Champion of Champions (won this year by Jim Mazepa), it hosts a very large number of multi-frame and single frame exhibits.  

In the Multi-Frame division, winning  Large Gold medals were Ken Nilsestuen for “Minnesota Territorial Centennial Stamp – 1949” (also the Award of Merit for Illustrated Mail); Robert Boyd for “Mail from the U.S. to Germany Before the Universal Postal Union” (also the German Philatelic Society award); Tony Dewey for “Swiss Official Stamps for the UNEO and International Agencies” (also the U.N. Philatelists International Gold award); Bill DePaolo for “The Gentleman from Pennsylvania (also the ATA 1st Place award and the Smithsonian NPM Special Achievement award); and Richard Malmgren for “Hawaii Postal Cards” (also the U.S. Possessions Philatelic Society Multi-frame Award).

Winning multi-frame Gold medals were Carol Bommarito for “Adhesive Stamp Usage on Transatlantic Mail to and from U.S. 1840-1875” (also the U.S. Cancellation Club Best Exhibit of U.S. Cancellations); Juan Farah for two exhibits – “The First Perforated Stamp: Great Britain Penny Red Stars 1850-1864” and “The Special Design Issues of Cuba 1899-1910”; Alfredo Frohlich for “Colombia – First Perforated Issue, 1883”; Ken Gilbert for “U.S. Ten Cent Issue of 1861”; and Robert Mayo for “Postmaster and Postal Markings of Richmond, Va.” (also the USPCS Medal).

Winning Large Vermeil medals were Wayne Farley for “Independent State and Confederate Mail of West Virginia 1861-1865”; Leonard Hartmann for “The De La Rue Issues for the Confederate States of America” (also the Confederate Stamp Alliance Award); and Ralph Nafziger for “The 15c 1978 Viking Mars Issue”.

George Kramer won a Vermeil medal for “Telegraphy in the Civil War” and Leslie Butler won a Silver Bronze medal for “Postage Stamps of the Polish Government in Exile 1939-1947”.

In the Single Frame division, Tony Dewey won a Large Gold medal and the Single Frame Reserve Grand for “The “D” Rate Change Stamps of 1985″.

The members winning Large Gold in this division were Chip Gliedman for “Special Mail Routes of the Red River Colony (also the BNAPS Best BNA Research exhibit); and Richard Taschenberg for “The Ten Cent U.S. Envelopes of 1870-1874 (also the UPSS Best Single Frame).  

Gold Medals were awarded to Cliff Alexander for his “Confederate States of America 2 cent Rates and Fees: Civil War Postal Challenges; Tom & Jill Hare for “One Cent Postage Rates of Canada’s Once Cent Small Queen 1870-1897”; Bob Hohertz for “Why Was There a 1 Cent Prexie?”; and Bob & Ellen Rose for “Utica, New York’s Handstamped Postal Markings 1798-1855”.

Large Vermeil medals were won by Cheryl Ganz for “Airships Over the Atlantic”; Jessica Rodriquex for “Costa Rica: 1889 Soto Series”; and Steve Washburne for “Portuguese Postal Cards: Empire-Republic Transition 1910–1912”.  And Alfredo Frohlich won a Vermeil medal for “Colombia – The Simon Bolivar Centenary Issue of December 17, 1930”.

Colopex

Colopex was held on June 16-17 in Columbus, Ohio.  Winning Large Gold medals were Janet Klug for her multi-frame “The Australian Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952” (also Collector’s Club of Chicago Philatelic Exhibitors Award, American Philatelic Congress Award,
Military Postal History Society Best Exhibit) and Gary Hendren for his single frame “St. Louis Pioneer Air Mail, October 4-8, 1911”, and Janet Klug for her single frame “Absinthe: The Devil in a Bottle” (also American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors Creativity Award, American Topical Association Best Single Frame Award, Columbus Philatelic Club’s The Edward E. Kuehn Award ).

Rich Drews won Gold for “Lundy Island: The Early Years” (also the Ephemera Society of America Certificate) and Bronze for “The Bear Necessities.”

OkPex

OkPex was held that same weekend in Midwest City, Oklahoma.  Winning the Reserve Grand and a Large Gold medal was Richard C. Malmgren for “Hawaii Postal Cards.”  Also winning Large Gold were Bill Johnson for “James William Denver – The Man and His Times” (also American Philatelic Congress Book Award, American Philatelic Society Medal of Excellence, Pre-1900); Larry Lyons for “Hussey’s Post” (also American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors Plan and Heading Award; United States Stamp Society Freedom Medal); and James R. Pullin for “American Sailing Packets on the North Atlantic 1818 to 1840” (also U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Medal, American Philatelic Society Research Medal).  

Winning Gold Medals were Society members Joe H. Crosby for “Post Offices Followed the People to Oklahoma” (also the Robert T. Pollard Memorial Award for the Best Exhibit by a Member of the Oklahoma City Stamp Club; Oklahoma Philatelic Society Award for the Best Exhibit by a Member of the Oklahoma Philatelic Society; and the Gordon Bluler Award for the Best Exhibit of Oklahoma Postal History)

Ralph E. Lott won a Large Vermeil Medal was  for his single frame “The Defense Issue of 1940, A Study of Domestic Rates and Fees” and a Vermeil Medal for his single frame “Varieties of the Type II and Type IV One Cent Stamp of 1851 to 1861 with Postal Uses and Cancels.”

Minnesota Stamp Expo

The Minnesota Stamp Expo was held in Crystal, Minnesota on July 21-23.  Winning the Reserve Grand award and a Large Gold Medal was Rob Faux for “Postal History Featuring the 1861 United States 24-Cent Adhesive” (also the APS Award of Excellence – Pre 1900 Material; the AAPE Award of Excellence for Plans and Headings; The U.S. Stamp Society Statue of Freedom Award; and The Postal History Award.  Way to go, Rob!!

Also winning Large Gold Medals were Gregory Scott Ward for “Use of U.S. Parcel Post Stamps 1913-1926” (also the APS Award of Excellence – 1900-1940 material); Gary Hendren for “St. Louis Street Car Mail 1892-1915; and Larry Nix for “America’s Membership Libraries 1731 – 1920” (Also the AAPE Creativity in Philatelic Exhibiting Award).

Winning Gold Medals were members Ed Andrews for “The 1924 Eagle in Wreath Issue: The First Gold Currency Stamps of Poland”; and Larry Nix for “Hiram E. Deats – Philatelist & Collector Extraordinaire”

There will be a lot of Society events going on at StampShow at Richmond, Aug. 3-6, 2017.  We hope you can join us.  

Meetings and Talks

The Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for: Friday 8:00 am in meeting room E10b – all Society members are welcome to attend.

All members of the Society and friends of the Society are invited to attend the talks to be held during the week-end. Here is the schedule with topics:

• Sat. 10:00 am – John Bowman – The Unpaid Carrier Collection Fee of 1860 – room E24b
• Sat. 12:00 pm – John Barwis – Pre-Steam Maritime Routes of the World: Do You Know How Your Cover Really Went? – room E24b
• Sat.  2:00 pm – Clifford Alexander – Adams Express in Washington DC and Virginia During the Civil War – room E24b

Society Dinner (may be sold out)

Plan to join us for dinner at La Grotta Ristorante (http://www.lagrottarva.com), an “exquisite” experience (as reported by a reviewer on “Yelp”), located at 529 E. Broad St. in Richmond, across the street from the show hotel, the Richmond Marriott. Details are below – send in your reservation ASAP:  Particulars arranged by Mike Plett, our Society Treasurer and RVP for Region 11, are set out below. Please notice the seating limit and get your reservation check to Mike ASAP (address below) to avoid being disappointed. In order to manage planning, a reservation cannot be held without a check. I look forward to seeing you there.

The dinner is scheduled for Friday August 4, 2017 at 6:30 PM.  The price of the dinner is $66 including tax and tip. You will make your dinner selection from a four-entrée menu at the restaurant. Run your own tab for wine and cocktails. Only water is included with the meal price. We have reserved 40 places.

Pay only by check made out to “USPCS” and send to:
Michael Plett 
2855 Willowmere Woods Dr. 
Vienna, VA 22180.

Finally, be sure to come by the USPCS booth at Richmond and say hello – or schedule yourself for an hour or two to help staff the booth by sending an e-mail to Rob Lund (robinlund@comcast.net). There is no better way to get the most out of your membership than by getting involved. 

There were three WSP shows held in late May and early June: Ropex, Rocky Mountain Stamp Show, and NAPEX.

Ropex

Ropex is a two day WSP show held outside Rochester in Canadaigua, NY by the Rochester Philatelic Association (RPA).  Despite its smaller size, there were several very high level exhibits shown there, including those from USPCS members. Tony Dewey won the Grand award and a Large Gold medal for his “A Postal History of Hartford, Connecticut” (also the Postal History Society award).  Tony also won the Best Single Frame and a Gold medal for his “The Bridges of Hartford, 1810 to Mid-1940s”.  Let’s all congratulate Tony for his double win at Ropex!

Also winning a Large Gold medal was Robert Meegan for his “United States Domestic Letter Rates, Act of 1792 Through the Act of 1872” (also the Dusty Miller award for the Best Postal History exhibit by a RPA member; and the APS Medal of Excellence for pre-1900 material).

Winning a Gold medal was USPCS member H. James Maxwell for his “Mail From Along The Erie Canal: 1825-1862” (also the Larry R. Moriarty Sr Memorial Award of Merit from the RPA; the Empire State Postal History award; the APS Medal for Research Excellence; and the USPCS Medal).  

Members winning Vermeil medals included Larry Rausch for “Identification and Use of United Kingdom One Penny (1d) Perfins 1868-1880”, Henry Sweets for “Chinese Inflation Run Amok: 41 Months of Hyperinflation”; and Tony Dewey for his single frame “The “D” Rate-Change Stamps of 1985″ (also the APS Medal of Excellence for post 1980 Material).

Large Silver medals were won by members John Flannery III for his single frame “Black Jacks” (he also won the AAPE Novice Award) and Alan Parsons for “Corning, NY Postal History Including DPOs Now Served by the Corning Post Office”. And a Silver medal was also won by Alan Parsons for “The Sullivan Commemorative of 1929.”  

Rocky Mountain Stamp Show

This show, held May 26-28, included the 1st Annual George Brett Cup competition to highlight the best 20th century exhibits.  Many USPCS members collect both classic and modern material and were represented at this event.

Member Nick Lombardi won the Brett Cup with his “The 1903 Two Cent Washington Shield Issue.”  Congratulations, Nick!

Members winning Large Gold medals in regular competition included Chip Briggs for “Domestic Rates and Usages of the United States Presidential Series” (also the American Philatelic Congress award for Writing Excellence; the AAPE Award for Plan and Heading Excellence; and the Postal History Society Award); Doug and Nancy Clark for “The U. S. 1903 Hartford Postal Stationery” (also the UPSS Marcus White Award); William Kelly for “The 3c Iwo Jima Stamp of 1945 – An Iconic and Enduring Favorite” (also the GB and Colonies Club of Denver Peter Adgie Award); and Dr. Paul Phillips for “The Coronation Year of King George V” (also the Collectors Club of Chicago Award).

Winning a Vermeil medal was Alfredo Frohlich for “Colombia -1904-1905 – The World’s First Inflation Rated Mail”.

NAPEX

NAPEX was held in McLean, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., the weekend of June 8.

Bob Rose won the Grand Award and a Large Gold medal for his “New Jersey Stampless Covers: Handstamp Postal Markings, 1775-1855” (also the Collectors Club of New York Best US Classics exhibit).

Members winning Large Gold medals included Robert Boyd for “Mail Between the US and Germany Before the Universal Postal Union” (also the German Philatelic Society Award and AAPE Award of Excellence – Plan and Headings); Norval Rasmussen for “Tunisian First Issue: Coat of Arms” (also the France and Colonies Philatelic Society award); Roger Brody for “Jamestown 1907” (also the Collector’s Club of New York Best US Modern Exhibit); and Carol Bommarito for “Adhesive Stamp Usages on Transatlantic Mail to and from the U.S. 1840-1875” (also the Lighthouse Stamp Society Award, the US Philatelic Classics Society Medal and the APS Award of Excellence, Pre-1900).

Gold medals were awarded to Randolph Smith for “Rally ‘Round the Flag”; Jeff Bohn for “Accountancy Markings Associated with the 1857 Franco-British Postal Convention’ (also the Postal History Society Award); and David Steidley for “Uses of the 1¢ Franklin, Series of 1902” (also the American Philatelic Congress award for Writing Excellence).

Cliff Alexander won a Large Vermeil medal for his first-ever exhibit “Postal Markings of Alexandria during the District of Columbia Period (1791-1847)” (also the AAPE Novice Award); and Jerry Wells won a Silver medal for “Postal Normalcy During a Period of Political Chaos in the Southern United States, December, 1860 through May, 1861”.