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The Milwaukee Philatelic Society hosted MILCOPEX 2023 at the Brookfield Conference Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a Milwaukee suburb. The show ran September 22nd and 23rd.

Multi-frame Gold was won by Cheryl Ganz for “Clements Photography”. Larry Nix doubled multi-frame Gold with “The Library of Congress Jefferson Building: A Postcard History” (also the AAPE Creativity Award) and “Hiram E. Deats; American Pioneer Philatelist” (also the ATA 1st Award).

Jim Cate won single-frame Large Gold for “General Banks Division” (also the APS Research Medal).

Ken Trettin won multi-frame Vermeil for “The Corner Drug Store”. Robert Toal won multi-frame Silver Bronze for “The Postcard Says It All”. Jane Sodero won single-frame Large Vermeil for “Milford House – A Rustic Resort in Southwestern Novia Scotia”.

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The Indiana Stamp Club’s annual philatelic exhibition, INDYPEX 2023, was held October 6th to the 8th in Noblesville, Indiana 23 miles outside of Indianapolis.

Multi-frame Large Gold was won by Doug Weisz for “New Orleans 5 Cent Provisional” (also the American Philatelic Congress Award; the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Medal; and the Bonnie and Rich Drews One-frame Grand); Rich Drews for “The U.S. 10 and 30 Cent Issues of 1861-68 in International Mail”; Ross Towle for “Chile Presidente Series: 1911-1939” (also the APS 1900-1940 Medal and the Collectors Club of Chicago Award); Alfredo Frohlich for “Delaware Postal History 1732-1847” (also the Postal History Society Award).

Rich Drews won single-frame Gold for “The Three Cent Value of 1861 and Associated Pink Shades” and was voted the One-frame Most Popular exhibit.

John Becker won awards for three exhibits. “Harvey W. Wiley – Hoosier Chemist” won multi-frame Large Vermeil and the US Stamp Society Statue of Freedom; “Encouraging City Mail Delivery in Indiana” won single-frame Vermeil, the Indiana Showcase Spirit of Indiana Award and the Robert H. Rhodehamel Memorial Indiana Showcase Award; “Linus Pauling – American Scientist” won multi-frame Large Silver; the AAPE Woman Exhibitors Sterling Achievement Pin; and the AAPE Jean Benninghoff Encourage Certificate.

Rich Drews won multi-frame Silver for “The Bear Necessities”.

BALPEX 2023 Multi-Frame and Single-Frame Grands were won by Society Members.

This year’s BALPEX 2023, conducted by the Baltimore Philatelic Society, ran Labor Day weekend, September 1-3, in Hunt Valley, MD adjacent to Baltimore. Despite the supercharged air conditioning, attendees had a “hot time” with many philatelic activities.

Vernon Morris’ “Evolution & Impact of Blood’s Local Post: 1842-1862” won the Multi-Frame Grand, Large Gold, the US Stamp Society’s (USSS) Statue of Freedom, and the Baltimore Philatelic Society’s (BPS) Ed Ruckle Award.

Richard Taschenberg won the Single-Frame Grand, Large Gold, APS Research Medal, and United Postal Stationery Society’s (UPSS) Single-Frame Award with “1861 Bicolor Envelope Usage – Unrecognized Rarity”.

Mark Schwartz won Multi-frame Large Gold, the American Philatelic Congress Award, and the USPCS Medal with “The Postal History of Salem, Mass. Domestic Mail through Sept 1883; Foreign up to UPU”.

Multi-Frame Large Vermeil was won by John Schorn for “The 1967 Disarmament Stamps of the United Nations” (also American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors’ (AAPE) Award of Honor 2 and BPS’ Best Three Frame) and “The 21¢ Giannini Definitive of 1973”.

Larry Nix won Multi-Frame Large Vermeil for “Hiram E. Deats; American Pioneer Philatelist” (also the American Topical Association’s Award 1st).

Robert Toal won Single-Frame Large Gold and the BPS’ Best Exhibit by a BPS Member for “Origins of American Postcards: Lipman and the Early Years 1865 – 1873”

Vernon Morris won Single-Frame Large Gold and the Postal History Society (PHS) Award for “1776”.

Single-Frame Large-Gold was won by Stephen Rose for “U.S. Orange Special Delivery Stamp, 1893”, Doug Weisz for “New Orleans 5 Cent Provisional”, and Mark Schwartz for “The Introduction of the First Federal Handstamps”.

Robert Toal won Single-Frame Gold for “The Goodsell Postcards of 1880”. Ralph Nafziger won Single-Frame Large Vermeil for “A Soldier’s Diary – The World War I North Russia Expedition” (also the AAPE Award of Honor 3 and BPS’ ROSSICA Award).

German Federation of Philatelists Put on a Great IBRA 2023

The IBRA 2023 stamp show was a success for all who attended. For a number of Society members, it was also an award-winning event for their philatelic exhibits and literature. Clearly, German fluency was not a requirement for enjoying the show.

The show was held in Essen, Germany May 25-28 with Society members Ross Towle and Yamil Kouri serving as jurists. A total of 809 exhibits were judged resulting in the awarding of 64 Large Gold and 196 Gold medals. In addition to the exhibits, philatelic bourse, presentations, a few lucky participants had an opportunity to take a Zeppelin ride.

6 members received multi-frame Large Gold awards for their exhibits. They are:
> Carol Bommarito: “United States Adhesive Stamped Mail to, From and Through GB 1840-1875”
> Martin Camerer: “The postal relationship between the Old Italian and the Old German States 1850-1870”
> Gary Diffen: “Transportation of Australian Colonial Mail to 1891”
> Robert Forster: “Nova Scotia Colonial Postal History”
> Cheryl Ganz: “Zeppelins and the United States”
> Nicholas Kirke: “Evolution of foreign mail originating in New York City 1845-1878”

Multi-frame Gold was won by 4 members for their exhibits. They are:
> Jan Huys: “Postal history, cancellations and postmarks of Belgium during the period of its First Issue, 1849-1852”
> Geoffrey Lewis: “Mail routes in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, plus the routes between the oceans”
> Richard Malmgren: “Hawaii Postal Cards”
> Eigil Trondsen: “Cunard Line; The Ships and the Transatlantic Mail 1840-1967, the Monopoly years”

Multi-frame Special Gold awards were won by Alfredo Frohlich for “Classic Colombia 1862-1863. The Fifth and Sixth Issues” (title page) and Paul Wijnants for “Stampless maritime overweight mail in pre -UPU times (1738-1876)”.

Single-frame Gold was won by Chip Gliedman for “Mail Routes of Rupert’s Land, British North America” and Jan Hofmeyr for “The Process That Led to the Grill Stamps of the United States: 1865-1868”.

Cheryl Ganz won a Philatelic Literature Gold for her “U. S. Zeppelin and Airship Mail Flights”.

Multi-frame Large Vermeil awards were won by Lars Böttger for “Der 1. Weltkrieg und seine postalischen Konsequenzen für Luxemburg 1914 -1919” and Ian C. Gibson-Smith for “Postal Markings of the Hong Kong ‘China’ Overprints”.

Multi-frame Vermeil awards were won by George Henshilwood for “Having Fun with Numbers” and Burkhard Krumm for “USA 1845-1861, New York Postmaster und erste drei Ausgaben”.

Two society researchers are asking for your assistance with their work, one for Mail Robbery covers and the other for Phantom Rate covers. Samples of each request appear immediately after each note.

Steven Berlin asks:
My book, Mail Robbery Post History, is in process for publication, hopefully by year end. I am looking for any Mail Robbery covers and any information related to mail robbery for this book. I am most appreciative for any such information. I can be reached at drstevenjberlin2916@gmail.com

John Kofranek asks:
I am looking to add to the Phantom Rate covers census. Those covers would be prepaid letters from USA to France via British mail. Dates, January 1,1870 to October 28, 1871. Postage stamps could be anything from 1861 to Bank Notes through US# 152 and appropriate Entire Envelopes. There should be a New York Paid marking, NY credit numeral marking, London Paid British marking and a Calais marking (sometimes not completely visible). Send scans of front and back of covers to: jakmjos@comcast.net

Phantom Rate Cover Samples

This year’s U.S. Philatelic Classics Society annual meeting will be held at the San Diego Stamp Show 2024.

The 2024 Stamp Show season is approaching and, while the San Diego Stamp Show isn’t until February, now’s the time to reserve the dates in your philatelic calendar – as well as submitting Exhibition applications which are being accepted until February 5th, ’24. Exhibit Application Form is no longer available, but a list of exhibits is here

The show will be held February 23-25, 2024 at the San Diego Mission Valley Hilton, 901 Camino del Rio South, San Diego. A hotel booking code is not yet available.

The show’s web page can be found here

More to come about the show and society-specific activities.