News

The 131st annual March Party of the Cleveland-based Garfield-Perry Stamp Club is going ahead as planned.

Club members are making plans for the Ohio's largest stamp show April 9-11, but with some changes from the traditionally popular event.

Show co-chairman Rocco Caponi said 34 dealers will be on hand for the bourse-only show. Because of the coronavirus pandemic no exhibits will be on display for showgoers to enjoy.

In line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio public health guidelines, all attendees will be required to wear a mask. And all people will have their temperature checked before entry. Anyone with a temperature above 101 Fahrenheit will not be admitted.

Each visitor also will be required to sign a waiver confirming that he or she does not have COVID-19 symptoms and agreeing that they will not hold the club or others liable should the virus be contracted at the show. In addition, each person will be asked for contact information that can be used to notify all attendees should a confirmed COVID-19 case occur.

Caponi said the requirements are designed to protect everyone who participates in the March Party. The event is at the Strongsville Holiday Inn, 15471 Royalton Rd., in suburban Strongsville, Ohio. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Full details are online at www.garfieldperry.org.

The Philatelic Traders’ Society are delighted to announce that we have opened registrations for the next Virtual Stampex.

To register just head to stampex.vfairs.com

Please note, we do not keep your details, so to attend the next show you will need to register again.

Reasons why too register? The show has got bigger and better. To enhance your in show experience, we are asking you to tell us your area of interest upon registration.

Officially sponsored by Spink, the March show is set to be even more exciting. The live show will run for 72 hours from 8am (London time) on 25th March with the on demand period finishing towards the end of April.

This show will include

• NEW! The Collectors Lounge. Sponsored by Corinphila and Heinrich Kohler. This space will allow collectors to meet chat and connect. Arrange to meet friends, join a relaxed session on collecting from one of the experts and meet the teams who are showing in the booth hall.
• The Spink Auditorium. Sponsored by Spink, the auditorium will be home to 10 talks. These will include talks from APS, NY Collectors Club, FIAP and The Royal Philatelic Society London.
• NEW! The Gold Membership Hall. A new hall will include PTS Gold Members including the likes of Mark Bloxham, BB Stamps, Stanley Gibbons, Bill Barrell and more.
• NEW! Exhibitors Hub. This area will be available for those exhibitors who want to see the exhibitions run by the ABPS and award winning collections presented by the Museum of Philately.
• NEW! Social Chat including the likes of Punk Philatelist, The Digital Philatelist and Exploring Stamps. The Conversation with Philatelists will also be present.
• NEW! Dealers have signed up including Grosvenor, W4 Stamps and Collectables, Samwells and Purves Philatelics, which can be seen next to the likes of Martin Townsend, Guernsey Post, Glasgow Stamp Shop, Catawiki, Cherrystone, Andrew G Lajer, David Feldman and more.
• We also have a wonderful host of show partners including American Philatelic Society, The Royal Philatelic Society London and eBay. eBay will be on hand to help answer questions about buying safe and selling professionally online.
• Lots to do for all the family as well, with StampIT and Stamp Active providing games and activities for youth philatelists.

The show will have a live chat function for the full 72 hours allowing you to connect with your favourite PTS Members, auction houses, philatelic societies, postal administrants, museums, experts and social influencers - all free of charge. We will also be including Stamps in the Attic, Smiler Booth and the chance to get some great deals from the booth holders.

Don’t forget you can forward to a friend, family and fellow philatelists so they can sign up too.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Instagram @ptsandstampex

From The Philatelic Traders’ Society - The International Society for Philatelic Professionals

Also, sign up to Stampex Newsletter to stay in touch with the latest news, offers and stories.

www.stampexinternational.com

Charlene Blair will be presenting Extraordinary, Ordinary Black Women on U.S. Postage Stamps on Tuesday, February 23 at 6:00 pm Eastern. Register here.

We are closely monitoring things in advance of making a decision in late March whether we can hold the show on-site in Chicago. Currently Illinois is in tier one (tightest) Covid restrictions. It must be tier three for our show to be held there. If we have to cancel, we will again be offering virtual meetings and programs.

Hurry! Taste of Topicals Sale! Buy 3 and get 1 free. Pick them up here.

Explore Ireland with the newest issue of Topical Tidbits. Click here to start your adventure!

Sarasota National Stamp Exhibition, Virtual Stamp Show, January 22-24, 2021. The show will feature webinars and exhibits. Register  at www.sarasotastampclub.com. 

The BTA is excited to announce its first-ever ‘One-Page Competition’.

They have launched this to encourage people, regardless of age and experience, to exhibit something from their thematic collection that excites them and will be of wide interest to BTA members as well as other thematic and topical collectors. The rules are simple, you do not need to have exhibited before to enter.

For more information please click here.

The USPS recently shared a file with us that shows stamp issues the planned postmarks. You can enjoy the file with this link: 2020StampIssueMashup.pdf

The One Frame Champion of Champions competition will be held online this year, according to Mike Ley, president of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE). The competition, which selects the top exhibit from one frame grand winners at WSP shows during the year, was to have been held in November at Chicagopex. That show has been canceled.

“Beginning Nov. 8 all the exhibits will be available for viewing on the AAPE website at aape.org,” said Ley. “They will be judged by the same jury that would have judged at Chicagopex, and the winner will be announced Nov. 21.”

The exhibits will be shown on a full-frame view in pdf. format. The synopsis for each exhibit, normally only seen by judges, will also be shown. “These top-award-winning exhibits will provide enjoyable and educational opportunities for other exhibitors as well as those contemplating exhibiting,” said Ley. He added that this is the first time a major North American exhibiting award will be determined in a virtual competition.

“AAPE started this championship in 2000 and very much wanted in to continue this year,” said Ley. “We knew that Chicagopex might be canceled, so we planned ahead to take the competition virtual if necessary.”

For more information contact Mike Ley, giscougar@aol.com, 402-984-5010.