Philatelic Exhibiting: Building A Passion (Hotchner)

Philatelic Exhibiting: Building a Passion
for Knowledge, Acquisition, and Creativity
by John M. Hotchner

I’m a philatelic exhibitor, and the discipline has taught me a great deal about stamp collecting, but even more about myself. Exhibiting is the creation of philatelic stories highlighting mostly stamps and covers, but sometimes also associated material like photos or news articles. The object is to arrange the material in a pleasing way that encourages viewers to stop at your frames and enjoy (and learn from) your work.

National level exhibiting, and much local and regional exhibiting too, takes place as a competition for medal levels and special awards offered by each show and by national level societies, but the medal level part is not competition against other exhibits. Rather, each exhibit is judged against two standards:

  • How difficult a task have you set for yourself, and
  • Whether your exhibit is the best it can be, in terms of the material used, the logic of the story, and the knowledge presented.

As can well be imagined, putting hours and hours into creating an exhibit often converts the effort from a mere philatelic project into something akin to what you feel for one of your children. And as you might react badly to having one of your children criticized — especially unfairly — it is just so with what judges will have to say about your exhibit. It took a long time for me to understand and internalize that it was the exhibit being critiqued, and not myself.

It took even longer to understand that judges were commenting about four different action areas:

  • Problems that are holding an exhibit back from getting to the next level and must be addressed; things like missing philatelic material, difficulty in the flow of the story being told, or incorrect or poorly stated information.
  • Suggestions, or ideas for experimenting, that deserve to be considered toward overcoming those problems.
  • Areas where the exhibitor might use his or her own knowledge and creativity to come up with better ways to make points that advance the story or the clarity of the story.
  • Areas where the judge has personal preferences — often in the realm of exhibit presentation.

There is a tendency to give equal weight to everything a judge says, but exhibitors need to learn to differentiate the “musts” from the “maybes,” and to identify ideas worth pursuing — and what should go into File 13. Judges are human and can make mistakes. They can miss seeing something that is present, misunderstand points being made, or bring their own biases to the table. But exhibitors are also human. Thus, miscommunication is almost inevitable. But exhibitors need to understand that judges are also exhibitors (successful ones!) who have real knowledge to impart, and do what they do to try to be a resource and be helpful.

Early on in my exhibiting career I was certain that my failure to get to Gold was not my fault, but the fault of the judges, who in my view didn’t understand what I was trying to do, didn’t know as much as I did about my exhibit subject, and were too full of themselves to be objective.

In one especially humiliating instance, the legendary collector and judge Bud Hennig (shown on the left) critiqued my first exhibit (on methods of stamp separation) after the jury he was on dropped it to a Silver medal, after it had gotten several Vermeils (the level under Gold). My feelings were hurt, and my back was up, and his critique, which was extensive, had me thinking “Unfair … I’m not putting up with this. I’m leaving this field, and not coming back.”

I put the exhibit on the shelf, and there it sat for about three months. When I did look at it again, I had to admit that Hennig had made quite a few good points, and the old enthusiasm came back to motivate me to work on it some more. In fact, Hennig’s critique, harsh but honest, turned out to be the door I had to walk through to get the exhibit to Gold. And that took some growth on my part.

So here it is nearly 40 years and about 15 exhibits later, and exhibiting is the most fun thing I do in the hobby. It forces me to organize my material, to learn about it in detail, to present it logically, and to exercise my meager artistic skills as I prepare exhibit pages.

My most recent efforts are in the fields of Korean War POW Mail, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing Repairs and Rejection Markings. Challenge is what it’s all about — taking a subject that no one else has done before, and creating a base from which others can launch a new interest. For me it is now much more about the story than the medal. Sure, I enjoy getting a nice medal to add to my collection, but the medal is no longer the reason I exhibit.

For those of you who might like to give exhibiting a try, I would recommend going to the website of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, You will find much information about our corner of the hobby, but also a pamphlet titled “How to Get Started in Philatelic Exhibiting.”


Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: Collecting U.S. Abroad

U.S. Stamps are Collected Abroad
American stamp clubs in Denmark and the UK
by John M. Hotchner

America’s stamps are a focus for some collectors in other countries. In at least two, Denmark and the United Kingdom, there are even organizations where such collectors can meet and exchange information and stamps. There are likely others.

I was reminded of this by the passing of the original sparkplug of the Danish club, Arne Rasmussen. We had been corresponding for over 30 years, and it was a real shock to receive an email from one of his sons saying that he had passed away in his sleep at the age of 95.

It’s one of the joys of our hobby that we can share it with other collectors. In addition to many friends in the U.S., I have philatelic friends in a dozen countries with whom I exchange information and stamps. It adds a pleasing dimension of international understanding; and knowledge of how others see us and our institutions in this country.

I am a long-time member of The American Stamp Club of Great Britain, and enjoy American Stamp Club of Great Britainits quarterly publication, The Mayflower, capably edited by John A. Edwards. It is a lively journal and one which moves me to contribute an occasional short article or bit of information.

There is little of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that is often found in our publications here. I suppose the membership to be more interested in what the USPS is issuing than in bemoaning what they have not chosen to honor, or critiquing USPS employees for their lack of interest in serving stamp collectors. Another benefit is the advertising by British dealers with American material to sell. I’ve acquired for my collection several covers that had been sent abroad with interesting, higher value frankings.

Corresponding members such as myself are also welcome to bid on desirable material in the quarterly auctions, and attend the yearly (in November) convention; which I hope to do one of these days.

The club now has a website where you can read sample copies of The Mayfower and get more information on how to join.


Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

The Artist In All Of Us (Hotchner)

The Artist In All Of Us
By John M. Hotchner

Many of us would not use that label to describe ourselves. But consider the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1976) second definition of “art:” The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty; specifically, the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium.

Granted, putting stamps in an album may fall short of creativity, but it is adding graphic material and color to a page that results in a pleasing display – not unlike painting by numbers. And if you make your own albums or pages for new acquisitions, there is no doubt that you are an artist; one who creates works of art. In exercising this skill, you are balancing form, text, color, and even design content with the goal of conveying meaning through a pleasing sense of beauty.

I have long said of myself that I can barely draw a straight line, and circles are quite beyond me, but I can make a pleasing exhibit page, and accumulate a group of them into an award-winning exhibit or one that is non-competitive but still attractive to viewers. I’ll never be a Picasso, but this is my art.

Now, for the definition of “artist:” (2) Any person who performs his work as if it were an art. We who study our stamps – both those who focus on the physical elements of the stamp and those who focus on the design content – invest them with a meaning beyond the work they do to move mail. In fact, a great many of them never move mail because we like to be able to appreciate the beauty or content of their designs without the obstruction of cancellation marks.

It is not unusual for stamp collectors to reject certain stamps as being artistically inferior, in their view. And woe be to a postal service that ignores the sense of art of its buying public. Postal Services need to pay attention to this factor because it affects their bottom line. If collectors will not buy the product, or flock in droves to add a country’s stamps to their collections, the issuing authorities get valuable guidance about what the public likes.

And, thus, a third definition and concept, this one for “artistic:” (2) Appreciative of or sensitive to art or beauty. Clearly, we all have opinions and few of us are shy about expounding on them. We may like impressionism, or be left cold by it. We may be attracted, or not, to cartoon art, poster art, primitive art, bowls of fruit, watercolors, or whatever else is offered. But we are often very much in touch with those feelings and disposed to act on them.

The first thing that a postal service announces about a new issue is the subject. Sometimes a design will accompany that announcement. Often the design follows at a respectful distance. But for every collector who does not like a subject, I’ll bet there are ten who feel more passion about the art when it is revealed. Great art can redeem a bad subject, but poor art can kill a good one.

Of course, the definition of great and poor is in the eye of the beholder, and may be informed by training or education. Or it may simply be, in the words of the mythical Joe Sixpack, “I know what I like – and what I don’t.” In other words, we may not all be designers, but we are, every last one of us, a critic!

And here is where we miss an opportunity to market our hobby to the wider world. We are not unique as critics. Everyone, even those struggling to put food on the table, has an opinion. Put a picture by Remington in front of a man or woman in the street, and the great majority will have an opinion. A majority or those will probably say that whoever the artist is, if the painting cost $25, they would buy it.

The difference between the painting and the stamp showing it is that the stamp is smaller, and a copy, but it is eminently affordable; not so in the original unless you have a few spare millions lying about.

All stamps are miniature art works. In fact. it is one of the aspects of art that even stamp collectors likely don’t appreciate: the difficulty of presenting on a palette that is at most an inch and a half square (and often less) a comprehensible multicolor piece of art that lends itself to printing, conveys a message, and is pleasing to the eye.

One of the most popular series of articles ever run in the philatelic press was Kent Stiles’ series in the old Scott Monthly Journal (later continued by Belmont Faries) showing the several different finalists from which a stamp design was eventually chosen and issued. An example, the 3¢ Dr. Harvey Wiley (Pure Food & Drug Laws, Sc. 1080) stamp, from the September, 1956, issue is shown on the right.

If further proof were needed, some of the most fascinating displays put up by the National Postal Museum are the ones featuring final candidates for stamp issuances that were not selected (from The Postmaster General’s Collection, which has been entrusted to the NPM).

One need not be a collector to debate the merits of the contenders for a stamp design, and I bet a series in the popular press presenting this sort of question would interest a lot of people in philately, and if presented with a paragraph on what to do next to get started, would bring a new cohort to the hobby.

If we could gather into the fold 5% of the people who consider themselves to be art appreciation fanatics – who go to museums, who buy art for their homes, who purchase coffee-table books featuring the masterworks, we could reverse the trend toward fewer and fewer collectors!

How? Lectures at museums, articles for art magazines, stamp auctioneers targeting art buyers, a line of enlargements of especially attractive stamps to be sold through museum stores, art supply shops, etc. I am certain there are many other ideas that could be proposed. If you have one, send or post a comment.


Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: Presidential Memorial Stamps Waiting in The Wings

When a U.S. President dies, the usual waiting period is waived and a commemorative stamp in his (or someday her) honor is issued on that person’s next birthday. John Hotchner looks at the history of this practice.

This is a tradition that has its roots in the 19th Century, with the issuance of the first presidential mourning stamp of the United States in April 1866, a 15¢ stamp in black (Scott #77, plus later grilled issues) honoring Abraham Lincoln, who had been assassinated a year earlier. The earliest known use, per Scott, is April 21, 1866.

A mourning stamp was a novelty in 1866, though earlier presidents had been included in the stamp program after their passing. But Lincoln set a new standard: a stamp in black, issued within a year of death, or shortly after.

We would not see such an issuance again until the passing of Warren Harding from a heart attack on August 2, 1923. A mourning stamp in his honor – a flat plate-printed, perf. 11 version (Scott #610) – was released just a month later, on Sept.1, 1923. It was followed by three more versions (perf. 10 flat plate, imperf., and perf. 11 rotary press; Scott #s 611-613) within a couple of months.

After this there was a hit-or-miss period. Woodrow Wilson, who passed away in 1924, after he left office, was given a 17¢ memorial stamp in black almost two years after he died. William Howard Taft whose presidency ended in 1913, left us on March 8, 1930, and was included in the Fourth Bureau issue with a brown 4¢ sheet stamp and a coil just three months later.

But Calvin Coolidge, who passed in 1933 was not placed on a stamp until the presidential issue of 1938, where he was the honoree on the $5 (Scott #834).

The next president to die was Franklin D. Roosevelt, on April 12, 1945; at the start of his fourth term. Four stamps were issued in his honor – none of them black – within a year of his death. The first was released on June 27, 1945; a 3¢ purple (which can be considered as a mourning color). It was followed by a 1¢ blue green, a 2¢ carmine rose, and a 5¢ bright blue (Scott #930-933). They broke the mold by including illustrations of more than just the picture of the president. See Figure 3.

The next president to die was John F. Kennedy, the victim of an assassin, on November 22, 1963. And here is where the modern system of memorial stamps was inaugurated. On May 29, 1964, a 5¢ blue-grey commemorative was issued showing JFK and his eternal flame (Scott #1246). His birth date was May 29, 1917.

Presidential deaths after Kennedy, and the date of their memorial stamp (on or near their birthday), are shown here:

President
Herbert Hoover
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry S Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Gerald Ford
George H.W. Bush
Date of Death
Oct. 20, 1964
March 28, 1969
Dec. 26, 1972
Jan. 22, 1973
April 22, 1994
June 5, 2004
Dec. 26, 2006
Nov. 30, 2018
Stamp Issued
Aug.10, 1965
Oct. 14, 1969
May 8, 1973
Aug. 27, 1973
April 26, 1995
Feb. 9, 2005
Aug. 31, 2007
June 12, 2019

We are long past the times when the U.S. Postal Service was simply reactive to a presidential passing. Wouldn’t be prudent. They now have “in the bank” an approved image of each president who has left office, ready for use on the memorial stamp. It has been selected by the president himself and discussed with the immediate family as well.

Also gone are the grim black stamps that celebrate death, in favor of brighter colorful portraits. This is not to say that all the presidential memorial stamps are beautiful – or popular. Richard Nixon’s stamp was not expected to do well, so the USPS ordered only 80 million printed. Compare that to the 511,750,000 stamps ordered for JFK, and 170 million for Ronald Reagan.

[The USPS, however, has cut back on the number of stamps produced for all its issues. The initial print run for George H.W. Bush was 40 million, still significantly more than the production of other single-stamp issues in 2019.]


Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

And John has a new book: Philatelic Royalty of the 20th Century: Stories behind modern-era U.S. Treasures. Order direct from the author; click here for details.

Hotchner: Sell or Hold Error Find?

Sell It Now, or Sell It Later?
The Conundrum Faced by Discoverers Of Errors
By John M. Hotchner

Note: The errors shown here are not related to the described at the beginning of this article.

A recent correspondent told me about an imperf error pane of commemoratives he bought at a post office when it was a new issue about 45 years ago. As an early, if not the first, discovery, he asked dealers what they would pay for it, and received a $20,000 offer for the imperf pane of 50 stamps.

To make a long story short, he rejected the offer; thinking that time and scarcity would push the price up. He still owns the pane.

Time passes, and in the last year he has had a medical diagnosis that will eventually result in his being in a long-term care facility. He is looking into selling this and other stamps from his collection to help finance the cost of long-term care.

So, he contacted me to see what his wonderful find might be worth today; hopefully much more than it would have brought 45 years ago. What do you think your answer would be?

Regrettably, the news is not good. And there are several reasons why. Let me summarize them:

  1. The degree of rarity is down.The Scott U.S. Errors Catalogue notes that 85 to 100 pairs are now known. So at least four imperf panes of 50 have come to light. While the original offer would have been equivalent to $800 per pair in 1977 dollars, the current catalogue price is $700 per pair.
  2. If errors were selling at catalogue, that would be in the ballpark compared to the original offer, but they typically sell for 35 to 50 percent of catalogue at auction; and there are not many collectors of full imperf panes, if any. Thus, potential buyers would almost certainly be limited to dealers, and not many of them. A dealer would now offer a good deal less than even auction value as the pane would have to be broken up, and it would take significant time to retail enough of the pane to recover the cost before the dealer could expect to make a profit. And as a significant new group of the errors came on the market, the price per pair would tend to drop as potential bidders got their needs.
  3. Demand is basically unknown as the popularity of error collecting has diminished somewhat since the “good old days” when Jacques C. Schiff, Jr. and others held regular auctions with significant EFO [Errors, Freaks and Oddities; see John’s previous VSC column] content, and there was much more buzz in the philatelic press about new finds.
  4. These days, the quality of printing has improved and not only are there fewer errors being discovered, but those that are identified in the printing process are more likely

    The Legends of the West sheet in 1994 was recalled, after it was discovered that the image of Bill Picket, left, was really that of his brother Ben. The sheet was then reissued with Bill’s picture, but some of the mistakes had been sold.

    to be caught and destroyed by the improved electronic quality control equipment that has been installed on modern production equipment.

  5. The real value of the dollar has dropped like a stone at the average inflation rate of 2.9% over the 40+ years. What this means is that it now takes $3.41 to buy what a 1980 dollar would have purchased then. Apply this to the prices cited above, and it is clear that the owner of the pane would have to sell the pane for over $68,000 today just to keep up with inflation.

So, what lessons can we take away from this parable? First, if you turn down a significant offer for a newly discovered philatelic item, you are betting that no more, or only a few more, will be discovered. That would be a requirement as a basis for your find gathering

Sc. 2145, colors missing.

more value as the years march on. Also, you also need to pray that the rate of inflation is not going to eat up the potential increase in value.

As you consider an offer, you need to think about the popularity of the hobby; whether it is going to increase or decrease over the period of time you project holding the error in your collection. A complicating factor to this is whether your error fits into one of the increasingly popular topics (like Space Exploration, Animals, or American Indians) that tend to hold their value better than many other stamp subjects. This is because topical/thematic stamp collecting is often the method of choice for people coming into the hobby.

Please understand that I am not saying a find should always be sold immediately. It can and does happen that no more or only a few more will be found; that the initial public announcement will spark a frenzy among collectors, and maybe even coverage in the nonphilatelic press. The price could rise to dizzying heights.

How often does this happen? A lot depends upon the nature of the error. Inverts seem to capture the public eye. Full panes of imperfs or missing colors, not so much. Foldovers that contain one or a few missing color errors or imperfs are more likely to acquire and hold value.

But items that gather substantial value are relatively few, and I can cite many stories of people who sold rapidly and did much better than they would have had they held on for a lengthy period as many more examples surfaced. So, one must consider all the factors noted above, and then make the best decision you can, knowing what you know — and what you don’t know — in the moment.

Just remember the old saying, “Act in haste; repent at leisure.”


Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: To Err Is Divine Philately

[Note: Click on any image for a larger version.]

The Basics of Mistakes In Stamps
By John M. Hotchner

The theme for this column might well be Murphy’s Law: “Whatever Can Go Wrong Will.” Then there is Murphy’s Corollary that says: “Murphy was an optimist.”

Errors, Freaks and Oddities — EFOs for short — are the production varieties that are the natural result of every printing operation, be it of stamps, currency, newspapers, lottery tickets, or stock certificates.

Presses and printing jobs have to be tested. The elements of printing and finishing into post office products have to be synchronized. Presses have to be turned on and turned off — sometimes automatically in the midst of a job when problems arise. Plates have to be inked, wiped, and cleaned. Paper has to be spliced. Ink lots have to be mixed and matched. And in all these processes and many others, things can go wrong.

When they do, then other processes kick in to make sure that imperfect or incomplete product is identified, rejected, accounted for and destroyed. But even here, things can go wrong. And the more automated the system — the more bells and whistles it has — just like your new car with all its fancy computerized features, the more likely that something will go wrong.

This has been especially true for American stamp printers when new presses and processes are being run in.

Is it any wonder that there are production varieties for us to collect!? The wonder is that there is not more of it.

If you have had the chance to stand and watch the presses in operation as I have, you will be familiar with the bins of waste that is generated in the printing process. The trick for security printers is to identify it all and dispose of it before it reaches the public. Given the billions of stamps produced in very short time spans, they actually do a remarkable job of limiting EFO material that reaches our collections. This is one of the reasons we covet EFOs. Most are anything but common.

What are EFOs? Let’s do a bit of defining, before we go any further. EFO collectors like to categorize the objects of our affection, and it can be important to do so, as definitions lead to collecting categories, and have an impact on value.

Errors and Freaks are by definition “mistakes” or “varieties,” but not all are created equal. Most “ERRORS” (as a term of art) have higher value than most “FREAKS.” ERRORS are major, exactly repeatable, and total. See Figure 1 on the right for the horizontally-imperforate Sc. 538c. This would include imperforate stamps, missing colors, inverts, full pairs with gutter between, incorrect colors, wrong watermarks or watermarks where there should not be any. You will recognize these as being the kinds of varieties that are listed in catalogues.

FREAKS” on the other hand tend to be more minor: misperfs [incorrect perforations], disappearing or color misregistrations, paper creases and folds that vary by degree, miscuts, and dozens of other problem children that can be created in a complex, high speed printing operation. See Figure 2 on the left for a Sc. 1369 misperf with the top row of perforations set too high. These will not be listed in the catalogues. But sometimes they will be found in combination with Errors – a transition strip for instance where the press is running out of ink, or the perforator is disengaged in the midst of a run.

ODDITIES” as a class are the strange and unusual, but usually track to normal production of flawed or odd material. Examples would be plate varieties, proofs and essays, intentionally created errors, counterfeits, and other categories. A postally-used copy of the never-issued H stamp is shown in Figure 3 on the right.

If you would like to see a much more comprehensive listing of what varieties fit under the E, F and O categories, I would refer you to the excellent website of the Errors, Freaks, and Oddities Collectors Club, www.efocc.org.

One word of caution before we go further. We must acknowledge that “One man’s eagle is another man’s turkey.” Take misperfs as an example. One collector may get truly excited to find a 10% misperf on a given stamp. Another collector looks at the same specimen and sees only a damaged or poorly perforated stamp, unworthy of his collection. So, onward …

Most collectors of EFOs don’t think of themselves as EFO collectors. Rather they add interesting material to their normal collection when they see it. Except for something with a major catalog number such as the 5c carmine error of the 1917 Washington Head series (Scott #505, shown on the left) they don’t actively seek out an EFO unless there is an album place for it.

But there is a dedicated group of EFO collectors who find the subject fascinating as exemplars of what can go wrong in the printing and finishing processes. Some of us collect everything we can lay our hands on. Others will specialize in a specific category, for example: material having to do with perforations and roulettes, material reflecting problems in color and ink, or paper problems centering on folds and creases. Some limit their collections to catalog-listed errors. Others (myself included) find the most minor of freaks interesting for what they tell us about production methods.

A core group of us formed the EFO Collectors Club in 1978, and it remains a source of information and material through its quarterly journal The EFO Collector, and auction. I’d especially like to mention Wayne Youngblood, our president, Cemil Betanov, our journal editor and vice president; David Hunt, our auction director and treasurer, and Scott Shaulis, our secretary.

The United States Stamp Society is also active in this field, and its monthly journal, The United States Specialist, often carries articles of interest to EFO collectors.

Where do you find EFOs? I like to think of the answer as being in two categories: Before and After philatelic discovery. Another way to look at this is Before or After premium value

The “CIA invert” (Sc. 1610c) is on display at the National Postal Museum.

is tacked on to the find.

In the “Before” category, I would include what you might find among the stamps you buy at a post office, either across the counter in the form of sheets, booklets, or sealed rolls, or from dispensing machines. It is always our hope that lightening will strike and a clerk will hand us a sheet of missing colors.

It has happened. But usually because the clerk has no idea there is anything wrong. Most USPS staff are not stamp collectors, but if they notice something amiss, standing orders are to turn it in. I once stood behind a gentleman who was irate in handing over a roll of coils saying to the clerk “These are no good. The holes are gone so I can’t get them apart. Give me some good ones!”

Another “Before” category is, surprisingly, in collections, dealer stocks, in trade and in mixtures. It is amazing how many hands an EFO item might go through before its intrinsic “specialness” is recognized by someone who knows what he or she is looking at.

After philatelic discovery is when you find EFOs properly identified for sale by dealers, in auctions, or by collectors.

For those with an eye for modern-era US EFO material, you might wonder why you seem to see so much of it. As noted earlier, there isn’t all that much, but it tends to be found in large multiples (a sheet, a coil roll, a series of booklets coming from a dispenser), and the only way large multiples can be sold is through the very few dealers who specialize in EFOs and have built a client base of collectors who will buy them.

Misaligned Sc. 1895

Finders are referred and referred until they reach one of those dealers who as a result are able to advertise significant quantities in their auctions and price lists. For 40 years, Jacques Schiff was the leading dealer/auctioneer in this field. And in that time he sold and resold many of the same lots as collectors entered and left the market.

The best reference for scarcity is the Scott Catalogue of Errors on US Postage Stamps, originated by the late Stephen Datz. Not only does it list and price US Errors, but it gives specific figures for numbers of known copies.

How are values set? Values develop from a combination of four factors:

  1. How near to discovery the sale takes place, and how many more are subsequently discovered. Obviously the price will drop, the more are discovered. But the seller who sells early is taking a chance because no more may be discovered, and the initial selling price may prove to have been extremely conservative.
  2. Supply and Demand. While this is in some respects obvious, a dealer buyer has to gauge how many ready potential customers there are so the initial investment can be returned, leaving additional copies to be sold over time, at a profit. In general, a dealer will offer for a sheet or roll in the neighborhood of about one-fourth to one-third of what he calculates the retail will be.
  3. How visual is the item. Missing tagging is a blue-blooded error, catalogue listed, but there are a limited number of collectors who seriously collect what they can’t easily see. Such errors can be easily outstripped in price by a colorful freak, a visually attractive freak with perforations going every which way, or one with colors disappearing.
  4. EFOs that have acquired a pedigree, even though they may not be rare. Our inverted Jenny (Sc. C3a) is a fine example. The CIA “Candleholder” Invert is another. There are near 100 copies of each. But the lore surrounding these stamps makes them a magnet for a much wider cohort than just EFO enthusiasts.

Finally, a word of caution: Where there is value, there are fakes, and even genuine stamps offered as something they are not. Your best defense is to find and use a good expertizing service that can verify claimed EFO material before you write checks. Maybe even better is self-education, which includes

  1. Read widely in the field. There are several excellent books, starting with Fundamentals of Philately by L.N and M. Williams. I can provide a list of useful books for anyone interested. But also keep up with the news of the field in the EFO Collector and The United States Specialist.
  2. Read the philatelic press, other specialist society literature, and auction catalogues, and maintain a clipping file.
  3. Learn through experience to distinguish what you can validate on sight and what needs to have a certificate of authenticity.

In summary, EFO collecting is not just fascinating, it is CHALLENGING, and gives you a window on stamp production – and the stamps themselves are fun to show off to other collectors. In fact, unlike most of your normal collections, EFOs can even fascinate friends and family!


Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: The Future Of Catalogues

The Future of Catalogues and Their Importance to The Hobby
by John M. Hotchner

It used to be that I could carry an annotated United States Scott Specialized Catalogue of the current year when I went to a stamp show. It was my record of what I had and its condition level, my want list, guidance on value, my reference on varieties to look for, and a handy reference on design types and measurements from the first 80 years of US stamps.

No longer! The 2022 US Specialized now weighs six pounds and stretches to over 1300 detailed and information-packed pages. In fact the entire Scott Catalogue (13 soft covered books including the Specialized, plus the 1840-1940 hardcover Classic Specialized), now takes a foot and a half of shelf space and weighs in at about 58 pounds.

I recently had to bring the catalogues from one floor to another so a dealer doing an evaluation could have them for handy reference. It took three trips! And don’t get me started on the price – just under $1000 for the complete run.

Is it any wonder that as the newly updated catalogues come out each year, prior year’s catalogues – deeply discounted – are eagerly sought by collectors who are satisfied to have a reference for most of what is in their collections.

Given that the catalogues are an essential for any serious collector, and that they can only grow as the nations of the world pump out ever more stamps and souvenir sheets even as mail volumes decrease, I got to wondering about their future.

I’m on the margins of the digital revolution and prefer looking at hard copy, but Scott has now converted the catalogues to digital form – and offers them in addition to hard copy at about three quarters the price of hard copy. But this is still a stretch for even established collectors who would much rather spend that kind of money on stamps for their own collections.

For the present time, Scott continues to sell both hard copy and digital, but how long can they afford to produce and sell hard copy at an affordable price, as digital takes hold and eats into those sales? It is bound to happen that fewer and fewer hard copies will be sold each year, and there will come a time that hard copy will go away. I don’t have Scott’s sales numbers, but it seems logical that Scott will get to a point where only digital will be available.

But will the current format of digital versions of the full catalogues match up with collector demand? Possibly for some time to come, as we are used to this as the retail model. But I think back to the old Minkus Catalogs which briefly gave Scott some competition in the 1960s into the early 1970s. In a way it was doomed from the start as Scott numbers were the industry standard, but Minkus album pages were popular. Labeled with Minkus catalog numbers, they helped to sell the catalog.

But Minkus did something that I wish Scott would consider: Minkus brought out a series of country-specific catalogs. Undoubtedly, that negatively affected sales of the

Scott 1955: Complete in two volumes

comprehensive catalogs. They were not updated yearly, but it was a real service to collectors who specialized in one or only a few countries, and saved megabucks for collectors who did not need the comprehensive catalogs.

Scott is a business, and I don’t minimize the cost of providing the products they do. I’m sure that the economics of catalogue production are unforgiving. They put a terrific amount of human effort and investment into keeping their products up to date, and it is right and proper that they cover those costs with their pricing, and that they make a profit. But I am troubled by what catalogues – hard copy and digital – cost the collector.

At the same time that the products are an essential for the hobby, they are as a practical matter not available to the great majority of people who might be interested in getting started in stamp collecting – especially young people who are still in school or just starting out in a career.

Does this play a role in the steadily decreasing market share that stamp collecting commands these days? I think so. Sure, there are other factors involved in that: the delayed gratifications of stamp collecting can’t hope to compete with the immediate gratifications of video games. But we as a hobby are not making it easy for new people to join up and prosper when the tools of the hobby are priced beyond what new collectors can afford.

To repeat, Scott must cover its costs and make a profit or we will lose the substantial benefits of having the continually updated critical reference upon which we all depend. But I hope they also factor in somehow, (may I call it) their responsibility to also support the future of the hobby.

If this means they bring out hard copy only every two years, or alternate years between hard copy and digital, or a host of other possible ways to cut costs for both producer and user, they are worth thinking about.


Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: Do’s and Don’ts Of Philately

The Do’s & Don’ts of Philately — With an Emphasis on The Latter
By John M. Hotchner

There are any number of “How To” books created over the years to help the beginner to learn about collecting stamps. They are bright, cheerful, accurate and helpful — so far as they go. But most of them don’t go to the trouble of warning the new collector off certain practices and behaviors that can result in a rude shock as the new collector gains experience, builds a collection, and eventually shares it with other collectors.

Only then are they likely to find out the unexpected consequences of doing what seemed reasonable early in their philatelic life; hopefully at a time before they have put serious money into a collection. So, I thought I’d devote this column to outlining some of the “Dont’s” of stamp collecting, and we’ll jump right in with:

Your album: Whether you use a printed album, or blank sheets of paper, don’t lick the back of your stamps and paste them down on the paper; not even just a corner. This ruins the value of mint stamps, and makes it likely that you will “thin” even used stamps if/when you try to take them off. The same is true of using cellophane or other sticky tape or gummed labels. Use only “stamp hinges” made for the purpose. Also, don’t use self-stick photo albums for stamps or covers. The part that starts out sticky ages over time, and stains the back of the philatelic material.

Using hinges: Some collectors put the hinge in the middle of the stamp, fold it over, and lick the part that will adhere to the page. In doing so they get moisture on the stamp, which then sticks the stamp as well as the hinge to the paper. Hinges should be placed flush with the top of the stamp; or as my father taught me, fold the hinge first, and carefully place it so that there is a millimeter of space between the fold and the stamp, as shown nearby. [You can click on this picture to make it bigger.] I’d add that collectors should not be eating, drinking, smoking or vaping while hinging. Whatever is in your mouth, from chemicals to salt to artificially-colored cherries, will transfer to the hinge, and maybe to the stamp. Unless the collector is extremely careful, the stamp may get stained.

If you care about the resale value of your stamps, don’t hinge modern mint or older stamps that have value (anything with a value over 25¢ in the Scott Catalogue). When it comes time to sell a collection, the competition and prices offered will be a good deal reduced if mint stamps are hinged.

Mounts for mint (or any other) stamps: If you use mounts for your stamps, don’t buy the cheapest ones you can find, and do ask your philatelic supplier if the mount itself and the part of the mount that sticks to the page will hold up over time. Avoid Crystal Mounts, a product that is no longer available but may lurk in accumulations or old collections you acquire. They shrink over time, “crunching” the stamps within; and the adhesive can discolor and stain your stamps.

Storage: Moisture is an enemy, as are rodents and other smaller pests that find paper a tasty treat. Don’t store your stamps where they will be exposed to moisture, even moderate amounts. In this category are basements where there is a seepage or humidity problem. Always avoid storage on the floor or even close to the floor; and directly against external walls that are below ground level.

If possible, avoid any space where there is no air conditioning. And don’t place albums or mint sheet files one on top of the other. They should be stood up vertically with some breathing space between them.

Why? Pressure combined with moisture will stick your stamps to the album page or each other, and can discolor stamps.

When you work on your stamps: As noted above, food or anything else that can get onto your hands and stain your stamps/covers, or spill onto your workspace should be avoided. If you use watermark fluid, or some other chemical for watermarking or separating self-stick stamps from paper, do your due diligence to make certain they are not toxic or flammable. Even then, don’t use them in confined spaces where there is little movement of air. There is risk to inhaling chemicals.

Working with stamps: Don’t “reduce” items you have to be able to fit them into an album space. The two biggest problems here are blocks and imperforate stamps. Blocks of mint or used stamps, especially those issued before 1950, are likely to have extra value as blocks. Removing a single stamp to place in an album ruins the value of the block.

The standard for collecting imperforate stamps is pairs, but a great many albums have space only for a single. Collectors may be tempted to cut a single from a pair or strip of imperfs (or even worse, a block). Don’t, unless you truly care nothing about resale value. And even then, for stamps from the beginning of stamps to roughly the 1920s, you may be ruining a scarce item.

An additional problem has come along recently with the increased number of stamps that can’t be washed off paper: clipping them from the envelope. Many collectors try to save weight by clipping very close to the stamp, and if not careful, into the stamp. Stamps with their perforations clipped off are damaged and worthless. Allow a couple of millimeters of paper all the way around.

When you work with covers: Typically, new stamp collectors have little or no interest or appreciation for the envelopes that carried stamps through the mail (unless the collector began as a First Day Cover collector). Thus, covers are seen as a source for stamps for the album, not as objects of interest in themselves. Don’t cut the stamps off every cover you get! The older the cover, the more likely it is to have value as a cover, but even modern covers can have value if the stamp on it is unusual, if it has decorations, postal markings showing some sort of special handling in the mail, or was readdressed and forwarded. [The window envelope shown here is actually a first day cover.]

Don’t join a stamp club! (I hope you appreciate the wry humor here.) Not getting involved with other collectors is probably the worst decision a collector can make. The most effective way of learning about the hobby, including its do’s and don’ts, is to befriend other collectors. A stamp club is the perfect place to make those connections.


Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: Stamp Design Criticism

Dealing With Stamp Design
by John M. Hotchner

John wrote this column several years ago, but it is as pertinent now as it was then: Collectors still complain about U.S. stamp designs.

Is there one unalterable truth for stamp collectors? If so, I would propose that it is a universal feeling that US stamp design is less than spectacular, and many of us share a belief that if we were running things, we could do better. Perhaps.

In the past two days, I have heard complaints about the Forget-me-not stamp (It needs a frame to focus the design), the last George Washington stamp (It is too dark and George is lost in the dark framing), the Winter Flowers issue of 2014 (They look too much like Easter Seals), and the World Stamp Show publicity stamps (A lost opportunity to picture stamp collecting or classic American stamps.)

While any or all of these criticisms may have merit, it is all second-guessing. And my guess is that all artists – even the great ones – had to put up with similar carping (“That’s supposed to be a smile on Mona Lisa? Looks more like she’s suffering a gas attack after too many baked beans!”)

Well, we as collectors have the right to criticize, but it is all hot air unless we actually do something about it. And there are several strategies.

  • Don’t buy what you don’t like. Avoid such issues for use as postage, for your albums, and for gifts for children and grandchildren. The USPS tracks closely what sells, and just as important, what doesn’t. Vote with your wallet.
  • Learn how to draw a neat “X” in the album page box for stamps you will not add to your collection because you don’t like the art style, or you class them as just plain ugly. You are the arbiter of what makes the cut. And no one has to agree with you.
  • Create a Hall of Shame – a special section of your album in which you place all the stamps that annoy you.
  • If you have more stamps in that section than on your printed album pages, maybe it is time to curtail your collecting by ending at a given year.

You will need to be careful to differentiate whether it is the design you dislike or the subject. Sometimes, our view can be so colored by dislike of the subject that no design will hit the mark. On the other side of that fence, the flood of multi-colored fruits, flowers, foliage, fauna, flyers, food, and flags may have great popularity with the American public, but only a few stand out as clever and original depictions.

In my view about 10% of U.S. issues really rank high on both subject and design scales. One in the current crop is the U.S. Coast Guard commemorative released August 4, 2015 [left]. Full disclosure: I was involved in development of the subject while a member of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (1998-2010) but it had not gone to the artists at the point that I timed out from the Committee. So I was surprised and delighted by the exceptional art that illustrates the subject.

Contrast that with the New York 2016 publicity pair [right] – a good subject that in my opinion is a generic and uninspiring design that will inspire no one to attend the show.

What can we reasonably expect from U.S. stamp design? Certainly, we need to recognize that in stamps as in art generally, there will be a range of style. This is right and proper as stamps are a reflection of the breadth and diversity of American art; much like the stamp program having a commission to reflect the breadth and diversity of America itself and its population.

I well remember when modern art first made its appearance on a U.S. stamp with the 5¢ “Fine Arts” issue of 1964 [left]. One would have thought listening to the reaction of collectors that the world as we knew it had come to an end.

There were similar protests when children’s art in the form of stick figures on the 20¢ Family Unity issue 1984 [right] was included. And when cartoon-type art made its first appearance with the 1991 “Comedians” set of 29¢ stamps using the pen-and-ink impressions of Al Hirschfeld.

They were later followed by actual cartoons from the comics section of our daily press.

The latter complaints were especially mystifying to me as both political cartoons and the so-called “funny papers” are features of American journalism that have been developed to a high level in the United States. Stamps celebrating these American institutions are right on the mark, and the art is appropriate.

I personally don’t enjoy much of the poster art that has been and is used. The current “Summer Harvest” issue [left] is an example. And as to modern art, I think of it as a giant fraud on the public when presented as works of inspiration possessed of deep and profound meaning. And yet, a portion of the public buys it and goes to see it in museums.

Can the U.S. stamp program ignore that? Should it? Regretfully, I have to admit that it has its place.

So, my conclusion is that it is irrational to expect that every issue will please every collector. In fact, the USPS can expect criticism of some sort on the majority of its issuances if for no other reason than that the American public has a wide variety of likes and dislikes, and a wide variance of art appreciation, from those of us who merely know what we like, to those of us educated to know what we should like.

Which means that criticism will be plentiful and conflicting. And the USPS needs to listen to it, but act on it sparingly.


Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Hotchner: Dealing With Dealers

Dealing With Dealers
By John M. Hotchner

Dealers can be a convenient target: prices, attitudes, grading practices, stock, response times to phone calls, letters, emails, etc. – all can be critiqued, and often are. As a group, they are the opposite of the U.S. Congress, where everyone hates the institution, but the great majority like their Congress-person. (How else do we explain the incredibly high re-election rate?)

But stamp dealers? We all, I think, respect the dealer community and understand its value to the collector, but we can all come up with a story or two about dealer practices that are real head-shakers.

But is this fair? I’m certain that dealers can come up with an equal or greater number of stories about customers! And while I don’t doubt the veracity on either side of the dealer table, the stories apply to the minority of both classes.

Thus, my appeal is that we enjoy the stories but not let them taint our own relationships with dealers, singly or as a group. In my experience the great majority are good and competent people who are trying to do the right thing, while making an honest buck to support themselves and their families.

But enough of this. What I started to write about is the question of how you can help dealers to help you. And after a lot of years of experience, I want to pass along the lessons I have learned. It is all pretty straight-forward, and it is based in good communication, and the fact that each group has something that the other wants.

Yes, partly it is money being traded for material, but there is much more in the equation. Let me list a few of the wants/needs for each class from the other:

Customers: Stamps, Covers and other Philatelic Material to meet our needs, at reasonable prices, a willingness to negotiate, respect, a degree of cheerfulness (or maybe “positiveness” is a better term), information, a willingness to be reasonable, and last but certainly not least, recommendations as to where we might find material we want that the dealer does not carry.

Dealers: Money, respect, a degree of cheerfulness, information, a willingness to be reasonable, and last but certainly not least, recommendations to collectors of your acquaintance.

If you see a certain similarity between what the two groups want, that is entirely intentional. The basis of any relationship is mutual respect, a positive atmosphere in which to do business, willingness to share information, and helping each other to be successful.

If I may put this into one thought, it is that my most successful relationships with dealers are ones that are not adversarial. We start from a base of trust, mutual respect, and an expectation for fair dealing on both sides.

All of this applies regardless of the means of contact, but let us focus in on the dealer at a bourse or exhibition. Since this is mostly for my fellow collectors, here are ten things I have tried to do to contribute to a good relationship.

  • When I approach a dealer, I know what I am after, and convey my wants clearly. In some cases that may be general, as in “20th century U.S. covers.” Or it may be specific, as in “1938 Presidential color varieties” and “Korean War postal history.” This tells the dealer where to direct my attention, and allows him or her to dig into stock for material not yet filed that may be of interest.
  • If I find some material of interest at good prices, I may well branch out into other areas of displayed stock without bothering the dealer; but depending upon how busy the dealer is, I might also ask for secondary interests.
  • If I find an item that seems puzzling, I will ask about it if the dealer is not swamped with customers: “I have not seen this marking before … Do you know what it means?” Most dealers are happy to have an opportunity to show off what they know. Likewise, if a dealer asks me why I am buying something that puzzles him, I am more than happy to explain why and the philatelic significance of the item. Sometimes this may seem like idle chatter, but it educates the dealer about your wants.
  • If the dealer says that there may be material in stock at home, or back in the store that may be of interest, I am happy to provide a card noted with my wants and my contact points. This often enough results in sales by mail or the Internet, and the opportunity to check out a dealer’s website.
  • Having selected material I want to purchase, I often ask the dealer what he or she needs for it. Yes, there is a marked price, and if it is a small purchase, it is understood that I am expected to pay it. But with larger purchases, dealers usually expect to be asked for a discount, but it cannot be demanded. There is no automatic discount, unless discounts according to purchase level are posted. But most dealers will come down a bit on price on larger purchases if asked. They want you as a long-term customer, and this is one way to help that to happen.
  • If a dealer goes to the trouble of finding additional material in my areas that I can use, I will often buy it if the price is reasonable, even if I don’t have an immediate need for the item. Why? Because I want to encourage the dealer to keep looking. The next item(s) s/he comes up with may be a long-sought want, and it has happened many times.
  • My checkbook is not bottomless. If I find something that I want but can’t afford all at once, I offer a payment schedule; usually a down-payment and the rest in 30 days, or in 30-day increments. If accepted I pay on time, or early if possible.
  • I keep the names of dealers from whom I have bought specific types of material, and if I expect to see them at another show or bourse (dealers in attendance are usually shown on the website of the sponsoring organization), I will write to them ahead of time and ask them to bring whatever from their stock that I am looking for at the time. Often enough, dealers who know my wants will do this without being asked, but it is still a courtesy for you to let them know you will be there.
  • In going through a dealer’s stock, if I find material that I know others are looking for, I will often ask if so-and-so has seen this. If not and they are at the show, I may borrow the item and go find the collector to show it to them. Or I may ask the dealer to put it aside, and suggest to the collector that they stop by and review it. If the collector is not at the show, taking a photo of the item and sending it to them by email may well turn into a sale. Not only do you help a friend, but you help the dealer. By the same token, I am not hesitant to ask a dealer who else on the floor carries the material I am looking for, and have gotten useful referrals.
  • However obvious it may be, politeness counts. There is usually only one dealer and often many customers. Waiting your turn is the right thing to do when the dealer is occupied making a sale or digging for material for another collector. My time is no more important than the dealer’s.

I’m certain that many readers of this column will have developed their own methods of dealing with dealers. If so, your thoughts on this column, and additional ideas would be welcome. Please post them here or write to me at PO Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or by email at email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.