[press release]
Philatelic Foundation to Award Neinken Medal to John M. Hotchner

The Philatelic Foundation will award John M. Hotchner [left] its 2020 Neinken Medal for distinguished service to philately. Originally scheduled to be held at a ceremony and reception at The Collectors Club in New York on October 27, 2020, it instead will be held in October 2021 because of COVID-19 which has shuttered much of New York. A collector since the age of fivc, he has been a devoted leader, writer and active participant in the advancement of organized philately at the international, national and local levels.

Mr. Hotchner served on the Board of the American Philatelic Society for sixteen years including a term as its President, as a member of the National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists for twenty years, as well as a dozen years as a member of the Postmaster General’s Citizen’s Stamp Advisory Committee. A co-founder of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, he served as a Board member for 32 years including two terms as its President. Accredited as a national chief judge and international judge in both stamps and literature, Mr. Hotchner has served for many years on the APS’ Committee on Judging Accreditation including a term as its Chairman. In 2017, he was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists. On the local level, he has served as president of the Virginia Philatelic Federation. He was a founder of national specialty societies for Auxiliary Markings, AMG Philately, and for Mourning Stamps and Covers.

A prolific writer, Mr. Hotchner currently serves as a contributing editor of Linn’s Stamp News, responsible for its popular “U.S. Stamp Notes,” a weekly column, and as a monthly columnist for The American Stamp Dealer & Collector, and U.S. Stamp News as well as a quarterly columnist for a number of philatelic publications. As an exhibitor, his exhibits have garnered both national grand and reserve grand awards.

PF Chairman Robert G. Rose commented on the choice of Mr. Hotchner as the recipient of its Neinken Medal. “John has done it all, and always at the highest level of achievement, as a collector and exhibitor, as writer and judge, as a philatelic expert and, as a board member and president of philately’s leading organization. We were looking forward to presenting our Neinken Medal to John this fall, but the PF will make certain that he gets due in 2021!”

The medal is named in honor of the late Mortimer Neinken, a former chairman of the Philatelic Foundation, who was one of the most foremost students of United States classics philately.