U.S. Museum Honors 3 For Achievement

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[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]<
National Postal Museum Announces Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award Recipients
John McClure Hotchner, Donald J. Sundman and Scott R. Trepel Will Receive Award Nov. 4

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has announced the 2023 Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award recipients, John McClure Hotchner, Donald J. Sundman and Scott R. Trepel. They will be honored at a gala at the museum Nov. 4.

The Smithsonian Philatelic Achievement Award (SPAA) was established in 2002 to honor and celebrate living individuals for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of philately. This achievement may include original research that significantly advances the understanding of philately, exceptional service to the philatelic community or sustained promotion of philately to the benefit of current and future collectors.

“The National Postal Museum is honored to present this esteemed award to these prominent and influential individuals,” said Elliot Gruber, director of the museum. “Their lifetime achievements in the field of philately embody the essence of this award.”

The SPAA award medallion (right) is a 3-inch, gold-plated bronze disc depicting a sunburst with eight straight and eight wavy rays. Derived from the family coat of arms of James Smithson, founding benefactor of the Smithsonian Institution, the sunburst became the Institution’s official seal June 3, 1966, and is incorporated into the official flag flown by Smithsonian facilities and Smithsonian-sponsored expeditions throughout the world. As such, it is a universally recognized symbol of enlightenment and learning that links the Smithsonian’s history with its future. The medallion is suspended from a grosgrain neck ribbon in Smithsonian blue and yellow.

“I could not be more delighted that the Smithsonian Institution has chosen to honor these three impressive philatelists,” said Charles Shreve, chair of the museum’s Council of Philatelists. “Each has contributed, in unique ways, to the betterment and promotion of stamp collecting—one of the greatest and most enjoyable hobbies in the world.”

A special website provides information about the SPAA gala event, including information on purchasing tickets to attend the event.

About the recipients:

John McClure Hotchner, RDP, FRPSL, United States (born 1943), has been a collector since age 5, with wide-ranging interests that include numerous country and thematic studies. Selections from World Rarities and Uniquities, his 400-page exploration of the breadth and depth of philately, have been shown in numerous courts of honor at the American Philatelic Society, World Series of Philately and international shows. Hotchner is a competitive exhibitor and an accredited philatelic, literature and chief judge who has headed juries at numerous national and international shows.

As a member of the U.S. Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 1998–2010, Hotchner helped select more than 1,700 U.S. stamps—steadfastly championing subjects that he felt highlighted American cultural, historical and scientific achievements. A member of the National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists 2002–2017, he was named to emeritus status on his retirement. He led the American Philatelic Society for 16 years in numerous capacities, including the board of vice presidents (1991–1993), director at large (1994–1997) and president (1997–1999). He has served on the boards of more than 20 other organizations including Stamps for the Wounded, which introduces wounded veterans to philately as a form of occupational therapy.

Hotchner’s reputation as a writer, editor and researcher has been established through thousands of columns and articles published in a wide number of philatelic magazines. These include feature articles for Linn’s Stamp News, where his “U.S. Notes” column has appeared in virtually every issue for 32 years; U.S. Stamp News; The Philatelic Exhibitor, which he edited from 1986 to 2010; and The American Stamp Dealer and Collector.

Hotchner has received the United States Stamp Society’s Walter Hopkinson Award (1984); the Luff Award for Outstanding Service to the American Philatelic Society (2004); the Collectors Club of New York’s Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately (2005); the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors’ Bernard Hennig Award for Excellence in Judging (2008); the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society’s Distinguished Philatelist Award (2008); the St. Louis Stamp Expo’s Elizabeth C. Pope Award for Lifetime Contributions to Philately (2013); and the American Philatelic Society’s Charles J. Peterson Lifetime Achievement Award for Philatelic Literature (2013). He was elected to the Writers’ Unit Hall of Fame in 1999 and invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 2017.

Donald J. Sundman, FRPSL, United States (born 1954), is a lifelong stamp collector, second-generation professional philatelist and tireless promoter of stamp collecting. He became general manager of Mystic Stamp Company in 1974 at the age of 19 and was named president in 1980. From paper catalogues to a “This Day in History” mobile phone app launched in July 2015, Sundman’s marketing has popularized stamp collecting and made it accessible to beginning collectors.

In 1985, he purchased stamps from the partial pane of $1 Rush Lamp inverts, and later discovered that the sheet was originally purchased by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency, making worldwide news. In 1998, he purchased the only privately held copy of the 1¢ Z Grill, which he later traded for the unique Inverted Jenny plate number block. He exhibited these rarities frequently at stamp shows, helping to boost attendance and garner positive press coverage for philately. Sundman assisted the American Philatelic Research Library in recovering one of the stolen stamps (position 76) from its ‘McCoy block’ of Inverted Jenny stamps, offering a reward for its return in 2014. (The photo above is from NYC World Stamp Expo 2016.)

He joined the National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists in 1995 and was elected chairman in 2004, a position he held until 2021. He endowed the museum’s annual Maynard Sundman Lecture Series in 2000, along with his older brother David, to honor their father. He was a major sponsor of the National Postal Museum’s William H. Gross Stamp Gallery. He has presented numerous items to the National Philatelic Collection, including the famed 1979 $1 ‘CIA Invert’ he played a key role in uncovering.

Sundman became a trustee of the Philatelic Foundation in 2006 and has served as its secretary and vice-chairman. He has sponsored more than 8,000 new American Philatelic Society members and received the Society’s Luff Award for Outstanding Service in 2010. He is a member of the Club de Monte-Carlo de l’Elite de la Philatélie and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London in 2019. He co-authored (with Janet R. Klug) 100 Greatest American Stamps (2007).

Scott R. Trepel, FRPSL, United States (born 1962), began his philatelic career right out of high school, working for Stanley Gibbons and Christie’s/Robson Lowe in New York. He joined the Robert A. Siegel firm as a partner with its founder in 1992. As president of Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, he has organized innumerable famous name sales and held the gavel when many records were broken, including the Inverted Jenny plate block at $2.97 million, the Brazil Pack strip at $2.185 million, the Hawaiian 2¢ Missionary cover at $2.242 million, the Inverted Jenny single at $1.35 million and the 1¢ Z Grill at $935,000.

Trepel’s auction catalogs incorporate a high level of research, including census data and historical background for the items offered, that have garnered philatelic literature awards. He has published numerous research articles in well-respected journals and edited the 1869 section of The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Issues for many years. He co-authored (with Ken Lawrence) Rarity Revealed: The Benjamin K. Miller Collection for the Smithsonian National Postal Museum and The New York Public Library. He has also self-published books on the City Despatch Post and the Pony Express.

For his research work in U.S. philately, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society has awarded Trepel the Dr. Carroll Chase Cup on four separate occasions (1989, 1994, 2003 and 2006). He has also won the society’s Mortimer L. Neinken Award (1987) and Distinguished Philatelist Award (1996).

About the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum
The National Postal Museum is devoted to presenting the colorful and engaging history of the nation’s mail service and showcasing one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of stamps and philatelic material in the world. It is located at 2 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C., across from Union Station. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). For more information, visit postalmuseum.si.edu. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Lugo Is This Year’s APS “Kehr-taker”

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Sergio Lugo is the winner of the 2023 Kehr Award “for enduring contributions that help guarantee the future of the hobby.”

Lugo has been a worldwide stamp collector since the age of 7 and is still going strong 70 years later. He added postal history to his collecting pursuits in his mid-30s and soon jumped in as an active member officer and author / editor of several collecting organizations, including clubs throughout the Denver, Colorado area, including the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library (RMPL), plus national and international groups such as the APS, the Sociedad Filatelica de Puerto Rico, Military Postal History Society and British West Indian Study Group. He’s been involved as an editor and writer for several award-winning articles and publications.

He has been the author or executive producer for 40 of the 42 educational videos produced for the RMPL and other national organizations in the past decade. These often been geared toward educating the philatelists and non-collectors on the eclectic character of the hobby.

Working often with videographer Joe LaNotte, the goal of the video program, which began with no budget, has always been one of providing high quality, managed educational videos free of any restrictions to the viewing public. Lugo said there is no systemic selection process.

“We accept whatever is given to us and spend considerable numbers of hours writing, scripting and developing the narrative, selecting hosts for the presentation, vetting the final product for accuracy and entertainment value and brevity,” Lugo said. “In this later regard we always target 10 to 20 minutes as our time frame, but that is frequently exceeded by the nature of the story.”

Based on data through May 2023, the average yearly views of the RMPL have amounted to 5,300 visits, with an average of 1,500 visits per video. The range of those visits is between 100 and 14,000 visits. Two of the most popular videos have been “Fakes and Forgeries” by Harry Pedersen, of the Arapahoe Stamp Club (14,000 visits); and the endearing story of U.S. Naval postal clerk James Wilkinson (13,000 visits) and his story of Pearl Harbor, the emergence of a Christian missionary organization, his rise to a U.S. Navy commanding officer and his post-war friendship with his Japanese enemy and future Christian missionary Commander Fuchida, leader of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Kehr Award is presented annually by the APS and named for Life Member Ernest A. Kehr. Established in 1991, the Kehr Award recognizes one living philatelist each year who, for a period of at least five years, has demonstrated one or more of the following:

    • Making philately attractive as a hobby to newcomers.
    • Working directly with newcomers, especially young people.
    • Developing and administering programs aimed at recruiting newcomers.

APS Names 3 to Hall Of Fame

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Al Kugel (1930-2022) was associated with many philatelic organizations, but especially Chicagopex, the Military Postal History Society, and the American Philatelic Society. He served as a director of the Chicago Philatelic Society (CPS), and as exhibit chairman and general chairman of Chicagopex. The CPS honored Kugel with its Saul Newbury and Aubrey Berman awards.

A Life Member of the Military Postal History Society, Kugel served as its director, vice president and president. At the time of his death, Kugel had the lowest membership number (434) of any active member.

With his experience in the investment field, Kugel brought financial stability to Chicagopex, considered to be one of the best World Series of Philately venues. As a member of the American Philatelic Society’s finance committee, he advised the APS on its investment portfolio.

Kugel was an expert on military postal history and had more than 100 single and multiframe exhibits in this field. He contributed scores of articles in this area, many of them in the Military Postal History Society Bulletin. He also contributed to The American Philatelist; Collectors Club Philatelist; the Postal History Society Journal; Rossica, the journal of Russian philately; and German Postal Specialist, among others. Kugel and co-author Ed Dubin received the United States Stamp Society’s Barbara Mueller award for the best article in the 2017 issues of The American Philatelist.

Al was an APS accredited philatelic judge and served on CANEJ. In 2005, he was awarded the John N. Luff award for distinguished philatelic research and in 2011 he was elected to the APS Writers Hall of Fame. He was a council member of the American Philatelic Congress, an officer in the Collectors Club of Chicago, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, and he served on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists.

He also won many single-frame exhibit competitions and did much to popularize that form.

VSC Note: Al was a frequent financial analyst on CNN in the late 1990s and first decade of this century. In a Tiffany Dinner talk, he told how that came about: His office was in the same building as CNN’s Chicago bureau. When CNN needed an expert on economics or finance, a producer would call him, he’d throw on his jacket and head for the stairwell.

Reginald Stafford “Captain Tim” Healy was born in Sydney, Australia in 1892. He fought through World War I with the Australian Army and was part of the Allied forces at Gallipoli.

Reginald Healy came to the United States to learn the oil business in Texas. There, he met his future wife, Margaret, a schoolteacher, and they moved from Gainesville, Texas to New York Coty, where he ran the financial side of a small oil company.

The business collapsed in 1929, and after that, he did whatever he could to survive, his son recalled, including sweeping streets. For a time, he had a radio show called “Captain Tim’s Stamp Club of the Air” on NBC. Healy used his son’s name as his on-air personality.

In the early 1930s, Henry Ellis Harris partnered with the consumer products firm Procter and Gamble to produce a radio show using “Captain Tim” to sell stamps. For a small price (and a couple of box tops from some Ivory Snow detergent), a person could be a stamp collector. Another Harris insight was that collectors not only needed stamps, but they needed a low-priced series of albums to put them in. The radio show that Harris produced and hosted by “Captain Tim” Healy, offered not only stamps but a small album to put them in. Captain Tim’s albums were produced in the millions.

Thanks to Captain Tim’s exciting tales of battle and stamps, thousands, young and old, joined the rank of collector.

Although he was a prominent physician, Dr. Stanley Bierman (1935-2022) worked diligently at assembling one of the world’s greatest private philatelic libraries, putting it to good use as a tool for research on philately’s greatest stamp collectors.

Perhaps even more importantly, Bierman also actively worked to preserve philatelic oral history by initiating a series of insightful video interviews with some of the most important living figures in philately. He is shown interviewing Raymond Weill at AMERIPEX ’86. Without Bierman’s strenuous efforts, much philatelic history and many fascinating anecdotes would have been lost forever.

Bierman’s masterful 2016 summary article on Philatelic Literature, Its Lore and Heritage is available in the Philatelic Literature Review. Furthermore, the surprisingly entertaining and fascinating story of how Bierman’s own philatelic library came to be formed is recounted in earlier PLR articles published in 1984-1985.

Scheuer Wins 2022 Mueller Writing Award

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Henry B. Scheuer is the winner of the 2023 USSS/Barbara Mueller Award, for his article, “How the Earliest Collectors Sought Out First Days,” Part I and II of which appeared in November and December 2022 issues of The American Philatelist. It was written for the 100th anniversary of modern first day cover servicing.

The award goes to the author of the best article published in a single year of the AP, the monthly journal of the American Philatelic Society. The award is named for the United States Stamp Society (USSS) and for one of its most prominent members, authors, and editors, APS Life Member Barbara R. Mueller.

In 2007, the United States Stamp Society founded the award to promote the USSS, its goals and its mission to the 26,000 members of the APS, an estimated 75 percent of whom collect U.S. material.

Scheuer started collecting United States first day covers in 1959 and began acquiring older material in 1965. Over the last 45 years, he has written many articles, addressed numerous philatelic groups, and has been involved in various aspects of creating and collecting covers. Henry is a long-time member of the AFDCS, as well as the APS, the Collectors Club, and the United States Stamp Society. He is probably the top collector of Sc. 1246 John F. Kennedy FDCs, which went on sale nationwide on May 29, 1964. He has more than 5,000 different cities.

Below, Scheuer receives his award from U.S. Stamp Society president Nicholas Lombardi.

He previously won the Mueller Award for his 2016 article “Kansas-Nebraska Overprint Stamps: Why, Where, and When They Were Initially Sold,” which also won the AFDCS’ Philip H. Ward Jr. Award for Excellence in First Day Cover Literature. He has been awarded that honor two other times and written dozens of articles for First Days, dating back to 1976.

At the end of 1921, the Philatelic Sales Agency was formed, and in 1922 began the widespread coordination and promotion of new stamp issues – allowing for the similarly widespread preparation by collectors of first day covers.

Here is an excerpt from his 2022 article:

“… for our philatelic forebears, collecting first day of issue/usages was an entirely different beast than what today’s FDC collector experiences. The covers shown in Part 1 are almost entirely the work of prominent Washington, D.C. philatelists, because they had the foreknowledge, proximity and physical access to use these new issues as soon as they were available. Today, first day covers proliferate – a very good thing for the many collectors who create them and seek them out to collect. Despite the differences between the earliest first day collectors and modern, the motivations are much the same – to be a part of documenting philatelic history.”

Both The American Philatelist and First Days are benefits of membership in the societies that publish them.

The LloydBlog: Thanks

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Wow. Just wow.

I didn’t think it would happen, or if it did, I was worried it would be a Hall of Fame award (for deceased members) rather than the Luff (for living members). I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want this honor.

It’s not something you work for: You don’t say, “I want to get the Luff Award for Exceptional Contributions for Philately. What do I need to do?” I also have to admit that my motives were not always altruistic and selfless.

I don’t know if there were any accomplishments specifically that swayed the Luff Committee. I write because that’s what I do. It’s not “Cogito, ergo sum” so much as “Sum, ergo scribo” — I am, therefore I write. I was writing press releases in high school, about everything from band concerts to capacitors.

I think my first philatelic writing was publicity for the 1982 American First Day Cover Society convention. When the editor of Stamps magazine asked First Days editor Sol Koved for a FDC columnist, he recommended me.

I tried dealing in first day covers, starting with just my Dragon Cards and eventually neglecting Dragon Cards because I was so busy with the other stuff. After ten years, I realized I wasn’t cut out to be a successful stamp dealer.Note 1

About that time, 1993, I became involved in the online community GEnieNote 2, mostly to get help and tips for my Apple IIe and IIgs computers. GEnie had a very strong Apple II community, as well as one for Science Fiction and Fantasy, another interest of mine. While on the dial-up system, I discovered it had a Stamp Collecting section in the “Hobby RoundTable.” I felt philately was being neglected and pitched GEnie for a stand-alone Stamp Collecting RoundTable, which I got.

My fellow moderators gave me an award for promotion (shown on the right; above is the First Cachet promoting GEnie: I borrowed an Apple IIe computer for the AFDCS convention, paid to have a telephone line installed, and gave away free FDCs). I had been calling our community “The Virtual Stamp Club” and, as a publicity stunt, I applied to make VSC a chapter of the American Philatelic Society. Chapter #1461 was the first online chapter of any major philatelic organization. (CompuServe’s forum was Chapter #1466.) I still have the GEnie trophy on a shelf in my office (above).

At one point, we had “outposts” of The Virtual Stamp Club on six different online services at the same time. I would write one story and post it in six places. Eventually, only Delphi survived and continued.

Running for the APS board in 1997 was something of a publicity stunt, too. I don’t remember who suggested I run but I saw it as a way to make The Virtual Stamp Club better known. Once elected, though, I took being a Director seriously: I wore the APS lapel pin everywhere, philatelic and not, and read all the briefing books we were given, cover to cover. (No pun intended.)

I doubt the Luff citation will include some of my philatelic failures: Being a dealer (that’s me and my 5-year-old assistant at EMPEX 1990 on the lef). The 2013 debacle where I tried to improve VSC’s resources by selling out to very big philatelic firm. (I didn’t realize which meaning of “selling out” was operative). The fact that neither of my sons collects stamps or covers (yet; hope springs eternal and now there are grandchildren).

I have many people to thank, and my next philatelic failure will be leaving some of them out. My wife Jane, who has tolerated the time spent on my philatelic pursuits. I mentioned above Sol Koved, a mentor; I still think of him and his columns when I write my AFDCS President’s columns. There are the volunteers, supporters and participants of The Virtual Stamp Club in its heyday. Leigh and Steve Ross, who convinced me the World Wide Web was worth a try and made it happen.

My editors at various philatelic publications, including the one who saved me from myself by calling up and saying, “We can’t print this!” The managers at CBS News, Radio who allowed and encouraged me to produce a weekly feature and “spot” reports on stamps.

My colleagues on the APS Board of Directors when I was first elected in 1997. I was one of five first-timers elected that year; the others were Janet Klug, Jeanette Adams, Ann Triggle and Wayne Youngblood. We all did email (not that common yet) and exchanged messages, calling ourselves “The Gang of Five.” We were amazed, maybe aghast, at the vitriol from some quarters after the Pacific 97 debacle.

I also want to thank Peter McCann, then a vice president. The board had a meeting in State College to dal with the image problems of the APS. Now, Peter and I are about as different as can be: He has multiple doctorates, gold-medal exhibits and collects countries whose names I don’t even know. He and I were eating dinner and I confessed I didn’t feel qualified to be on the Board. “You’re as well-qualified as anyone and more so than many,” he replied. It helped quite a bit.

Most of my colleagues in the AFDCS leadership. They’ve let me bounce ideas off them and done much of the work as I’ve tried to transform the organization from an overgrown club into a leading international stamp society. Some of them drive me nuts at times, but I’m sure I return the favor. 😎

My parents, both of whom collected stamps and encouraged me as a child to do so. More than that, they taught me to volunteer when something needs to be done. My Cub Scout pack was going to fold because it didn’t have a committee chairman. My father rearranged his work schedule to attend the meetings, and began 25 years as a Scouter volunteer. In going through my mother’s things after she died, I discovered a newspaper clipping that said she was the president of The Torbank Community Nursery School that I attended. She also encouraged my writing and let me use one of her typewriters. (That was later, after nursery school.)

Notes:
1I’ve joked that I come from a long line of retail failures, which really isn’t fair to my father and grandfathers: Chain discount stores, Depression, Holocaust, respectively.

2 “GEnie” with two capital letters is correct; it stood for “General Electric” and used GE’s internal communications network during off-peak hours. “IIe” and IIgs” are correct, too.

2023 Luff Winners: Kupiec-Weglinski, de Vries, Kaufmann

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The American Philatelic Society has announced the winners of its Luff Awards, the most prestigious honor the APS can bestow upon living philatelists. They are:

  • For Distinguished Philatelic Research: Jerzy W. Kupiec-Weglinski
  • For Exceptional Contributions to Philately: Lloyd A. de Vries, and
  • For Outstanding Service to the APS: Patricia A. (Trish) Kaufmann

You can read the APS press release, which includes detailed biographies and accomplishments of the winners, here.

The Luff Award was established in 1940 in memory of John N. Luff, APS president from 1907 to 1909, who was considered the most prominent American philatelist of his era.

U.S. Scott Catalogue Update (July 2023)

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5798 (63¢) Chief Standing Bear
a. Imperforate

5799 Endangered Species pane of 20
a. (63¢) Laysan teal
b. (63¢) Black-footed ferret
c. (63¢) Roanoke logperch
d. (63¢) Thick-billed parrot
e. (63¢) Candy darter
f. (63¢) Florida panther
g. (63¢) Masked bobwhite quail
h. (63¢) Key Largo cotton mouse
i. (63¢) Lower Keys marsh rabbit
j. (63¢) Wyoming toad
k. (63¢) Vancouver Island marmot
l. (63¢) Golden-cheeked warbler
m. (63¢) Guam Micronesian kingfisher
n. (63¢) San Francisco garter snake
o. (63¢) Mexican gray wolf
p. (63¢) Attwater’s prairie chicken
q. (63¢) Nashville crayfish
r. (63¢) Piping plover
s. (63¢) Desert bighorn sheep
t. (63¢) Mississippi sandhill crane
u. As No. 5799, imperforate
v. As No. 5799a, imperforate
w. As No. 5799b, imperforate
x. As No. 5799c, imperforate
y. As No. 5799d, imperforate
z. As No. 5799e, imperforate
aa. As No. 5799f, imperforate
ab. As No. 5799g, imperforate
ac. As No. 5799h, imperforate
ad. As No. 5799i, imperforate
ae. As No. 5799j, imperforate
af. As No. 5799k, imperforate
ag. As No. 5799l, imperforate
ah. As No. 5799m, imperforate
ai. As No. 5799n, imperforate
aj. As No. 5799o, imperforate
ak. As No. 5799p, imperforate
al. As No. 5799q, imperforate
am. As No. 5799r, imperforate
an. As No. 5799s, imperforate
ao. As No. 5799t, imperforate

Let’s Take The Ferry! (Canada 2023)

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[from Details magazine; day of issue press release is below] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Let’s Take The Ferry!

5 stamps Issue date: 12 July

Ferries are part of Canada’s marine heritage and continue to play a role in regional transit systems. Harkening back to a more leisurely mode of travel, these stamps, featuring Canadian ferries still in service, are sure to inspire both nostalgia and wanderlust.

Built in 1993, Spirit of British Columbia has a capacity to transport 2,100 passengers and crew, plus more than 350 vehicles, on a 95-minute scenic route that crosses the Salish Sea, connecting Vancouver (Tsawwassen) and Victoria (Swartz Bay).

Chi-Cheemaun – “big canoe” in Ojibwe – crosses Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay between Tobermory, on the Bruce Peninsula, and Manitoulin Island. Built in 1974, the passenger and vehicle ferry operates from May to October, with a capacity of 643 passengers and close to 150 vehicles.

Launched in 1910, the rare side-wheeled paddle steamer Trillium was retired in 1956 but returned to service in 1976 following a two-year restoration. It now carries up to 800 passengers between Toronto and the Toronto Islands.

Named after the founder of North America’s first credit union and built in 1971, Alphonse-Desjardins can transport up to 590 passengers and more than 50 vehicles. It provides a year-round connection across the St. Lawrence River between Québec and Lévis.

Built in 1990, New Brunswick’s Grand Manan V travels in some of the highest tides in the world, carrying up to 300 residents and visitors and 60 vehicles to Grand Manan, the largest island in the Bay of Fundy.
Updated July 12th:

[press release] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
“Let’s Take the Ferry!” New stamps highlight Canada’s marine heritage
Stamp issue showcases five active ferries representing Canada from coast to coast.

OTTAWA – Canada Post is releasing five new stamps highlighting ferry transportation in Canada. Featuring five ferries that are operating in Canadian waters, the stamp issue honours the country’s rich marine heritage.

Waterway transportation has been a fundamental part of Canada’s history and development, with Indigenous Peoples traditionally using canoes, kayaks, umiaks and other vessels to hunt, transfer goods and carry people along coastal regions and across lakes and rivers. Today, ferries in Canada transport millions of passengers and vehicles each year, playing important roles in regional transit systems and the tourism industry.

The stamp issue presents five ferries, each representing different regions of Canada:

  • Spirit of British Columbia connects Vancouver (Tsawwassen) and Victoria (Swartz Bay, Vancouver Island), B.C., across the Salish Sea.
  • Chi-Cheemaun travels between Tobermory (Bruce Peninsula) and Manitoulin Island (South Baymouth), Ont., across Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay.
  • Trillium provides passage between Toronto and the Toronto Islands, Ont., across Lake Ontario.
  • Alphonse-Desjardins links Québec and Lévis, Que., across the St. Lawrence River.
  • Grand Manan V connects Blacks Harbour and Grand Manan Island, N.B., across the Bay of Fundy.

About the ferries:

  • Spirit of British Columbia has a capacity for 2,100 passengers and crew, along with more than 350 vehicles, and is one of the two largest ferries in the BC Ferries fleet. Built in 1993, the vessel was converted in 2018 to dual-fuel propulsion, allowing the ship to use liquefied natural gas and significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
  • Chi-Cheemaun, which means “big canoe” in Ojibwe, was built in 1974 and runs from May to October. The ferry features Woodland-inspired artwork on its bow and funnel, while on-board amenities include Muskoka chairs on the upper deck and an art gallery.
  • Trillium is the oldest ferry of the stamp issue. Launched in 1910, the vessel is a rare side-wheeled paddle steamer and, at 564 gross tonnes, is the largest ferry in the Toronto fleet and can carry up to 800 passengers.
  • Alphonse-Desjardins, named after the founder of North America’s first credit union, was built in 1971 and traverses a one-kilometre span of the St. Lawrence River between Québec and Lévis year-round, offering views of the old city and its fortifications from the water.
  • Grand Manan V navigates in some of the world’s highest tides to bring visitors and residents to and from Grand Manan – the largest island in the Bay of Fundy – while providing passengers with a chance to spot wildlife, including whales and seabirds. The vessel also transports millions of dollars of lobster, salmon and dulse each year.

About the stamp issueDesigned by Lionel Gadoury and Owen Gabany of Context Creative, the stamps depict postcard-perfect photos of the ferries in their home waters. Printed by Lowe-Martin, the issue includes a booklet of 10 Permanent™ domestic rate stamps, an Official First Day Cover (a first day of issue special envelope), and a souvenir sheet of five stamps.

The stamps and collectibles are available at canadapost.ca and postal outlets across Canada.

[en Francais pour les médias d’information]
Voyage en traversier: De nouveaux timbres mettent en vedette le patrimoine maritime du Canada
L’émission présente cinq traversiers canadiens toujours en service.OTTAWA, ON, le 12 juill. 2023 /CNW/ – Saluant le riche patrimoine maritime du Canada, Postes Canada lance cinq nouveaux timbres présentant autant de traversiers canadiens toujours en service au pays.

Le transport par voie navigable fait partie intégrante de l’histoire et du développement du Canada, les peuples autochtones utilisant depuis longtemps des canots, des kayaks, des umiaks et d’autres embarcations pour la chasse et pour le transport des gens et de la marchandise le long des régions côtières, ainsi que sur les lacs et les rivières. Aujourd’hui, les traversiers canadiens accueillent des millions de personnes et de véhicules chaque année, et jouent un rôle important dans les systèmes de transport régionaux et l’industrie touristique.

L’émission de timbres met en vedette cinq traversiers, chacun représentant une région canadienne différente:

  • Le Spirit of British Columbia traverse la mer des Salish entre Vancouver (Tsawwassen) et Victoria (Swartz Bay, sur l’île de Vancouver), en Colombie-Britannique.
  • Le Chi-Cheemaun parcourt les eaux de la baie Georgienne du lac Huron entre la péninsule Bruce (Tobermory) et l’île Manitoulin (South Baymouth), en Ontario.
  • Le Trillium fait la navette sur le lac Ontario entre Toronto et les îles de Toronto, en Ontario.
  • L’Alphonse-Desjardins sillonne le fleuve Saint-Laurent entre Québec et Lévis, au Québec.
  • Le Grand Manan V relie Blacks Harbour à l’île Grand Manandans la baie de Fundy, au Nouveau-Brunswick.

À propos des traversiers

  • L’un des deux plus grands navires de BC Ferries, le Spirit of British Columbia peut transporter jusqu’à 2 100 personnes, dont l’équipage, et plus de 350 véhicules. Construit en 1993, il est doté en 2018 d’un système de propulsion à deux carburants, pouvant ainsi fonctionner au gaz naturel liquéfié et produisant considérablement moins de CO2.
  • Construit en 1974, le Chi-Cheemaun (« grand canot » en ojibwé) est en service de mai à octobre. Sa proue et sa cheminée sont ornées d’œuvres inspirées du style Woodland, alors que son pont supérieur offre des commodités comme des fauteuils Adirondack et une galerie d’art.
  • Le Trillium est le plus ancien des navires de l’émission. Rare bateau à vapeur à roues latérales, il est d’abord inauguré en 1910. Avec sa capacité de 564 tonnes brutes, il est le plus grand traversier de la flotte de Toronto et peut transporter jusqu’à 800 personnes.
  • Nommé en l’honneur du fondateur de la première coopérative de crédit en Amérique du Nord, l’Alphonse-Desjardins est construit en 1971. Il sillonne le fleuve Saint-Laurent toute l’année sur un kilomètre entre Lévis et Québec, offrant une vue sur la vieille ville et ses fortifications.
  • Le Grand Manan V navigue sur les plus hautes marées du monde pour transporter touristes et gens de la région entre le continent et l’île Grand Manan, la plus grande de la baie de Fundy, leur permettant de peut-être apercevoir des baleines et des oiseaux marins en cours de route. Le navire transporte également des millions de dollars de homard, de saumon et de main-de-mer palmée chaque année.

À propos de l’émission de timbresConçus par Lionel Gadoury et Owen Gabany de Context Creative, les timbres montrent de merveilleuses photos des traversiers sur leurs eaux respectives. Imprimée par Lowe-Martin, l’émission comprend un carnet de 10 timbres PermanentsMC au tarif du régime intérieur, un pli Premier Jour officiel (enveloppe du premier jour d’émission) et un bloc-feuillet de cinq timbres.

Les timbres et les articles de collection sont en vente sur postescanada.ca et dans les comptoirs postaux partout au pays.

AFDCS Seeks Volunteers for GASS 2023

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The AFDCS is seeking members to volunteer for Great American Stamp Show.

The available slots are:

AFDCS BOOTH:
Thursday, Aug, 10, Friday, Aug. 11, and Saturday August 12: 10 a.m.-12 p.m., 12-2 p.m., 2-4 p.m.. and 4-6 p.m.
Sunday, August 13: 10 a.m.-12 p.m., 12-2p.m., and 2-4 p.m.

COVER PREPARATION: Thursday, August 10 and Friday, August 11: 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

Please let Americover volunteer coordinator Ralph Nafziger — nafziger@peak.org — know by August 4 if you can help, and if so, when and for which duty.

New Crypto Stamp on the Way from PostNL (Netherlands 2023)

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[press release; Google translation] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
PostNL is launching a new crypto stamp this fall
Unique collaboration between postal companies from the Netherlands, Austria and Luxembourg

PostNL is issuing a crypto stamp for the second time. The new NFT crypto stamp is a unique collaboration between PostNL, Österreichische Post and POST Luxembourg. This fall, the new crypto stamp will be launched simultaneously in the Netherlands, Austria and Luxembourg.

PostNL launched a crypto seal for the first time in September 2022; the NL crypto stamp. For this stamp, PostNL joined forces with Österreichische Post, never before has a crypto stamp been issued jointly by two postal companies.

The second crypto stamp is again the result of a special international collaboration, this time with Austria and Luxembourg. This crypto stamp is a first for POST Luxembourg. Österreichische Post is a forerunner in the field of crypto stamps. In 2019, they were the first postal company ever to also market stamps as NFT.

First Collection Sold Out
“The first NFT crypto stamp proved to be extremely popular among both classic collectors and NFT aficionados,” says Bob van Ireland, Director Mail Netherlands at PostNL. “All variants of the collection of the first NL crypto stamp are now sold out. By cooperating with the postal companies in Austria and Luxembourg, we hope to make even more people enthusiastic about this new stamp.”

Georg Pölzl, CEO Austrian Post: “Our know-how in crypto and blockchain technology is in demand worldwide. We will be issuing the next joint stamp in autumn, together with the post organizations from Luxembourg and the Netherlands, under license. The next generation of the Crypto stamp will stand under the unifying motifs of our three countries.”

Pierre Zimmer, Deputy managing director of POST Luxembourg: “More than 170 years after the first stamps were issued in the Grand Duchy, this year we will introduce a new, innovative way of collecting and trading stamps through the use of blockchain technology. Through the collaboration with PostNL and Austrian Post, we strive to build a global community of stamp collectors while making collecting and trading more accessible, convenient and secure.”

Secret design
The design of the new crypto stamp remains secret for now. It is already known that the crypto seal, as with the first collection, is characterized by a unique symbol. In the previous edition. That symbol was a bull. The final design will be revealed later this year, but PostNL will announce more details of the design in the near future via the website, the Collect Club and the Crypto Stamp newsletter.

Availability
The new crypto stamp consists of a unique combination of a physical stamp and a digital NFT. The crypto stamp comes in a limited edition with a value of €9.25. PostNL will announce more later about the start of the (advance) sales, circulation and points of sale. [PostNL supplied this illustration without explanation.]