[press release]
Now you can participate — and win — in the Americover Silent Auction even if you can’t make the 2026 show, which is being held August 7-9 at the BWI Marriott (at Baltimore-Washington Airport) in conjunction with BALPEX 2026. All 105 lots can be seen online by downloading the file and submitting a bid via email.

The lots include FDCs from the 1930s to the present, and cachets ranging from typed to hand-painted. The cachetmakers represented include Dave Bennett, Kendal Bevil, Judith Fogt and many other familiar names. (Shown here is Lot #42 by Chad Green.) And the minimum bids for all of them is just $5.

Collectors “playing at home” have until Saturday August 8 at 10 p.m. Eastern time to email their bids to dalux2041@gmail.com, putting “silent auction bids” in the subject line. Multiple bids may be listed in a single email, but all bids must include the bidder’s name, address, telephone number, and, of course, the lot numbers and amounts of the bids.

The lots will be on display in the American First Day Cover Society Hospitality Suite at Americover/BALPEX, where additional bids likely will be made. The emailed bids will form the basis for the opening bids, and those in the Hospitality Suite will know what the highest at-home bids are, so if you really, really want an item, bid generously.

The Silent Auction operates differently than a traditional auction: The lots are on display, and bidders at Americover write their bids on public lists — silently. Bids are not knocked down to an increment above the next-highest bid, so the winning bids are the actual maximum amounts collectors are willing to pay. Bids must be in even-dollar amounts. (Fractional bids make no cents!)

This is the first year that at-home bidders can see scans of the lots, by downloading the PDF file. (If you prefer, the link to the file is https://tinyurl.com/mrbryya4 )

All the lots were donated to the AFDCS and all proceeds will go to help cover Americover expenses.