Events

After a mere 148 years, the RPSL finally got to put on a display of El Salvador on 9^th November.

Guillermo Gallegos had come from over from Mexico to present “The Prestamp Period of El Salvador” with a twelve-frame display covering the colonial period through until the end of the pre-stamp Republican period.

Much of the collection is referenced in Guillermo’s eponymous book that was published by the Collector’s Club of Chicago in 2015.

The display was rounded off by the inclusion of a selection of 19^th century American Bank Note and Hamilton Bank Note die proofs and colour trials. Perhaps outside the title of the exhibit but a rarely seen selection of early Salvadorian material (and a personal favourite).

Guillermo is also actively involved with AFISAL (Asociación Filatélica Salvadoreña www.elsalvadorphilately.org ) and is working on a second title to cover the early issues of Salvadorian philately. For those wishing to explore further, the society maintains a digital library of its in house journal El Faro and its successor The El Salvador Philatelist, all published in English.

If I’ve read one article on “how do we attract more collectors to the hobby?”, I must have read it a hundred times. And no stamp exhibition escapes the post-event commentary on “how many visitors really attended?”, “how did it compare to last time?” and “what do we need to do better to encourage greater participation?”.

I think Brazil may have the answer.

Coleccionar 2017 (Collecting 2017) was a six day event that was designed to attract a wide spectrum of visitors in a single space, including:

• An exhibition of museum quality classic cars
• An exhibition of banknotes and coins
• A rare orchid show
• Artisan handicraft collections with porcelain, fabric, ceramic and wood
• Concerts, performances and cultural activities

Oh, and it also included Brasilia 2017, a major international stamp show under the patronage of the FIP (Fédération Internationale de Philatélie). With 2800 exhibit frames, a further 400 organised by the Brazilian Federation of Philately and the usual blend of international and national auction houses and dealers, this was quite an event.

Latin American awards sweep the board

Naturally the show attracted a significant number of Latin American competitors with a good spread of fine material displayed from across the continent. The regional bias was reflected in the results www.f-i-p.ch/wp-content/uploads/BRASILIA-2017-Results-by-Medal.pdf with six of the nine FIP Championship Class medals going to South and Central American entries and in the Large Golds, half of the eighteen awards went to Latin American exhibits.

What this innovative show has done so well is to gather a diverse selection of interests under one roof, exposing visitors to events that they may not have made the effort to visit in isolation. By creating a ‘collecting event’ this then opens up the possibilities of cross-promotion and interest to a much wider audience.

Of course this needs far more organization and co-ordination than a single event but the rewards could be substantial, with the potential to vastly increase footfall and reduce costs through shared expenditure.

Let’s see if the idea catches on.

Fifty-two frames of some exceptional Latin American material was the feast laid on by the RPSL yesterday. Exhibits were described as covering the canvas between “world class rarities” and “modest, but nonetheless interesting”.

Either way, it was a treat.

With so much to cover I can only give a flavour. For want of a theme, there are a handful of stock phrases that exhibitors often use that are always guaranteed to gain attention. Such as:

“the largest known block…”, “the unique…”, “the first…” and so on.

A few examples included:

• Argentina (Frank Broad): 1864 Rivadavia – earliest recorded entire franked with a perforated value
• Chile (Joseph Hackmey): 1854 10 Centavos Colon Desmadryl printing – largest known block (of twenty)
• Colombia, Gobierno Provisionals (Alan Anyon): 1900 20 Centavos Tête-Bêche Pair – only known example
• Ecuador (Guido Craveri): 1864 1 Real Green and 1866 4 Reales Red – earliest recorded usages on cover
• Haiti (Brian Moorhouse): 1887-1890 Salomon Issues – the unique master dies
• Peru (Christopher Harman): 1860 1 Dinero Blue – earliest dated cover
• Uruguay (Gregory Todd): 1884 5c Deep Blue – unique die proof
• Venezuela (Guido Craveri): 1862 ½ Real Red, used and unused – unique error of colour

I could go on.

All said, an excellent display.

The US holds an international stamp show every ten years but it was back in 1956 that New York took centre stage as the host of the world’s most important philatelic event.

The cavernous Javits Centre in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan provided ample space for collectors and dealers to spend seven days meeting, buying, selling, exhibiting and discussing every facet of philately.

I holed up in a neat, little Airbnb in Weehawken on the west bank of the Hudson and took the ferry over in the morning. Quick, easy and traffic free.

With over 4000 exhibition frames, a multitude of dealers and world-class auctions there was plenty to keep me occupied. Amongst veritable treasures, the ‘Court of Honour’ proudly displayed the infamous 1856 British Guiana One Cent, a miserable little stamp in my humble view. I think you could have a lot more philatelic fun with the $9.5 million it was auctioned for in 2014.

And don’t get me started on John Lennon’s schoolboy collection…

Latin America at NY2016

Much more interesting from a Latin American perspective was the Black Honduras, a key exhibit on the Mystic stand. This unique stamp was once the world’s most valuable after the British Guiana but still retains its place as the world’s rarest airmail.

Strictly speaking it is the Dull Blue Honduras with Black Overprint. But that doesn’t sound nearly so sexy, does it?

A good percentage of the Latin American single country groups were in attendance, most with booths staffed with volunteers to win new converts and catch up with far-away members, including Colombia/Panama, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.

Latin American specialist dealers are a rare bunch but Brian Moorhouse and Castlerock were present. I found an esoteric mix of proofs and material at the farthest end of the Back of The Book at the enigmatically named etradegoods, plus a shout out to A&D Stamps and D&P Stamps. Both are generalists but with a strong selection of Latin America.

Awards for Latin American exhibits were judiciously scattered amongst the various classes and the region even scored the top award of the show, the Grand Prix D’Honneur. This went to Alvaro Castro-Harrigan of Costa Rica for his snappily titled ‘Panama: First Issues as a State of Colombia and their Forerunners’.

And if you were wondering whether you might be eligible to go for the GPDH yourself next time around, note that you need three Large Gold Medals in three different years at international exhibitions held during the past 10 years.

Boston gets the crown for 2026 (www.boston2026.org) and is already in the planning stages.

Plenty of time to get those three gold medals then.