Westmoreland County Philatelic Society - February 2010 Newsletter

MEETING DATE

Next Meeting will be on March 14

The next meeting of the stamp club will be March 14. This will be our Spring Auction. Bring that material that you no longer want or some of your duplicate items. Please bring cookies for the table. The hall is open from 1 pm, the meeting starts at 2:15 pm.

Garfield-Perry March Party – Friday March 19, 11AM-6PM; Saturday March 20, 10AM-5:30 PM; Sunday March 21, 10AM-4PM; Masonic Auditorium, East 36^th Street and Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH; 50+ dealers. Website address: http://www.garfieldperry.org/marchparty.html

TRIPEX Stamp Show – Saturday March 20, 10:00am - 4:00pm, Tri State Stamp Club, St. Ambrose Church, 14923 Winchester Road Southwest, Cresaptown, MD - 6 dealers plus USPS - Contact: Jeff Hutter, 301-777-0379 evenings and weekends. jeff.hutter@twrcommunications.com

The Quarterly Wilkinsburg Stamp Show – Sunday, March 21, 2010; 10:00am to 4:00pm; Churchill Borough Building, 2300 William Penn Highway. (take the Churchill Exit building is about 2 blocks on the left). For more information contact James J. Reeves at 800-701-7091.

Bob Prinkey, Former President Passes

We are saddened to report the passing of Robert "Bob" Prinkey, 88, on Dec. 30, 2009. Always an avid stamp collector, he was a member and former president of the Westmoreland County Philatelic Society. He also served as chairman of the committee responsible for planning and hosting our annual stamp shows. After retirement, Robert enjoyed attending and serving as a judge for stamp shows throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio.

US New Issues

On February 3, 2010, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service re-issued the nondenominated First-Class Mail definitive, Forever Stamp (Liberty Bell) in one design in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) automated teller machine (ATM) sheetlet of 18 stamps. This issuance varies from the previous printing of the same item number in that the print method and printer have changed. Because the stamps are used to re-supply ATM and Post Office Automated Postal Center (APC) machines only in those locations as the need arises, this reissue will be available initially only in the first day city of Washington, DC, and by mail order through Stamp Fulfillment Services in Kansas City, Missouri. The ATM Forever Stamp (Liberty Bell) sheetlet of 18 was previously issued in 2008 and in February 2009. First day address:

All orders must be postmarked by April 3, 2010. There is one philatelic product available for this stamp issue:

On March 11, 2010, in Buffalo, New York, the Postal Service will issue a 44-cent, Abstract Expressionists commemorative stamp in ten designs in a pressure-sensitive (PSA) souvenir sheet of 10 stamps. The stamp, designed by Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, Maryland, goes on sale nationwide March 11, 2010. In celebration of the abstract expressionist artists of the 20th Century, Art Director Ethel Kessler and noted Art Historian Jonathan Fineberg (Gutgsell Professor Art History, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) selected ten paintings to feature on this colorful pane of self-adhesive stamps. Kessler used elements from Barnett New-man’s Achilles (1952) to frame the stamps. The arrangement of the stamps suggests paintings hanging on a gallery wall. For design purposes, the sizes of the stamp are not in relative proportion to the paintings. The pane also features selvage text and a quotation by Robert Mother-well. Each stamp includes the artist’s name and verso text that identifies the painting and briefly tells something about the artist. First day address:

All orders must be postmarked by May 12, 2010. There are six philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

· Souvenir Sheet of 10 & Digital Color Post-mark First Day Cover (Set of 10), $19.95

Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was the only Democrat elected to the presidency in the era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912. Cleveland's admirers praise him for his honesty, independence, integrity, and commitment to the principles of classical liberalism. As a leader of the Bourbon Democrats, he opposed imperialism, taxes, subsidies and inflationary policies. As a reformer he also worked against corruption, patronage, and bossism.

On February 25, Great Britain will issue a stamp honoring Benjamin Franklin as part of a 10 stamp set. The set pictures members of the Royal Society. The Royal Society is celebrating its 350th anniversary. It is oldest scientific academy in existence.

Canada Post will issue this souvenir sheet of two 57 cent "Celebrating Our Olympic Spirit" stamps on February 22. The stamps will also be issued in booklets of 10. Chandra Crawford, a living Canadian is pictured on the left hand stamp. Chandra competes in cross country skiing. See the December and January Newsletter issues for other Canadian Olympic issues. To order Canadian Olympic stamps go to:

Collectors often speak of the romance of stamp collecting, but few philatelic items have as true a romantic link as the Alexandria Blue Boy. Prior to the release of the first United States postage
stamps, a few postmasters in the country took it upon themselves to issue provisionals to prepay postage.

Postmaster Daniel Bryan of Alexandria, Virginia, issued a provisional in 1846 featuring the wording "Alexandria Post Office" in a circle, with "Paid 5" in the center. These stamps usually were printed on buff paper, and all are scarce. However, this rarest of the Alexandria provisionals exists on blue paper.

It is the stamp on blue paper that is affectionately referred to by philatelists as the "Alexandria Blue Boy." The only example known to exist is on cover, and it is this item which is enhanced by the romantic story, of the lovers.

On November 24, 1847, James Wallace Hooff of Alexandria sent a love letter to his girl friend, Jannett Hoof Brown, who was visiting relatives in Richmond, Virginia. Before mailing it, he affixed one of the Alexandria postmaster's provisionals. They were second cousins. He was Presbyterian; she was Episcopalian. Relatives were watching and did not approve of this match. Hooff mentioned the couple's secret betrothal, and instructed his love to burn the letter so that plans would not be revealed. Fortunately for philatelists, Miss Brown valued the letter from her future husband too much to set a match to it, or to throw it in the furnace. She saved it.

The couple later married and raised their family in Alexandria After both had died, their daughter began searching through some old family correspondence, reading the love letters her parents had written to each other. She came across one envelope bearing a strange stamp. Enclosed was the letter her mother had been instructed to burn. The daughter had never seen a stamp such as the one affixed to the envelope. A friend, who was a stamp collector, suggested she talk to a dealer. She did so, and her find then came to philatelic light.

The cover was purchased soon after its discovery by George Worthington for $3,000. It eventually found its way into the collection of Alfred Caspary, and was purchased by Josiah' K. Lilly for $10,000 during the Caspary sale conducted by H.R. Harmer. It realized $18,500 during the Robert A. Siegel auction of the Lily collection. It later appeared in the John R. Boker, Jr., collection.

The cover realized a record price of $1 million, the largest sum ever attained by a philatelic item at auction, during a sale in 1981 conducted by David Feldman in Zurich, Switzerland. This Blue Boy cover is still believed to be the only existing example of the Alexandria provisional on blue paper.

Collectors who wish to obtain the postmark may submit a mail order request. Pictorial postmarks are available only for the dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial postmark date. All requests must include a stamped envelope or post-card bearing at least the minimum First-Class Mail postage. Items submitted for postmark may not include postage issued after the date of the requested postmark. Such items will be returned unserviced. Customers wishing to obtain a postmark should affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of their choice, address the envelope or postcard to themselves or others, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to: Pictorial Postmarks, followed by the Name of the Station, Address, City, State, ZIP+4® Code, as listed below. Customers can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for postmark, as long as they supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and their return address. After applying the pictorial postmark, the Postal Service returns the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.

These two stamps were issued by the Australia New Hebrides Co. Ltd. on March 17, 1897. The stamps were used to prepay postage on letters carried on the company's ships. The ships called on nearly 60 islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The service was unprofitable and was discontinued in 1899. The remainders were sold to an Australian stamp dealer. Mint stamps are common but used copies on cover are valuable. The stamps are not listed in the Scott Catalog.

Romania 1920-2 King Ferdinand stamps overprinted "Ziaristi 1920 Ujsagirok". Nine denominations in this set were overprinted in black or gold for the Congress of Journalists of the Transylvania and Banat Regions. The congress was held at Cluj-Napoka on August 21-22, 1920.