National Philatelic Society - News Archive

"Fascinated by Forgeries"

                  - An Afternoon Philatelic Seminar on  Thursday 28th August 2008

Philatelic forgeries often more valuable than some of their genuine counterparts, judging by auction results. The National Philatelic Society, which holds its own forgery collection, is devoting a seminar to the subject when John Shaw, FRPSL will describe some of the modern ways in which forgeries can be detected and discuss material produced by some renowned forgers before opening the meeting to further discussion.  

John is notable philatelist in the many specialist societies to which he belongs, at societies in his neighbourhood, and as member of the notable expertising committee at the Royal Philatelic Society London. This is an opportunity to learn more about forgeries and some of the philatelic items of which you should be wary. 

The venue is the Phoenix Centre, Phoenix Place, London WC1X 0DL, on Thursday, 28^th August 2008, commencing at 2pm.  This event has been organised through the British Postal Museum and Archive in the adjoining Phoenix Centre, where Royal Mail are kindly providing a meeting room.

The National Philatelic Society Library will be open to all attendees from 11am and until 6.30 pm on the day of the Seminar. 

There will be a charge of £5 (£3 for members of the National Philatelic Society). Places are limited and the deadline for applications is Saturday, 23^rd August 2008. 

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE - This seminar was originally advertised on the National Philatelic Society Programme for 2007-08 as taking place in May 2008. 

March 2008

National Philatelic Society Meeting at Harrogate - Friday 2 May 2008

The National is reviving the practice of holding occasional meetings outside London and is to hold the first of these on Friday, 2nd May 2008, as part of the ABPS 2008 National Philatelic Exhibition, which is being at the Harrogate International Centre. 

The meeting is being held in the King’s Suite (to the right of the entrance to Exhibition Hall 'Q') and will be open to members and non-members alike. It will be in two parts, with an informal morning session commencing at 11 am when members of the National Philatelic Society are being asked to bring pages for short displays in what will be an opportunity for members from across the country to meet and discuss their common interests and to meet new friends' 

For more details contact the Society at nps@ukphilately.org.uk or for further information on the two-day exhibition and how to get their click on HARROGATE 2008 

How to research Philately 

                  - An Afternoon Philatelic Seminar on  Thursday 17th January 2008

Research is essential for writing up a collection and for competing, especially in classes such as thematic or social philately. It might also unearth hidden gems among otherwise common stamps or postal history or to avoid those embarrassing moments that occasionally occur at philatelic society meetings. 

The National Philatelic Society will be devoting an afternoon seminar to the subject at the Phoenix Centre, Phoenix Place, London (next door to Freeling House), on Thursday 17 January 2008. The seminar will start promptly at 14.00hrs and finish by 16.30hrs.

The seminar will be led by David Beech, FRPSL who will be discussing methods, sources and disciplines for successful and enjoyable philatelic research, in the light of developments such as the Internet. David will be following up the seminar with an article on the subject, in a future issue of Stamp Lover, the magazine of the National Philatelic Society. 

David Beech is the Head of the Philatelic Collections at the British Library and is a past-president of the Royal Philatelic Society London. He is also a trustee of the Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund and a trustee of the Revenue Philately Trust. David is a member of the National Philatelic Society and was a member of its Council 1981 –1996, including a period as vice-president from 1984 – 1996. 

The meeting has been organised through the British Postal Museum & Archive in the Phoenix Centre, where Royal Mail are kindly providing a meeting room.

The National Philatelic Society Library will be open to all attendees from 11am and until 6.30 pm on the day of the Seminar. 

November 2007

A ‘hands-on’ guide to using your computer to enhance your philatelic collection, this seminar will be held at 
20/21, Arcadia Avenue, London N3 2JU, commencing at 10.30 hrs. and finishing at about 16.00 hrs.

Computers have become an essential tool in research and writing up collections. The seminar is aimed at improving skills in these areas, and will be based on Microsoft Word for Windows, use of the Internet, and simple graphics. It is not intended for absolute beginners, but for those who have some knowledge and who wish to expand it. 

Chris King will lead this tutorial seminar, which is limited to twelve places on a first come-first served basis.  He would like to know of specific things which you would wish included in this seminar and will be sending a short questionnaire, prior to the meeting, to all those who intending to take part. Chris is a philatelist who is a member of a number of philatelic societies both in this country and overseas. He is organising the database for ABPS Croydon 2007; ABPS Harrogate 2008 and for London 2010, to ensure that both competition entrants and judges have the best possible electronic back-up at these shows.

Please note the venue and that there is a limitation of 12 on the number of attendees, although to cater for numbers in excess of this we hope to be able to organise a further seminar in 2008.

Accredited Judging Seminar for Thematic, Revenue & Allied Material
(not Traditional or Postal History) – Saturday 16th June 2007 

The National Philatelic Society is holding an An Accredited Judging Seminar, in association with the ABPS on Saturday 17 June 2007 at Room 3C, Northampton Suite, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB - click here for map. 

If you attend, you will be asked to bring 16 pages of Thematic or allied material, (but not Traditional or Postal History) to competition standard, for subjective criticism. The seminar will be of particular interest to those who attended the first of these accredited judging seminars, which was held on 16^th September 2006. 

One of the problems of judging or competing in thematic, social or allied classes, is what type of material falls into these classes rather than into the traditional or postal history classes. This seminar will help clarify the differences between classes, as well as examine how to judge thematic, social and other material. 

The seminar will be led by John Sussex, FRPSL and Brian Sole, FRPSL, who are both well-known International Philatelic Judges. John organises the judging seminars for the ABPS and has a social philatelic collection on “Malton, a North Yorkshire Market Town”. Brian’s displays include "Cycling" and "How to display and exhibit Thematics "

There will be a charge of £10 (£8 for members of the National Philatelic Society) to cover lunch, refreshments and expenses. Numbers will be limited and places provided on a first come – first served basis, so apply early.
 
April 2007

The Next Step - From Competing Nationally to Competing Internationally 

           - An Afternoon Philatelic Seminar   Wednesday 24th January 2007

Philatelists from the UK figured strongly among winners at Washington 2006 this year. If you want to boost the British presence at similar international events, by competing on an international level, then this seminar will help you make the grade. Entitled “The next step - from competing nationally to competing internationally” the seminar will examine current thinking about presenting, classification and judging as well as helping you progress individually. 

The National Philatelic Society will be holding the seminar at its Charterhouse Street headquarters on the afternoon. Wednesday, 24^th January 2007.  It will be led by the well-known philatelist and international jurist, Francis Kiddle, RDP, FRPSL. 

Francis was one of the leaders of the recent joint National PS/ABPS accredited judging seminar held at Charterhouse Street and will be leading the second part of this seminar, next spring. 

If you wish to discover the way to progress in philatelic competing this is a good way to do it.

The National Philatelic Society Library will be open from 10.30 am on the day to all attendees.

There will be a charge made to cover refreshments and expenses of £3 (£1 for National Philatelic Society members). Places are limited and the deadline for application is 15th January 2007.

The National Philatelic Society is grateful to the British Philatelic Trust for allowing the use their premises for this seminar 

October 2006

Social Philately - A One-Day Seminar   Saturday 17th March 2007

Compared with other competitive classes of philately, social philately is relatively new. How it differs from postal history or thematics and what sort of material to include in a display for this class are among the topics to be covered in a day long seminar planned by the National Philatelic Society for Saturday 17 March 2007. The Seminar will be held at The Rising Sun Inn, Cloth Fair (nr Charterhouse St), London EC1A 7JQ - please note this is a change of venue.

The main speakers are two renowned exhibitors in this field - Pat Grimwood-Taylor   and Birthe King. Pat is well known to visitors to Cavendish Auctions and her displays include ‘Victorian Ladies & Gentlemen’,  ‘On the Home Front’  (based on WWII Home Guard) and the twin exhibits ‘South Australian Postal History’ and ‘South Australia – A Society of Pioneers’ (both International Gold Medal winners in 2005 and 1999 respectively)

Birthe King won gold medals at both Washington and Belgica, during 2006, for her Open Class exhibit entitled  “Denmark: Conscience, Conflict, and Camps 1932 –1949”. Her similar eight-frame exhibit could have been seen at Stampex or at the Danish National Exhibition 2006 where it won a gold medal.  

Apart from the basic concepts of social philately, the topics include how to choose a subject, gather material and organise a collection, and how to select material to display and arrange it for competitions. There is also the opportunity to bring along material for "constructive criticism" by Pat and Birthe.

The cost includes coffee and lunch and is £10 (£8 for National P S members). Places are limited and the deadline for application is 11^th March 2007.

January 2007

Annual Competitions, December 2006 

The last annual Competitions to be held at Charterhouse Street took place on Saturday 9 December, being well attended with a good range of entries, except for the Aerophilately Class for which there were no contestants. 

The winner of the Traditional Philately class was Ron Rakusen, with Hong  Kong Centennial of British Occupation. Second was Charlie Mead with Fiji - Government Printing Office Franks and third Mike Goodman with USA - The Flag Definitives 1995-2005. 

In the Postal History class, John Leathes took first place with U-Boat Operations 1915-1918, second was David Alford with Fiji Postage Rates during the reign of King George V, and third, Jonathan Spooner with Indian Civilian Postcard Rates. 

There two Thematic entries, the winner being  John Henderson with the 1999 Tour de France.

The judges were Brian Asquith FRPSL and Brian Sole. 

 Traditionally, Competitions Day sees the presentation of the Johnson Award for philatelic writing  which was presented to Mike
 Goodman for his article “The Packet Brings a Stamp Shop into Your Home" The award is presented annually to the author the
 most popular article to appear in the magazine during the previous year.  

The presentations were preceded by a well-attended auction and seasonal refreshment.

National Philatelic Society to relocate from 107 Charterhouse Street

At the end of March 2007 the National PS will be leaving its present premises as a result of the planned sale of the building by our landlords. Steps are being taken to secure new space for the Library and the Monthly Meetings and full details will be published early in 2007. 

In the meantime, Saturday Displays and Members Auctions will be held held as advertised in January - March 2007, as will be the Philatelic Seminars arranged for 24th January and 17th March.

However preparations for the move will make it necessary to curtail the availability of the Library and the Office to visitors ahead of the move, given the enormous amount of work needed to log, sort and shift three floors of Library material dating back to the 1860s 

It is unfortunately necessary, therefore, to close the library on Christmas Eve and not to re-open again until April, whilst the opening hours for the Office will be Tuesdays 11 am – 3pm, Thursdays 11am – 4pm, plus National PS Meeting Days on the 2nd Saturday of the month.
 
Every effort will be made for the library to be accessible for both borrowing and returning books that are out on loan during National PS meeting days between January and March, but this will be subject to compliance with Health and Safety regulations. Books may also be returned during weekday National PS office hours, but unfortunately the library will not be open.
 
It is recognised that this will be a disappointment to some members who regularly use the library, but it simply not practical to be open while undertaking the packing.

December 2006

What will happen to my Collection? - A half-day seminar on Wednesday 
15th November 2006         

Many philatelists worry about what will happen to their collection should they die or suffer ill health.  A forthcoming seminar to be held by the National Philatelic Society may provide some answers and set out the options. The seminar is to be held on the afternoon of Wednesday, 15^th November 2006 at the National’s Charterhouse Street headquarters. The seminar will be led by Gerry Pye, a well-known philatelist and representative of one of London’s leading philatelic auction houses.

Gerry Pye has worked for Harmers of London for a number of years where he has had to advise philatelists and their families on ways to dispose of philatelic material. He recently gave a similar seminar to the Kent Philatelic Federation, which was warmly received. 

If you have concerns about the future of your collection or have questions which you may wish to put to Gerry, this is a good opportunity. 

There will be a charge made to cover refreshments and expenses of £3 (£1 for National Philatelic Society members). Places are limited and the deadline for application is 3^rd November 2006. 

The National Philatelic Society is grateful to the British Philatelic Trust for allowing the use their premises for this seminar 

September 2006

Accredited Judging Seminar – Saturday 
16th September 2006

The National Philatelic Society is holding an An Accredited Judging Seminar, in association with the ABPS on Saturday 16 September 2006 at the British Philatelic Centre, 107 Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6PT. This seminar will cover the Traditional and Postal History Classes and will be lead by John Sussex, FRPSL., starts a little earlier than usual - at 10.15 am 

The cost includes coffee and lunch and is £8 for National P S members, and £10 for others. Places are limited and the deadline for application is 5th September 2006.   
 
The National Philatelic Society is grateful to the British Philatelic Trust for allowing the use their premises for this seminar 

June 2006

107th Annual General Meeting of the National Philatelic Society 8th July 2006.  

PHILATELIC SEMINARS LAUNCHED

The 107th Annual General Meeting was held at the British Philatelic Centre on Saturday 8th July. Key developments in the year had been the successful introduction of philatelic seminars, of which five were held during the Season, some mid-week, others on Saturdays, and the appointment of David Alford as editor of the Society's journal, Stamp Lover.  David succeeds Michael Furnell, who sadly died last November. 

The Library reported another busy year, including the kind and thoughtful from the late 
Bill Parmenter which resulted in a large improvement in our holdings of South American material.

The President, Richard Pratt, was re-appointed, as were the Vice-presidents and the Officers

Postal History Collecting Seminar - Saturday 1st April 2006 

The opportunity to learn more about postal history collecting and displaying from two of the experts in this field is to be offered by the National Philatelic Society. A day-long seminar on this subject is to be held on Saturday 1^st April at its Charterhouse Street headquarters.

The speakers are John Jackson FRSPL, who is Chairman of the Society of Postal Historians and whose displays include the Postal History of the Dutch colonies, and Patrick Frost, whose main forte is the postal history of Great Britain. The topics include how to choose a subject, gather material and organise a collection, and how to select material to display and arrange it for competitions.  

Primarily this is an opportunity to bring along material for "constructive criticism" by John and Patrick. Please therefore remember to bring examples of your collection (16 or 32 pages) to assist in the critique.

The cost includes coffee and lunch and is £8 for National P S members, and £10 for others.  Places are limited and the deadline for application is 17^th March 2006.  

Half Day seminar for Beginners and those wishing to return to Philately

The National PS is holding a half-day day seminar on Wednesday 22 March 2006
 
                             Problems in beginning a Philatelic Collection

The big attraction of stamp collecting is that it need not require lots of money or energy. And it can help you learn about different countries, world events, famous people, species of animals, sports or whatever interests you.

If you are thinking of taking up this hobby for the first time, or returning to your former pastime, the National is holding this seminar to help explain what stamp collecting – philately is all about. 

These days philately is not just about stamps, it can also be about collecting many things relating to the postal system and the delivery of mail.

You will hear about the different types of stamps and other philatelic items you can collect and study and also the different aspects of the hobby. Some of these such as social philately have only developed during the past decade. You will also hear about how to acquire material and how to store safely your stamps and covers. You will also hear about local and national philatelic societies, which bring like-minded collectors together.

The seminar will commence at 13.45 but the National Philatelic Society Library will be open to attendees from 10.30 on the day.

The cost to cover refreshments and expenses is £3 (£2 for National Philatelic Society members). 
 
The National Philatelic Society is grateful to The British Philatelic Trust for the use their premises for these seminars.

December 2005

John Leathes (left) and Ron Rakusen (right) having received their trophies from Richard Pratt, President, National PS being present

The National held its annual 16 sheet competition on December 10 which attracted 16 entries, a welcome increase on the previous year

The winner of the Traditional Philately class was first time entrant Ron Rakusen, with a study of the Hong  Kong 1891 Jubilee overprints. Second was John Davis with Jamaica War Stamps and their uses, third John Leathes with the Spanish republic submarine mail issue. 

In the Postal History class, John Leathes emerged winner with "The Italian Connection" in the Mediterranean, second was Michael L. Goodman with U.S. underpaid international mail 1870's to 1900's and third, Rodney Knight with Rio Muni 1960-1968.

There was only one thematic entry, from John Leathes, with "Some spots in Africa" a study of African cats , which was awarded to  John Leathes and there were no entries in the Aero Philatelic class.

The judges were Brian Sole and Brian Asquith, FRPSL..

 Traditionally, Competitions Day sees the presentation of the annual Johnson Award for philatelic writing. On this  occasion the award has been given posthumously to the late Michael Furnell, former editor of Stamp Lover who  sadly died in November 2005.

The Conservation and/or Restoration of your Collection 
                                        - A Half-day Seminar on Wednesday 23 November 2005 

The opportunity to keep up to date with current thinking and discuss controversial aspects of the keeping of philatelic material will be given at this Seminar being held by the National Philatelic Society at the British Philatelic Centre, 
107 Charterhouse street, London EC1M 6PT on Wednesday 23rd November.

The speakers are David Beech FRPSL who is Head of the Philatelic Collections at the British Library and Professor John C West CBE, RDP, FRPSL who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 2000 and was, until last year, its ex-officio keeper.

The afternoon seminar will commence at 13.45 but the National Philatelic Society Library will be open to attendees from 10.30 on the day.

The cost to cover refreshments and expenses is £2 for National Philatelic Society members, and £4 for others. Places are limited and the deadline for application is 8th November 2005    

 SORRY BUT THIS SEMINAR IS NOW FULLY BOOKED

The National Philatelic Society is grateful to The British Philatelic Trust for the use their premises for this seminar

August 2005

Judging Seminar for both Competitors and Judges – Saturday 15 October 2005 

A National Philatelic Society seminar on Saturday October 15 aims to  assist competitors and provide an opportunity for local and federation judges to brush up their skills. The National will be holding this daylong seminar at the offices of Grosvenor Philatelic Auctioneers, 399-401 Strand, Third Floor, London WC2R 0LT. The seminar will be led by Alan J Griffiths, FRPSL, FBSAP, a national and international accredited judge and recent recipient of the ABPS Congress Medal. 

His own collecting interests of Queensland; Prince Edward Island and Transatlantic Postal History are developed and exhibited to a high standard, winning the Silver Mail coach at national level and the Harmer’s Diamond Jubilee Trophy - the Prix d’Honneur at international level at Stampex. 

Alan also finds time to help with the training of apprentice judges and has been Hon. Secretary of the British Association of Australian Philately since 1993 and on the Council and several committees of The Royal Philatelic Society of London.

The cost includes coffee and lunch and is £8 for National P S members, and £10 for others. Places are limited and the deadline for application is 1st October 2005. 

August 2005  

Thematic Collecting Seminar – Saturday 20 August 2005  

The opportunity to learn about thematic collecting and displays from two of the renowned experts in this field is being held by the National Philatelic Society.

A day-long Thematics Seminar is being held on Saturday 20 August at its Charterhouse Street headquarters.

The main speakers are Brian Sole FRPSL, whose displays include "Cycling" and "How to display and exhibit Thematics" and Sheila Foster, who presents "Roses".  The topics include how to choose a subject, gather material and organise a collection, and how to select material to display and arrange it for competitions. There is also the opportunity to bring along material for "constructive criticism" by Brian and Sheila.

The cost includes coffee and lunch and is £8 for National Philatelic Society members, and £10 for others. Places are limited and the deadline for application is August 5.  

June 2005

106th Annual General Meeting of the National Philatelic Society 9th July 2005 

SOLID ACHIEVEMENTS

Chairing the Annual General meeting in the absence of the President, Richard Pratt, due to illness, Vice-president Dane Garrod advised the well attended meeting of a past year marked by some setbacks on the one hand, and solid achievements on the other. The former included the loss of our Packet Secretary, Brian Sylvester who sadly died in January 2005 and the fact that despite an encouraging start, many of last season's evening Meetings had unfortunately not attracted enough members to justify their continuation in 2005/06. 

Against this, the Postal History Packet had been launched successfully, the steps taken to develop the Postal History in 2004 were progressing and the new Seminars are being introduced, with four now arranged to take place between August 2004 and April 2006. With the Literature Sales also now well-established, the Society now has more than ever to offer members, wherever they live.

The President, Richard Pratt, was re-appointed, as were the Vice-presidents and the Officers.

As is now customary, the AGM was followed by the usual monthly Auction and then Members Displays. The latter proved particularly successful with a wide -range of interesting material on offer.

July 2005

Keen Interest in New Postal History Circuit 

The new postal history circuit of the National Philatelic Society's exchange packet has already attracted interest from 60 members although it was only launched in December last year, according to Rod Thompson, Postal History Packet Secretary. He said, " We have already sold material, and so far postal history from Great Britain has been the most popular."

The circuit sets a minimum price of £2 per item, although sets of covers can be included in the price. For reasons of security, and cost of postage, only photocopies are sent to members of the circuit on approval. If a member wishes to buy, then they send in their payment and then receive the original. Members wishing to sell send the secretary their material and which is then photocopied for circulation at the National PS.

The circuit is divided into three sections, Great Britain, General Foreign and Commonwealth.
and is an addition to the Society's stamp circuits and its monthly auction sales.

Collectors wishing to join the postal history circuit either as buyers or vendors, please contact the National PS or visit the Society’s website for membership application forms and an information pack.

January 2005