The American Philatelist - March 2018

THE
MARCH 2018 $4.95
AMERICAN PHILATELIST
MONTHLY JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY
DOMINICA
Visiting the British Empire
— plus—
Faroe
Islands
St. Patrick’s
Day
Fidelity
Covers
AMERICA’S STAMP CLUB
WWW.STAMPS.ORG

MARCH 2018
CONTENTS
p. 232
VOLUME 132 • NO. 3 • WHOLE NO. 1,406
THE
AMERICAN
PHILATELIST
Since 1887 — The Premier
Philatelic Magazine in the Nation
FEATURES
p. 238
p. 228
EDITOR Martin Kent Miller, ext. 221
martin@stamps.org • aparticle@stamps.org
EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES
Jeff Stage, ext. 222 • jstage@stamps.org
Doris Wilson, ext. 223 • doris@stamps.org
ADVERTISING MANAGER Helen Bruno, ext. 224
hlbruno@stamps.org • adsales@stamps.org
American Philatelic Society
American Philatelic Research Library
100 Match Factory Place • Bellefonte, PA 16823
814-933-3803 • 814-933-6128 (Fax)
STAMPS.ORG • STAMPLIBRARY.ORG
232 FAROE ISLANDS
PHILATELY RISES FROM
WORLD WARS
By Robert A. Moss
Different aspects of stamps
and postal history can be
traced to the world wars in
the Faroe Islands, a necklace
of 18 volcanic islands in
the North Atlantic that are
linked heavily to Denmark.
DEPARTMENTS
260 Books and Catalogs
254 Buy and Sell
274 Classifieds
282 Digital Discoveries
258 Expertizing
238 POSTAL SYSTEM
MISHANDLES STAMPS ON
MODERN COVER
By Steven J. Bahnsen
A postal clerk – maybe hurried,
distracted or unsure of
the rules – covers a modern
padded envelope with an
odd, illegal array of stamps
and postmarks.
269 Index of Advertisers
210 Letters to the Editor
278 Membership Report
286 New Stamps
222 Our Story
228 COLLECTING
COAST TO COAST
By Wayne Youngblood
A cover that offers a true
philatelic foursome: four
stamps – three of them with
the same face, but all with
different Scott numbers –
that were issued on the same
day.
240 VISITING THE BRITISH EMPIRE
By Noel Davenhill
We travel to Dominica in the Caribbean’s Leeward Islands, first found by
Christopher Columbus during his second voyage to America in 1493. Dominica
has a history of early-use British stamps and some Leeward Islands stamps
and was a presidency and a colony before gaining independence in 1978.
p. 248 p. 250
p. 296
248 HOW I BECAME A 250 WHO WAS BEHIND FI- 296 WORLDWIDE IN A
STAMP COLLECTOR
DELITY AND ITS COVERS? NUTSHELL
By Rick Herman
By Jeff Stage
By Bob Lamb
A 1938 U.S. cover from the A lawyer from Minnesota Visiting historic Poland is
Fidelity Stamp Co. carries an who made a mark in New incredibly interesting and
interesting letter and story York and Washington, D.C., a look at its postal history
and was likely one of the created an interesting stamp
adds even more to your
earliest – perhaps the first – company that sold stamps, enjoyment of this central
serviced first-day cover of a offered a new issue service European country.
Prexie stamp.
and peddled covers.
266 Philatelic Happenings
204 President’s Column
270 Show Time
208 The Philatelic Experience
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Scott English, ext. 219
scott@stamps.org
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Ken Martin, ext. 218
kpmartin@stamps.org
GENERAL INFORMATION apsinfo@stamps.org
ADDRESS CHANGES requests@stamps.org, ext. 201
DIGITAL STRATEGIES SPECIALIST Mara Hartzell,
ext. 207 | mhartzell@stamps.org
EDUCATION/YOUTH Cathy Brachbill, ext. 239
cbrachbill@stamps.org
EXPERTIZING/QUICK ID Thomas W. Horn,
ext. 205 | twhorn@stamps.org
FINANCE Rick Banks, ext. 216
rbanks@stamps.org
LIBRARY/INFO. SERVICES Scott Tiffney, ext. 246
stiffney@stamps.org
MEMBERSHIP Judy Johnson, ext. 210
judy@stamps.org
SALES UNIT Wendy Masorti, ext. 270
stampstore@stamps.org
SHOWS/EXHIBITIONS Kathleen Edwards, ext. 217
stampshow@stamps.org
SHOW TIME LISTINGS
showtime@stamps.org
The American Philatelist (ISSN 0003-0473) is published
monthly by the American Philatelic Society, Inc., 100 Match
Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823.
Periodicals postage paid at Bellefonte, PA 16823 and at additional
mailing office. Price per copy $4.95. Canadian
Distribution Agreement Number 40030959.
Opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of
the writers and are not necessarily endorsed by the society
and/or the magazine. The American Philatelist cannot be responsible
for the accuracy of any information printed herein.
Postmaster: Send address changes to:
The American Philatelist
100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823.
©2017, The American Philatelic Society, Inc.
202 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / MARCH 2018

THE PHILATELIC EXPERIENCE
Connecting With Greg
Considering the Needs of the Hobby
At the Southeastern Stamp Expo in late January, I had the opportunity to represent
the APS at the show and to conduct the APS Town Hall meeting. During
that standing-room-only meeting, in addition to answering questions, I spoke
about the importance of two words — “balance” and “connections.” Within the context
of managing this journal, balance involves a continual pursuit of knowledge and scholarship,
while also maintaining a high degree of readability. The challenge is to balance
the depth of the content while appealing to the broadest possible audience. New readers,
especially younger ones, need to find something in philately that interests them
without intimidating them.
The importance of balance lies
in the hobby’s need to make connections.
Much like the journalistic
challenge of readability, we as philatelists
need to offer approachability
for the hobby to grow. If The American
Philatelist can enable a collector
to connect with a crucial aspect of
postal history — or if a stamp dealer
can guide a hesitant novice to a level
of comfort with professional philatelists,
then we all benefit through a
strengthened community.
Now, before you scoff or dismiss
my premise, consider Greg. Greg
worked security for the Atlanta show
Stamp shows like the Southeastern Stamp Expo
and February’s AmeriStamp Expo are times to
connect with fellow philatelists, encourage new
collectors and discover a new collection focus like
this example of U.S. Army emergency issues.
and was a bit of a talker. Greg, not
realizing he was talking with a show
participant, quietly admitted that the
attendees seemed like “…a bunch of
nerds.” But, being talkative, he made
conversation with several of the
“nerds” who shared what they collected and why. In short, Greg was able to make a
connection.
After his last shift, Greg walked the floor until the show closed. He came by the
APS table to share what he had bought and to talk about collecting. The connections
he made converted a skeptic and, although by a single person, grew our community.
So, as you peruse this edition, evaluate an upcoming show or consider your next
purchase, don’t lose track of your role in making connections. Regardless of the depth
of our philatelic knowledge, our financial resources or our collecting focus, we have a
responsibility to balance our interests with the needs of the hobby — take time to talk
and listen to the Gregs we all encounter.
................................................................................
BY MARTIN KENT MILLER editor
martin@stamps.org
APS Official Family
2016–2019
PRESIDENT
Mick Zais
mzais@newberry.edu
BOARD OF VICE PRESIDENTS
Robert Zeigler
ziggy_travesty@yahoo.com
Jeff Shapiro
dirtyoldcovers@aol.com
Patricia (Trish) Kaufmann
trishkauf@comcast.net
SECRETARY
Stephen Schumann
stephen.schumann@att.net
TREASURER
Bruce Marsden
mail@brucemarsden.com
DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE
Michael Bloom
mbloom@sinotech.com
Rich Drews
richbear427@hotmail.com
Peter P. McCann
ppm103226706@aol.com
Mark Schwartz
mark.schwartz1@verizon.net
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Stephen Reinhard
sreinhard1@optonline.net
STAMP THEFT COMMITTEE
Nicholas A. Lombardi
P.O. Box 1005, Mountainside, NJ 07092
stamptheft@stamps.org
APS INSURANCE PLAN
Hugh Wood Inc.,
220 Match Factory Place
Bellefonte, PA 16823
Toll Free: 888-APS-6494
Phone: 212-509-3777
Fax: 212-509-4906
aps@hughwood.com
ADDRESS CHANGES
To change your address online
visit stamps.org and log into your My APS
account. Or mail your new address information
to APS, 100 Match Factory Place,
Bellefonte, PA 16823 (Fax: 814-933-6128).
Please try to give us four weeks’ notice.
You can also add an e-mail address or
website to your APS record.
CONNECT ONLINE
aps_stamps
@american.philatelic.society
@APS_stamps
blog.stamps.org
wsradio.com/aps-stamp-talk
Editor,
The American Philatelist
@Stamplibrary
blog.stamplibrary.org
208 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / MARCH 2018