The 2010 Annual Meeting of the United States Stamp Society was held at the rejuvenated Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition in Oaks, Pennsylvania, over the April 9th weekend.  More than 40 members from coast to coast and border to border attended the show.

The official business of the Society was conducted at the Board of Governors Meeting on Saturday morning and the General Membership Meeting later in the afternoon.  The account of the Board Meeting is reported elsewhere in this issue, as are the General Meeting minutes and Committee reports.

We opened the show on Friday morning with the release of the Society’s latest publication, the 2010 Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog Supplement.  This 24-page full color 8½” x 11” publication contains additions and corrections to the 2008 Durland, as well as a listing of new issues from 2008, 2009, and right up to the Distinguished Sailors issue in February of this year.  We sold out of the supply that we brought to the show and virtually every buyer commented on the high quality of the publication.  The Supplement is priced at only $5 postpaid for members.  With a limited print run, I suggest that you order your copy today.  Thanks to the work of our Exhibit Photocopy Service, we were also able to release another top notch exhibit on CD – Mark Burnett’s 2009 version of “Washington-Franklin Postal History: Rates and Usages 1908-1923.”  I highly recommend this CD not only to Washington-Franklin collectors, but also to anyone already involved in, or thinking about, exhibiting.  It contains a wealth of useful information and ideas.

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A major expense for the United States Stamp Society is postage.  Each year the official business of the USSS requires approximately $2,000 in postage.

Discount postage usually sells for 75% of face value.  Any member who wishes to make a contribution of discount postage will receive a tax deductible contribution for the full face value of the postage plus mailing costs (including insurance).

Please mail discount postage to the Treasurer for distribution, or drop it off at any show where the USSS has a Society table.  A receipt indicating the amount of your tax-deductible, charitable contribution will be sent for all contributions in excess of $5.

—David Sugar, Treasurer
20 North Wacker Dr., Suite 2250
Chicago, IL 60606

President Nick Lombardi called the meeting to order at 1 PM.  Nick welcomed everyone and thanked Bob Rufe for being the liaison and setting things up for USSS at this meeting including the Friday evening dinner.  He also thanked Jeff Shapiro and Rich Nazar for making presentations here and expressed appreciation to everyone who exhibited at the show.  One reason that USSS gets so many invitations to shows is the good impression made by the Society.  Nick then asked all to introduce themselves by stating name, where from, and collecting interests.

The minutes of the meeting held at St. Louis, February 28, 2009 were published in the May, 2009 issue of The United States Specialist.  Jeff Shapiro made a motion to accept the minutes; second, Kim Johnson.  PASSED.

Nick then gave a brief review of the Board of Governors meeting held at 8 AM this morning:

Committees – Due to a new employment position, Paul Bourke had to step down as chairman of the Washington/Franklin Committee.  Paul has been replaced by Gerald Nylander.  Allen Bohart, chair of the Americana Study Group also asked to be relieved of that responsibility.  Nick said the position will be listed as vacant at this time and perhaps someone will step forward to fill that.  Twelve committees have submitted reports that will be published in The Specialist.

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The United States Stamp Society has released a supplement to the 2008 edition of the Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog.  This 24-page supplement includes six pages of corrections and additions to the regular issues section of the catalog, six pages of new issues from 2008, 2009 and early 2010, and seven pages of additions and corrections to the back of the book issues.  The supplement is produced in full color with numerous illustrations, especially of interesting pieces that have surfaced since the 2008 edition was released.  This supplement together with the 2008 edition provide an up to date listing of all plate numbers used on U.S. stamps.  The next edition of the full catalog will not be issued before 2012, so plate number collectors are urged to update their 2008 Durland with this supplement; or if your edition is earlier than 2008, it would be to your advantage to get both the 2008 edition and the supplement, as both are in color and will bring you up to date.

Pricing for these editions are as follows; all prices are postpaid in USA.

At the Annual Board of Governors meeting held at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exposition on Saturday April 10th, the Board approved the establishment of a research scholarship in conjunction with the Smithsonian National Postal Museum (NPM).  The scholarship is to be named the “National Postal Museum – United States Stamp Society Scholarship.”

This past year, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum established a scholarship program series for research of postage stamps or postal history leading to publication.  Each scholarship with a sponsoring organization commits up to $2,000 per year for a minimum of five years of funding towards travel costs for a trip to Washington, DC for the scholarship awardee.  The program will be administered by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum following their policies and rules.  Applications for scholarships will be reviewed by an Awards Committee responsible for selecting the awardee.  The committee will be comprised of two members of the co-sponsoring organization and the NPM Winton M. Blount Chair in Research, in consultation with the NPM curators.  The NPM will be responsible for insuring that the final product will be published and the paper or book will be vetted by the NPM and the sponsoring organization.

The National Postal Museum funded the initial five year, $2,000 scholarship.  In addition to the USSS, two other sponsoring organizations have also agreed to fund additional scholarships – the Confederate Stamp Alliance and NAPEX.

The Board of Governors believes that funding an NPM scholarship would be a valuable contribution towards research of United States postage and revenue stamps and postal history.  The following motion was passed:

The United States Stamp Society hereby agrees to fund a research scholarship as part of the National Postal Museum’s Scholarship Program.  The scholarship will be named the “National Postal Museum – United States Stamp Society Scholarship” and will be for scholarly research of United States postage and/or revenue stamps or postal history leading to publication.  Funding will consist of a five year commitment of $2,000 per year.  The program will be administered by the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.  Applications for scholarships  will be reviewed by an Awards Committee responsible for selecting the awardee.  The committee will be comprised of two members of the USSS and the NPM Winton M. Blount Chair in Research.  The NPM will be responsible for insuring that the final product will be published and the paper/book will be vetted by the NPM and the USSS.  The NPM also agrees that at the discretion of the USSS, the final product, or a condensed version approved by the awardee, may be published in The United States Specialist.

We encourage Society members to consider taking advantage of this opportunity to engage in research utilizing the resources of the National Postal Museum.  Additional information and scholarship applications may be found at http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/Scholarships/.

Here are the United States Stamp Society medal winners that have been reported from recent shows:

NOTE: If you have won a USSS award and have not seen it listed here, please let
me know and I will see that it is recorded.

Show Awards Chairs, please note:
USSS AWARDS PROGRAM

The USSS Gold Statue of Freedom Medal is sent automatically to all APS World Series of Philately shows.

The USSS Silver President’s Award medal is available upon request to all local and regional shows.

For more information, or to request an award, please contact me by e-mail or write to P.O. Box 690042, Houston, TX 77269-0042.

—Denise Stotts, Awards Committee

The American Philatelic Society is offering the Collecting United States Revenues course, taught by APS instructor Ron Lesher, July 14 - 15, 2010 prior to the Minnesota Stamp Expo as part of its continuing education series.

When we explore revenue stamps, we are learning about our past using actual artifacts.  The course is intended for the beginning collector of revenues, but there will be enough depth in the topics that collectors with some experience will learn something new.

The first day will cover the breadth of U.S. federal and state revenues: defining revenues, a survey of Scott-listed revenues and what lies beyond the Scott-listed revenues.  The number of federal revenue stamps is more that double the number of what is listed currently in Scott’s U.S. Specialized.

Some time will be spent exploring the role of tax stamps in our country’s history, including the tax that caused the Whiskey Rebellion, a state revenue stamp that was the subject of one of the landmark Supreme Court states rights decisions, and a federal tax in the 1930’s that was never collected because it was declared unconstitutional.

The second day will explore where to find additional information, how and what to collect: mint vs. used, plate markings, cancellations, collecting “on cover” revenues and some cautions in collecting revenues.

Ronald E. Lesher is a former government bureaucrat, retiring from the New Jersey Department of Education after more than twenty years of service.  His philatelic collecting interests include U.S. revenue stamped paper and alcohol-related federal and state tax stamps.  He is a nationally and internationally accredited judge.  His writings have been published in The American Philatelist, The American Revenuer, The American Stamp Dealer & Collector, Scott Stamp Monthly, and State Revenue News.

The course will be held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 3131 Campus Drive, Plymouth, Minnesota 55441. The cost is $195 for APS members and $295 for nonmembers.   Register online or by contacting Gretchen Moody, by email or phone: 814-933-3803.

To stay at the Radisson, call 800-395-7046 or 763-559-6600.  The Radisson is near the Crystal Community Center, the venue for the Minnesota Stamp Expo, July 16-18, 2010.  Directions and show information are available on the Minnesota Stamp Expo web site.

After a little more than a year at the helm of the Washington-Franklin Head Issues Committee, life has gotten in the way and Paul Bourke has announced he is stepping down as Chairman of the committee.  Happily, it is a good thing for Paul. His new position as an adjunct professor of history in the Massachusetts Community College system has enabled him to earn a living working at something he really enjoys.  Unfortunately, for us, the time required has left him little for anything else.

However, it is my pleasure to announce that longtime Committee member Gerald Nylander has offered to take on the job.  Jerry has been a member of the USSS (formerly the BIA) since 1975.  He is also a member of the APS, the Auxiliary Markings Club, Chicago Philatelic Society and the Collectors Club of Chicago.  He was a member of the Essay Proof Society and the Society of Philatelic Americans until they disbanded.

Jerry has written several articles for The Specialist and for Auxiliary Markings, the journal of the Auxiliary Markings Club.  He also authored one of the chapters in the Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting.  Most recently, he and Larry Weiss co-authored the series of articles about the newly discovered patterns of the double line USPS watermark.  For their discovery and articles, Jerry and Larry were selected to receive the Walter W. Hopkinson Memorial Literature Award for the best article or series of articles published in The United States Specialist during 2009.

Jerry has been collecting Washington-Franklins since 1974 and has worked with the Committee for many years helping to edit articles and furnish images for use in those pieces.  I wish to thank Jerry for taking on this role and I’m certain the USSS and the Committee will be well served.

—Nick Lombardi
President

This year more members than ever are making contributions to the USSS. All contributions beyond the regular annual dues of $25 qualify under current IRS guidelines as a tax deductible charitable contribution.  We acknowledge all contributions of $5 or more with a written receipt.

It has come to our attention that your contribution may be eligible for a matching grant from your employer.  Many companies have matching programs for contributions made by employees to eligible, recognized charitable organizations.  If you have recently made a contribution to the USSS and your company has such a program, please consider applying for a matching grant.

— David S. Sugar
Treasurer

Here are the United States Stamp Society medal winners that have been reported from recent shows:

NOTE: If you have won a USSS award and have not seen it listed here, please let
me know and I will see that it is recorded.

Show Awards Chairs, please note:
USSS AWARDS PROGRAM

The USSS Gold Statue of Freedom Medal is sent automatically to all APS World Series of Philately shows.

The USSS Silver President’s Award medal is available upon request to all local and regional shows.

For more information, or to request an award, please contact me by e-mail or write to P.O. Box 690042, Houston, TX 77269-0042.

—Denise Stotts, Awards Committee