Stephen says –

Welcome to this second newsletter of 2019, time seems to be going really quickly.

Exhibitions
It’s a shame there isn’t a national exhibition in New Zealand this year as I find they are a great place to catch up with fellow collectors with many overseas exhibitors also find our exhibitions an excuse to visit New Zealand.  Many of us around the country are busy putting our energy into preparations for the upcoming NZ2020 international exhibition in Auckland next March.  Once this is event is over I understand a couple of clubs will start planning for half- or full-national exhibitions in the coming years.

Since the previous newsletter I’ve had the opportunity to visit International exhibitions in Singapore and China.  The FIAP exhibition in Singapore was a similar size to that being planned for NZ2020 and it gave me and other New Zealand visitors a chance to review the layout and planning.  There were a few things we hadn’t thought of and also some different ways of doing things we had planned; these will be put in place for NZ2020.  There was a good number of dealers and plenty of visitors at the show – an advantage with Singapore being a major Asian transport hub with tens of 1,000s travelling through each day.

The China FIP exhibition was the largest I have visited with something like 3,500 frames of competition material and another 1,000 frames of display material.  The hall area was huge with well over a 100 postal administration and dealer stands.  The trouble for me was there were few overseas dealers and I couldn’t find much to buy.  What did surprise me was the large number of people looking at the exhibits – especially the Chinese exhibits.  Unlike at New Zealand exhibitions visitors appeared to be from all age groups and there was a large number of children attending.  The population of China is huge compared to New Zealand but I got the feeling sending mail is still common place there and with it usage of stamps on mail.

NZ2020
NZ2020, the 37th Asian international exhibition, is been organised by NZ2020 Stamp Exhibition Inc. on behalf of Federation.  At the Palmares in Singapore the FIAP flag was handed over to NZ2020 and, all of a sudden, I realised 19 March 2020 is going to be on us before we know it.  Everything so far is going to plan, e.g. venue, frames, promotion, stand sales, etc. so the next main thing that will make the exhibition is entry applications.  The closing date is 31 October so if you are thinking about entering please get your entry form in sooner rather than later – you will be surprised how quick the time will go.

The NZ2020 website is constantly been updated so for more information go to http://nz2020.nz

NZPF AGM

Federation’s AGM on 23 November will soon be on us.  Emails have been sent to all society members seeking nominations for President and Secretary and any notices of motion.  This year’s AGM will be held in Wellington.  The attendance at AGMs in recent years has been very good due as they have been held in conjunction with a National exhibition.  However, as there is no exhibition this year I suspect attendance will be down.  If you feel something needs discussing or things need changing make sure you attend or at least be sure your society appoints a delegate to act on their behalf.

Frames

The upgrade of 640 frames has been completed and the frames look great.  Now, we must decide what to do with the remaining 300 or so surplus frames.  Some of the better ones will be kept as spares and parts from damaged frames will be used for any future maintenance.  However, as we are paying $45 per month for their storage we cannot afford to retain the rest.  Some of these are damaged and many will need some TLC.  If you have a use for them or can think of a use please let us know otherwise we will have to discard them.

I can be contacted by email at any time – [email protected]

Stephen Chivers

2 Club news

The following details the information presented to the Federation meeting in July by your regional delegates.  In many cases the information has been provided to them directly or through the clubs’ newsletters.  Some time is set aside each meeting to discuss these reports as they are intended to inform the executive of the activities of the Federation’s members and identify issues they might be able to address.  They are included here to show the wide spread of activities of our societies around the country.

We are sure you will find some of the comments of interest and some may surprise you.

Please ensure your delegates are advised of your club’s activities and concerns so they may be raised at the Federation’s meetings.

PHILATELIC YOUTH COUNCIL

The three remaining youth clubs have reported modest numbers still turning up for the meetings.

Work to update at on existing publications, the PYC Guide and Leaders Resource kit to update their content and enable them to be put onto the PYC Website, is continuing.  Paul McTaggart is doing a great Job co-ordinating both the updates and the Website.  A good number of people are visiting a variety of pages on our website.

The stamp camp planned for early July was cancelled when the numbers dropped below the level which would have made it viable even though there was COGS funding available.  PYC have applied for COGS funding again for other activities and indications are they will receive support again.

PYC has managed to find someone to take on the role of Fun Philately editor so, after not producing issues for over a year, it is hoped this will get back on track.  Thanks to Josh Black for putting up his hand.

It is hoped attendance at promotional events will find youth who are interested in the hobby and want to join the clubs.

NORTHERN REGION

Auckland Philatelic Society
Annual exhibition in June went well for dealers.  Advertising was done using the NZSDA mailing list and no NZ Herald advertisement. There were 120 attendees resulting in potentially 3-4 new members.  There were no officer changes after the AGM.  The second year of The Chase-style quiz was well received by members.

Suburban
No officer changes after the AGM.  Membership stands at 25 with approximately 12 attending per meeting.

South Auckland Philatelic Society
The Annual fair in April went well for dealers.  Advertising was done using the NZSDA mailing list and again no NZ Herald advertisement.  There were 80 attendees plus 20 members/dealers resulting in one prospective new member.  A half-hourly door prize was used to encourage the collection of names/addresses for the database. There were 36 entries with eight new additions to the mailing list.  The rent for the Fair Hall will be going up next year so dealer table fees will increase.

Taupo
Monthly newsletters are being received (including by the Federation secretary who appreciates the information).  There has been a change of meeting day to the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7pm.  Meetings are held in a member’s homes.

Whangarei
Attendance was up to 18 at the last reported last meeting.  They are enjoying excellent outside speakers. The Stamp Fair was very successful for dealers.  There was steady numbers throughout the fair with four prospective new members.  Advertising was by using Neighbourly and a weekly ad in the local paper.

North Shore
Meetings are well attended.  Excellent new speaker on Dunedin exhibition material was well received. “Battle of the Hills” contested annually with Waikato Philatelic Society was won by Waikato.

Waikato
Ambury Shield 2 November 2019.  Dealers expected are Alan Craig, Warwick Jost, David Bevan, Ian Tan, Eric Diamond and Jacob Liefting (in his last year of trading).  Advertising for the show is done using local radio stations.  General meetings have 20-30 attendees.  Their venue rental is increasing.

Howick
Tane McManus is the new president [email protected] ph 021792296.  He is looking to improve the profile of the club.   He is keen to get members to agree to NZPF membership and which would enable them to have a page of club events and details on the NZPF webpage.  They have 14 members and have good participation in their monthly 1-page competition.

Postal History
They have purchased a digital magnifier (a “visualiser” perhaps in other peoples’ terminology) for projecting a speaker’s pages and items on to a screen during talks at their Auckland meetings.  They are also considering between a large TV screen or data projector.

Zeapex Trust
Current trustees are Gerald Ellott, Trevor Bevan, Mark Benvie and Denise Rosenfeldt.  $5,000 has been provided as a donation to NZPF.  $30,000 has been loaned interest free to NZ2020 Stamp Exhibition.

Northern Association
Membership fees for Northern Association were reviewed at their AGM.  Subscriptions are set at: Members (clubs/societies) with up to 19 members – $10; 20-49 members – $30; and, 50+ members – $50.  This will reduce the cost of membership significantly for all but the small clubs where it was decided that the $10 minimum fee should not change (although the previous minimum was for clubs with up to 10 members). The reason for the change was related to the NZPF now covering the cost of regional delegate travel expenses.

The clubs/societies in the region all seem reasonably happy with a good level of activity.

CENTRAL REGION

The Wellington Philatelic Society, the Hutt Valley Philatelic Societies held their AGMs in April. Both Societies closed their AGM’s successfully with the election of officers and committee members allocated to lead them into the new financial year.

The Central Districts Stamp and Coin Expo (incorporating Convention) was held on Saturday the 13 April at the Palmerston North Community Centre.  It was well attended with good presence from dealers and local clubs.  There were 26 displays from Societies to view and talks from Andrew Sknar (Youth, Wellington) and Sue Vernall (Wellington).  The Hutt Valley Philatelic Society has been appointed as the organising club for next year’s event.

The AGM for the Central Districts was also held at the event.  Several NZPF officers and the Central NZPF delegates attended the meeting.  Paul McTaggart gave a brief overview to those present on the workings of the NZPF.  There was agreement that a summary report would be provided to the Societies after NZPF meetings in the future.

There was a smattering of others from Societies/Clubs at the AGM.  The issue with the new voting for a NZPF Central Delegate was raised and it was agreed the current process should proceed unless a new process was presented first at the AGM and agreed by Societies/Clubs.

Following on from this, the established process was continued and Leigh Gravestock was subsequently nominated by several of the Central District Societies and re-elected.  Congratulations Leigh!

The Wellington Regional Stamp and Coin Show was held over the 25 – 26 May with very good attendance. Dealers spoken to were very pleased with attendances and sales made over the two days.  Prior to the event the Neville Harris competition was judged with Wellington Philatelic Society coming in the winners once again for 2019.  The Wellington society was also the winners of last year’s one-frame interclub competition and are thus to host the 2019 competition (see details elsewhere in this newsletter).  Well done Wellington.  In the May meeting the Wellington Philatelic Society conferred life memberships to Patrick Brownsey and Bob Watson. Congratulations to both.

The 83rd AGM for the Taranaki Philatelic Society was held on 3 June with 15 members in attendance. Officers of the Society were appointed for the 2019/2020 period.  Honorary membership was approved for Gillian Grimwood for her services and varying times to the Society as President, Secretary, Circuit co-ordinator and Newsletter Editor over many years.

On 5 June Paul McTaggart attended the Manawatu Philatelic Society as the NZPF Central Region Delegate, providing the Society with an update on the workings of the NZPF and also presented on his Open Class VC exhibit.  The Society was very welcoming, and an excellent evening was had by all.

It is noted that the newsletter from the Upper Hutt club has some more colour and feature articles.  Credit to Andrew McNiven.

The Wellington Philatelic Society is going Social with its launch on Facebook. Their experience will be of value to other Societies considering this approach in the future.

On a general note, it is noted that most Clubs / Societies are offering discounts for e-mail distribution of their newsletters.  However, given the lack or irregularity of cancellation by NZ Post on mail this may not be as much of an issue as previously thought!

SOUTHERN REGION

Marlborough
The last few months have been quite busy on the Blenheim side of the top of the south

April turned out to be a bit of a bonus meeting with Jeff and Jenny Long showing some of their postcards and Rick Oxenham with his Round Kiwis.  Quite staggering what’s out there when you look.

The annual 8-page competition in May had a number of entries.

There was further discussion on getting a visualiser for use by club members and an aid for guest speakers and this was finally purchased and a new screen installed in time for the July meeting where it was shown to all members present.  Members were asked to bring along a few pages to show under the visualiser.  It was well received.  It was amazing what it could do and the ease of use for people with very little playing around.  Most people are able to use it competently.  It’s also a lot quicker than scanning so I imagine exhibitors will be using it to copy their exhibits in the future.

The occasion was also used to promote the library to the members as many didn’t really know what was there.  Louise Brownie gave a brief talk on the library and asked members to use it.

July brought a workshop with Norman and Jenny Banfield with a focus on exhibiting.  Although not a big turnout for the workshops on Saturday and Sunday morning those who attended will have learned something and it was a thoroughly enjoyable session.

The Banfields also judged the club’s one-frame competition which Rick Oxenham won with his Chilean airmails.  As a result he was the inaugural winner of the Alan Taylor Trophy (many older collectors will remember this name).

The annual combined meeting with the Nelson Philatelic Society was to take place shortly after this report and it will be good catch up for everyone.

Nelson
Unfortunately the reporter had not been in recent contact with Nelson but they are apparently having well-attended meetings.

Kidsfest 2019
In July the local youth stamp club hosted a KidsFest event entitled ‘Stampfest’.  Normally coinciding with the regular Saturday club meeting date, this year it was on the Friday in an attempt to attract more children and boost numbers.  The philatelic rooms are ideal for such an event and areas were set up that focused on activity stations (soaking and hinging), areas for talks and quizzes prepared

It was a hectic but fun time with the children attending given instructions on how and what to collect, basic introduction to soaking, hinging, etc. and guess the number of stamps in the jars and a quiz to complete.  All children received a goodie bag at the finish.  This year approximately 25 children attended and all enjoyed themselves.

NZ Stamp Collectors Club 75th Anniversary
Sue Claridge, Southern region delegate and member of the Club, joined with others at the 75th Anniversary dinner of NZ Stamp Collectors Club committee.  A souvenir CAL was produced .

16th National Philatelic Literature Exhibition
The literature exhibition has around 70 entries (similar to the previous one) and funding has been received from the NZ Philatelic Trust.  Prizes have been confirmed and mark sheets have been completed.  Results and the material entered will be presented during the weekend of 28-29 September.

NZ POSTCARD SOCIETY

As this newsletter was going to print the Postcard Society was having its Annual Convention at the Palmerston North Leisure Centre.  Being held over the weekend of 14-15 September 2019 it was to follow their normal successful pattern of presentations and displays followed by the Convention dinner on Saturday while Sunday gave members and the public the opportunity to peruse the stock and buy from attending dealers.

3 Information for exhibitors

LOCAL, REGIONAL AND INTER-CLUB COMPETITIONS 2019

NZ Inter-Club One-frame Competition – 28-29 September
Displays of the entries for this event will be shown along with other displays 10:00-4:00 on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 September at “thehub”, Kilbirnie Crescent, Kilbirnie, Wellington.  All societies received full details of the competition including rules, fees, dates, etc. and entries are now with the Wellington Philatelic Society.

Other information relating to the weekend will also be available on the NZPF website or contact either [email protected] or [email protected]

North Shore Philatelic Society Exhibition – 5 October
The annual event run by the society will be held 10:00-4:00 on 5 October at St Georges Church Hall, 2 The Terrace, Takapuna.  Societies have been informed of the details.  For updates check their website http://www.northshoreps.com/html/events.asp.

Waikato Ambury Shield Day – 2 November
This annual event is to be held 10:00-4:00 on 2 November at the Fairfield Baptist Church Hall, 1101 Heaphy Terrace, Hamilton.  Full details can be found on the Waikato Society page on the Federation website.  Look for AMBURY SHIELD on https://nzpf.org.nz/societies-clubs/waikato-philatelic-society/

For these and other philatelic activities check the NZPF website at https://nzpf.org.nz/whats-on/

If you want your activity to be listed or information currently on the website to be updated or corrected please contact [email protected]

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

The remaining exhibitions for 2019 are as follows:

Details currently available for exhibitions in 2020 are as follows:

Other exhibitions have been indicated but dates have not been confirmed.

NZ2020 INTERNATIONAL STAMP EXHIBITION

Since the last newsletter a lot of activity has taken place, most of it behind the scenes.  Now, with a little over six months to go to the event, the activity is ramping up.  NZ2020 will need a lot of support from New Zealand collectors and their societies and they hope this will be forthcoming.

Closing date for anyone wishing to exhibit is 31 October 2019.
This does not give any potential exhibitor much time.  As all exhibitors must have reached the qualifying standard of 75 marks at a recognised exhibition this ensures you will be seeing some really good exhibits.

There will also be invited displays including example pages showing exceptional items from exhibits that have received Grand Prix Awards at recent International stamp exhibitions.

Trade stands
Most of the 40 trade stands have been sold with some internationally well-known names among the stand holders.  You can see who currently has stands by checking at https://nz2020.nz/576-2/

Venue, accommodation and transport
The exhibition venue is the Ellerslie Event Centre in the grounds of the Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland.  It has accommodation nearby and is readily accessible by car and public transport (rail, bus and taxi).

How can your society and its members help?
There are a number of ways they can help make the exhibition a success.

  • Come to the show: Take advantage of having an international stamp exhibition here in New Zealand by visiting the venue to look at the exhibits, checking what’s on offer at the trade stands, meeting old collecting friends and making new ones.
  • Be volunteer helpers: There is a need for voluntary assistance at all stages of the event.  The range of tasks required mean there will be ones that suit any society member and the time they may have available.  Please discuss volunteering at your society meetings and notify NZ2020 of any volunteers.

See https://www.nz2020.nz/the-exhibition/people/volunteer-helpers/

  • Purchase exhibition product: NZ2020 has a range of collectable products available for purchase and are advertised on the NZ2020 website. The latest pair of CALs have proved very popular.  They bear images of James Cook and the Endeavour taken from the one pound note and represent the 250th Anniversary of Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand.
  • Provide financial support: Running an international exhibition is expensive. Some of the ways in which societies/clubs and their members can provide financial support are described below.Patrons’ or Supporters’ Club see https://www.nz2020.nz/the-exhibition/people/supporters-and-donors/Frame sponsorship and advertising see https://www.nz2020.nz/dealers/advertising-opportunities/.Donation from $10 upwards are, of course, very welcome. A donation of $500 will attract for the donor Society an advertisement in the exhibition catalogue.

Register your interest

People can register their interest in receiving updates on the exhibition and the products available by completing the contact form at https://nz2020.nz/contact/.

4 Exhibition reports

SYDNEY STAMP & COIN EXPO 2019

NORTH ISLAND COMMISSIONER REPORT
This was an Australian national exhibition which included the Australasian Philatelic Challenge (last held 2016) and a Postcard Challenge.  New Zealand entered teams from both islands for the former and a combined NZ team for the latter.

There were 770 frames of material including 88 from India and some 116 from New Zealand, 79 from North Island.  All classes were included except One Frame.

The venue was the Hurstville Aquatic Centre.  Travel to the venue and back from the hotel near the airport was by minibus (driver – Glen Stafford) and took 30-60 minutes depending on traffic.  The organising committee had arranged transfer of exhibits by courier truck at the start and finish of exhibition.

North Island Results (individual and challenge team)

Lindsay Chitty # Maoritanga of New Zealand. The Culture of a Proud Race Open, 8fr, 91LG + SP
Jenny Banfield # Taxed From the Cradle to the Grave Rev, 5fr,90, LG + SP
Norman Banfield # Russia—Censorship of Mail 1878-1920 PH, 8fr, 90, LG
Patricia Capill # Barbados: The King George VI Seal Definitives 1938-1947 Trad, 5fr, 87, G
Amy Rosenfeldt # New Zealand Rose Definitives Yth, 3fr, 84, V
Rose McTaggart # Birds from the Coast to my Garden Yth, 2fr, 76, LS
Lindsay Chitty * Picture Postcards of King Country, New Zealand PC, 5fr, 86, G
Patrick Brownsey * The Fern in Local Culture PC, 1fr, 80, LV
John Campbell These are a Few of my Favourite Things PH2C, 4fr, 68, S
Gerald Ellott New Zealand The First Issue— Chalon Heads Trad, 8fr, 94, LG+SP
Nilo Dizon Optical Effects in Philately Mod, 3fr, 72, LS
Teresa Harry Officers in Charge of Scott Base, Ross Dependency, Antarctica Polar, 3fr, 66, S
Denise Rosenfeldt Auckland Domain, New Zealand PC, 2fr, 78, V
Michael Christensen Sir Charles Kingsford– Smith Aviator Open, 4fr, 80, LV
Monica Comrie The Happy Hen and her Partner, the Arrogant Rooster Open, 5fr, 78, V
Len Jury Molly the Dairy Cow Open, 5fr, 81, LV

# denotes North Island Australasian Challenge. * denotes New Zealand postcard challenge

  • Grand Award: Albert Cheung International Postal Routes China during Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945
  • Runner Up to Grand Award: Gerald Ellott New Zealand The First Issue— Chalon Heads.
  • Prizes – Lindsay Chitty—Best in Open Class, Jenny Banfield — jury discretionary prize.
Philatelic Challenge Postcard Challenge
Victoria 520 South Australia 348
NZ North Island 518 New Zealand 332
NZ South Island 515 ACT 327
New South Wales 505 Western Australia 316
Western Australia 503 New South Wales 312
Tasmania 483
Queensland 481
ACT 463
South Australia 458

Four of us travelled together – David Loe and his wife, Bob Gibson and myself – to spread the load of 60kg+ of exhibits.  David Loe and I were both accord judges, so we had good representation in the jury room, sometimes this is not the case.  The Australian Philatelic Federation are having trouble getting previous results out of their database (Showman) as they were using new software—Exhibition Aide.

This meant that unusually, no reference was made to previous results.  David and I were aware of previous NZ marks of course.  If a synopsis was submitted and included what had been revised from previous exhibitions this was very useful.  While we generally encourage synopses in New Zealand, this is not the case in Australia.

We spent 9 hours mounting exhibits and then judged for three hours on day one.  We were exhausted! Days 2-3 we judged or wrote critiques all day long working 8 hour days, Saturday was a 4 hour day writing critiques and that left the Sunday for critiques at the frames, some time at the dealers (closed 3pm) and then dismounting and packing-up.

Customs

Kevin Ross prepared NZ Export Entry and Import Entry.  The Australian broker prepared entry into and departure from Australia documentation.  There were no queries or inspection in either country.

I would like to thank:

  • All the exhibitors for entering
  • Bob Gibson and David Loe for assisting me with carrying/handling of exhibits, I would not have managed on my own.
  • NZPF for appointing me as Commissioner.

Sue Vernall, North Island Commissioner/Judge

SOUTH ISLAND COMMISSIONER REPORT

Thanks

  • To the NZPF for appointing me
  • To my wife for all the baggage carrying and frame mounting and dismounting
  • To the South Island collector base for their support
  • To Christchurch Philatelic Society for use of their library
  • To Sue Vernall for helping in every way but also arranging customs clearance for all NZ entrants

South Island Results (individual and challenge team)

Sinclair McClaren The Rise and Fall of the Axis Open, 5fr, 72, LS
Sue Claridge * The Hospitals of New Zealand PC, 4fr, 80, LV
Murray Willocks # 1960 Pictorials Trad, 5fr, 83, LV
Ron & Shirley Hebberd# American Civil War Revenues Rev, 5fr, 86, G
Lachlan Smith # Gold YthB, 4fr, 91, G+SP
Hadley Muller # Native Birds of NZ YthB, 2fr, 78, LS+SP
Lynne Nicholl # Tobacco Open, 5fr, 87, G
Paula Bailey English Cathedrals & Abbeys PC, 5fr, 65, S
Ross Marshall # USA/USSR Scientific exchange programme Polar, 8fr, 90, LG
Jeff Long *Dear Aunty, I am holidaying in Riverton, New Zealand PC, 1fr, 86, G

# denotes North Island Australasian Challenge. * denotes New Zealand postcard challenge

So well done on the team effort!  Many South Island exhibitors improved on previous results.  Thanks especially to Paula Bayley, Jeff Long and Lachlan Smith for entering.  They didn’t really want to and I was short of South Island entries.

Getting Exhibits

This was problematical and some notable South Island exhibitors are saving frame fees for 2020.  Going forward I suspect filling separate South Island teams will not be possible.  All exhibitors got their entries to me OK but it was an education for some regarding synopses, entry forms, etc.  Some support from Federation to the exhibitors may be useful to get the message over regarding the writing of synopses.

Jury room

Judging started late on the Wednesday due to it taking literally all day to load the frames (Aussie frames are difficult!). They could have done with more volunteers.

The judging was concluded on the Friday, critiques completed on the Sunday afternoon. The frames were emptied quite quickly and Sue and I returned to the hotel by 7pm Sunday evening.

Some Observations

I was team leader in the Open and Traditional (Australia and New Zealand) so I had plenty of homework.  There were 18 judges and two jury secretaries.  I had 31 exhibits to research before the exhibition which I did partly in the Christchurch Philatelic Society library.

Saturday night was the Palmares and Gerald Ellott’s “Chalon Heads” exhibit was a grand prix candidate. He was the runner-up to Albert Cheung’s “International Postal Routes of China during the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945”.  I had to give the valedictory speech for Gerald’s exhibit, quite an honour.

The youth judging was not quite in line with FIP rules but in other respects the judging was in accordance with normal guidelines.  The only departure from normal practice was to talk to the grand prix exhibits prior to viewing the exhibits as opposed to afterwards.

The jury room was also the bin room (not a problem) and a meeting room (problem).  It was therefore not secure.  But in other respects the Aquatic and Sports Centre was a good venue with good lighting and plenty of room.

In all there were perhaps 11 attendees from New Zealand at the exhibition. I thought the exhibition was well attended and there were a good number of dealers present.

David Loe, South Island Commissioner/Judge

CHINA 2019 11-17 JUNE

FIP World Stamp Exhibition organized by the All China Philatelic Federation with massive support from the State Post Bureau, Wuhan Municipal People’s Government, Hubei Province and China Post Group.  FIP Patronage and FIAP Auspices. FIP Coordinator was Tay Peng Hian. Exhibition held in Wuhan International Expo Center 11-17 June 2019. Official hotel -Intercontinental Wuhan 5 – 10 minutes from the exhibition hall depending where you were.

Exhibits

There were 811 competitive exhibits in 3,433 frames plus 145 literature exhibits receiving 40 Large Gold and 111 Gold medals. All FIP classes including Open and Picture Postcards.  In addition, around 1,000 non-competitive frames of exhibits from China. There were 83 Commissioners and over 80 jurors.

Awards

I took 53 frames – results:

John Goose Ink Jet Cancels on NZ Mail 1993-1994 PH, 5 fr, 80 V
Lindsay Chitty British Commonwealth PoW Repatriation Mail, Japanese Occupation of Far East WWII 1942-46 PH, 5 fr, 87 LV
Ross Marshall Russian Mail via Austrian Galicia to GPU 1875 PH, 5 fr, 87 LV
Raymond Wisbey London Postal History – Postmarks PH, 5 fr, 88 LV
Norman Banfield Russia – Airmail Services 1922-1950 AE, 8 fr, 91 G
Jenny Banfield History of and Advances Made in Medicine MA, 6 fr, 87 LV
John Paston The Suez Canal OP, 5 fr, 85 LV
Michael Christensen Tin Can Mail Island OP, 5 fr, 77 LS
Pauline Schwartz NZ “Central” – Otago’s Heart of Gold PC, 5 fr, 78 LS
Timothy Brown Sure & Steadfast, Story of the Boys Brigade YO, 2 fr, 75 LS
Alastair Watson KGV – 1½d LCs: Bock Dies I & II, NZ 1916-20 OF-PS, 1 fr, 84
Doug Tennant NZ 1934 7d Airmail – Overprint Types & Flaws OF-AE, 1 fr, 83

Congratulations to all exhibitors. Gold and Large Gold medals were presented at the Palmares.  Medals were large, boxed and heavy at 820 gr – with 11 at 9 kg to carry my thanks to Stephen Chivers and Jeff

  • The Grand Prix d’Honneur was won by Wei Gang (China) The Postal History of Mongolia1755-1921”;
  • GP International – Masayasu Nagai (Japan) Australia: Private printing Period in Victoria 1850-1859;
  • GP National – Ding Jinsong (China) The 1897 Red Revenue Surcharges of China.
  • The New Zealand special prize went to Gary Brown for his South Africa revenues – 1st Issue, Usage within Southern Africa.

Jury

We had two NZ judges – Jeff Long and Stephen Chivers.  Thank you to Jeff Long, Jenny Long and Jenny Banfield for helping obtain critiques in such a large hall.

Mounting and Dismounting Exhibits

Mounting: There was no separate Bin Room – Commissioners checked in at tables in the hall, confirmed they had all exhibits, then went to Customs, back to the tables where helpers for mounting and signing off exhibits were allocated. Commissioners mounted their own exhibits – the helpers for mounting were very good – obviously well trained. We also had help from Johnny Sang.

Dismounting: The reverse procedure operated – Jenny Banfield stayed in one central location with cases and exhibits while the team including Jeff & Jenny Long dismounted the exhibits. Each exhibit was signed for on dismounting.  Medals, certificates and Palmares were collected from a separate ‘Bin Room’.  After packing exhibits the cases had to be taken to Customs to be sealed before taking them back to the hotel.

I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Jenny and Jeff Long, and to Jenny for help in dismounting the exhibits on the evening of the last day.

Opening Ceremony

An opening ceremony was held on the first morning and comprised of one hour of speeches and entertainment held in the Convention Hall of the hotel with seating for around 900 people.

Commissioners’ Meetings

  • The Commissioners’ Room was a partitioned area in the corner of the main hall – too noisy and difficult to hear announcements even with a microphone.
  • There was no roll-call which resulted in repeated requests for one Commissioner who did not travel (Literature entry only).
  • A number of changes in times for meetings and the photograph; catalogues not available at the first meeting.
  • Tickets for the Palmares (renamed ‘Closing Ceremony’) were only available on that morning.

Outings

For Commissioners and Jury there were two outings: an evening boat outing on the Yangtze to see the city buildings and bridges all lit up and a day with morning and afternoon tours to museums etc with a box lunch back at the hotel.

Travel

  • Shuttle Raumati – Wellington Airport, QANTAS Wellington-Sydney-Hong Kong, Cathay Dragon HK-Wuhan.
  • On return, one case with exhibits missed the connection in Sydney – Import Entry produced for Wellington Customs – case was delivered home next morning.
  • Travel by QANTAS via Sydney was chosen as the connection time in Hong Kong using Air New Zealand was under 2 hours – too short when carrying exhibits. Also, with exhibits at 26 kg net weight, the higher 42 kg QANTAS baggage allowance per person meant there would be no weight problems.
  • Visa for China obtained in advance – official invitation with names, DOB and passport number was required. Cost NZ$140 per person.

Customs

New Zealand – Exhibit and flight information was sent to Kevin Ross who prepared Export Entry & Import Entry – latter shown to Customs at Wellington – no queries or inspection.

Chinese Customs requirements created extra work:

  • Three weeks before travelling I had to advise ACPF of the number and US$ value separately for stamps, covers and other items for each exhibit. (We were in Europe at the time but using email and thanks to cooperation from exhibitors we were able to achieve this.)
  • Travel had to be direct into Wuhan from HK, Bangkok etc. – travel via Shanghai or Beijing was not allowed because Customs in China are organized by Province.
  • On arrival at Wuhan airport we were supposed to be taken to Customs for bags to be sealed but we were taken through the green channel. On the bus to the hotel (one hour away) we were told we would have to go back to the airport to have bags checked by Customs.
  • On arrival at the hotel 2 hours of phone calls by exhibition staff resulted in Customs agreeing to check bags at the exhibition hall. We had to confirm the exhibits we had and produce 2 exhibits for checking. Johnny Sang was very helpful in explaining to Customs what had happened.
  • On Departure cases were sealed and numbered by Customs at the exhibition hall.
  • At Wuhan airport all bags were checked by Customs before proceeding to airline check in. Hand carry exhibits went through a separate Customs checking procedure (some Commissioners had to open bags and check contents of envelopes).
  • The problems encountered emphasize the importance for NZPF to appoint experienced Commissioners for certain countries.

Dealers, etc.

Only 3 auction houses (Spink, Gaertner, Interasia), a few local dealers, many postal administrations and lots of stands selling non philatelic items – probably 10 selling semi-precious stones.  It was good to see NZ Post at the exhibition in eye-catching red/yellow vests.

‘Thank You’

To Jenny for help in carrying exhibits and many other tasks (a Commissioner on their own would have had difficulty coping at such a big exhibition); and to NZPF for appointing me as Commissioner and for the financial contribution to the air fare.

Norman Banfield, NZ Commissioner.

PICTURE POSTCARDS AT WUHAN (CHINA 2019) FIP EXHIBITION

Picture Postcard Judges (from left) Zhang Weiwei, Li Zhifei, Jeff Long and Chan Huei Lock

This was the first time picture postcards was offered as an exhibiting class at FIP level.  Actually, only the second time at international level after Finlandia 2017, which was a European FEPA exhibition.

Wuhan is a large city on the banks of the Yangtse River, and would seem to have been largely rebuilt in the last 50-70 years, although it has a much longer history.  With ten million people and many large-scale industries and over 40 universities, the city is still growing rapidly.  The exhibition was held at an enormous complex of a hotel and exhibition halls.  There were 22 five-frame picture postcard exhibits, and several one-frame exhibits.  Eight-frame exhibits were not accepted.  Entries came from a wide range of countries – five from China, Estonia two, France two, plus Hungary, Iraq, Moldova, Slovenia, Thailand, Finland, Canada, Singapore, U K, Australia and New Zealand.

Not all entries were accepted, which is typical for international exhibitions, as space is limited. Having said that, there were over 3,500 frames of exhibits!

The picture postcard exhibits were of a good standard, with several excellent exhibits, and a number of very commendable exhibits.  China competitors had put in a huge effort since Jenny Long, Bernard Jimenez, and myself delivered a two-day seminar in Beijing in February this year.  All these exhibits had been translated from Chinese in the few intervening months, and the standard of English was very good.

No Large Gold or Gold awards were made but there were four Large Vermeil and eight Vermeil awards.  Several exhibits were really more like postal history, being more about the postal aspects of the material rather than about the picture, and several others were more like a monograph than an exhibit Some exhibitors could have thought further about the suitability of their title, and others had only a weak ‘red thread’ linking the story through the pages.  Title pages were good, although some could have benefited from a statement “ this exhibit . . .” to focus their storyline.

The most common areas where a number of exhibitors could improve are:

    1. Extending technical knowledge of the cards beyond that actually printed on the cards.

Several exhibitors did very well in this regard, using a different font or colour so judges could more easily see where the technical knowledge was extended.  Jenny Long and myself ran a seminar at the China 2019 exhibition focusing on this aspect of picture postcard exhibiting, and the presentation should now be available on the FIP website at http://www.f-i-p.ch

The judges allocated 15 marks for Knowledge and Research of the story, and 20 marks for Knowledge & Research of the cards (i.e. technical knowledge), so showing knowledge beyond that printed on the cards was important. This was not necessary for every card, but having information about a photographer or publisher or distributor etc. should not have been too difficult.  A number of exhibitors did have some information about the method of production – artist-drawn, real photo, collotype, letterpress-halftone, but for others further research was needed. Judges did not expect exhibitors to be experts in printing, but should be able to explain these four types of production methods.

    1. Rarity:

This is a difficult area for picture postcard exhibitors, as there are few catalogues and no long history of auctions selling individual cards, so exhibitors need to rely largely on their own knowledge.  However, rarity is worth 20 points, so it would help if exhibitors explained how they were going to highlight rare cards, and preferably explain why they are rare.  This especially applies in an area where there are large numbers of cards showing much the same image.

  1. Use of non-postcard material:
    This was not generally a problem, but several exhibitors took up most of a row with non-postcards material, or had such material on each page with a chapter heading, which then added to quite a lot of space.  Photos may be acceptable if an integral part of the storyline, but should be used very sparingly and certainly not be highlighted as rare ‘postcards.’
  2. The Idea and Plan was worth 10 points.

For most this was not an issue, but several exhibitors had only a few lines of plan, which is not much for an 80 page exhibit, or else had a detailed table of contents extending to 30 or so chapters.

Overall, a very commendable effort by exhibitors.  This was a first effort for many who were exhibiting beyond national level.  Singapore 2019 was coming up shortly after, and offered the picture postcard class.  In March next year, New Zealand will be holding an FIAP exhibition, and entries do not close until the end of October.  Picture postcards can be entered as one-frame, or five frames (or eight frames if the exhibit obtained Large Vermeil or above at Finlandia 2017, China 2019 or Singapore 2019).

Details can be found at www.nz2020.nz

Congratulations to all picture postcard exhibitors at China 2019, and I am sure both judges and viewers look forward to this class making further progress.

Jeff Long, Team Leader, Picture Postcards CHINA 2019

ROYAL *2019 * ROYALE

21-23 June 1019, Mississauga, Ontario.

The Royal 2019 stamp exhibition was a large, by their standards, Canadian national. There were 62 competitive entries covering 219 frames.

Information provided to me at the show indicated they have around five national exhibitions per year most with a 120 – 200 frame number range. There were also 54 dealers and 12 societies/organisations in attendance taking up about 75% of the floor area of the show.

For me it was a short lead up time for the exhibition with Tony Thackery withdrawing approximately 3 months before the exhibition.  The goal was to take 25 frames to the exhibition, even with a number of exhibitions all occurring in a close time frame, 37 frames was committed from 13 exhibitors without having to twist too many arms.  All exhibits were accepted.

Leading up to the exhibition most aspects went smoothly, with the customs requirements causing some late scrambling.  The exhibition committee indicated early on they would not be getting involved in customs requirements. I sought advice from our customs broker a few weeks out and then I had to seek further advice from others.  It was all worked out about the week before the exhibition.

Most exhibits were received within the time frame requested, however one exhibitor struggled to complete their exhibit and I ended up picking it up three days before departure.

Once I arrived in Toronto, the committee looked after me well. A venue issue resulted in the setup occurring much later than expected with 80% of the exhibits up on the Thursday night and the final exhibits going up Friday morning by 9am.

Exhibitors were expected to put up their own exhibits and there were only a small number of additional volunteers so I ended up helping mount exhibits as teams of two were required.  Once the majority of local exhibits were mounted, I mounted the NZ entries with the help of a few others.  A similar process occurred to take down the exhibits.

The judging team was six judges, including one apprentice – four Canadians (including the apprentice) one US and myself.  We judged as one team but exhibits had been split between the judges to act as first responder two weeks before the exhibition.  However, when we did our first walk through some first responder changes occurred.

Results

Stephen Chivers Leeward Island Postal Stationery PSty, 89, G + SP
Bob Gibson, Reducing Risk on our Roads Them, 88, G + SP
Mark Benvie New Zealand Law Courts Rev, 81, LV
Jeff Long Where were you in 1974 Experimental, 63, SB
Jenny Banfield New Zealand’s Medical Involvement in WWI Postcards, 84, LV
Michael Christenson NZ1990 One fr, 72, LS
Nilo Dizon Optical Effects in Philately Trad, 74, LS + SP
Sue Vernall William Brown Artist PostC, 79, V
Monica Comrie Honey Open, 88, G + SP
Ryan Smith The Armed Forces Youth, 86, G + SP
Annalise Smith Children’s Books Youth, 89, G + SP
Emma Rowe Desserts Youth, 83, LV + SP
Samantha Rowe Children’s Literature Youth, 80, LV + SP

The judging was done every quickly with the majority of judging finished by 5pm on Friday night. The marks were finalised on Saturday morning.  One evaluation form of an FIP equivalent standard was used, with an instruction on the form to change the knowledge marking for Thematic / Open exhibits.  It was evident early on the marking was generous and a good discussion on this took place.

An opportunity arose when an exhibitor, not exhibiting in the Royal show, loving the NZ approach to Thematics asked if I could evaluate her exhibit.  I took an opportunity to ask a number of NZ Thematic Judges so they could provide their opinion.  Our collective opinion was that this exhibit was at a Vermeil / Large Vermeil level.  At a previous Canadian National exhibition in May 2019 it had received a Large Gold medal (95 points) with only three frames.. This appeared to be a good indication of the standards. The exhibit had been increased to five frames for our review.

It was evident throughout deliberations there was more concern about the feedback to/from exhibitors if they didn’t get the award they had expected.

I reviewed all the NZ critiques and most were pretty basic with several judges preferring to talk to exhibitors at their frames before the feedback session.  Most of the judges on the Saturday / Sunday, outside of our judges’ meetings, were either attending other meetings or at the dealer stands.

From my perspective it was great to attend this exhibition.  The way they approached and managed the exhibition was quite different from New Zealand practice in a lot of ways.  It did make me appreciate the New Zealand approach and my eyes were opened with both good and not so good aspects.  A great learning experience and well worth the trip from my perspective.

Thank you for the opportunity. Tim Beach, Commissioner

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