American Philatelic Society

American Philatelic Society

The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting and organization of philately in the world, with almost 44,000 members as of 2007. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide.

The society was founded on September 14, 1886 in New York City, originally named the "American Philatelic Association", and the following day elected John K. Tiffany as its first president. It was changed to its present name for a few months in 1897, then back, then permanently in 1908. Society membership reached over 4,000 in 1940, and included US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. At the 1942 APS convention, board member Donald Lybarger argued for the creation of a central office near the geographic center of the philatelic community, but not be in a large city. When he was elected APS President in 1943, he was able to turn his vision into reality. At the 1944 APS convention it was announced that the APS would accept applications for the position of Executive Secretary. H. Clay Musser of State College, Pennsylvania, was selected and the APS office was established there on April 1, 1945. As a testament to their leadership, the APS became the US representative to the Federation Internationale de Philatelie in 1947.

By the mid-1990s, the expanded services, staff and APRL had outgrown the facility in State College. A study determined that because of high local real estate values, it was not cost effective to expand the existing building. A search of alternatives identified a property ten miles from State College that was basically sound and could be acquired for a reasonable amount. In 2002, after much discussion, debate and soul searching, the APS committed millions of dollars to purchasing and renovating what was known as the Match Factory in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. The American Philatelic Center was dedicated in June, 2004.

The APS operates a multitude of services for its members:
* [http://www.stamps.org/Services/ser_TAP.htm "The American Philatelist"] - monthly magazine
* [http://www.stampstore.org/ StampStore] - online stamp buying
* [http://www.stamps.org/Services/ser_StampSalesDivision.htm member sales circuits] via mail
* [http://www.stamps.org/TheLibrary/lib_AbouttheAPRL.htm American Philatelic Research Library]
* [http://www.stamps.org/Services/ser_StampInsurance.htm Insurance] for stamp collections
* [http://www.stamps.org/Services/ser_AboutExpertizing.htm American Philatelic Expertizing Service]
* [http://www.stamps.org/directories/dir_AccreditedJudges.htm Accreditation of Judges and National Exhibitions]
* [http://www.stamps.org/Education/edu_PhilatelicEducation.htm Educational opportunities]
* [http://www.stamps.org/Services/ser_ComplaintProcess.htm Member "Code of Ethics" and a Complaint Process]

The membership includes over 1600 commercial stamp dealers and about 700 local stamp clubs. In addition, some 200 specialty societies are affiliated with the APS. The organization has two national events each year: APS AmeriStamp Expo is held each Winter and APS StampShow is scheduled in the Summer. Both shows rotate to different locations around the country. The Summer event is the largest annual national show with 150 dealers, 10,000 pages of exhibits, meetings of more than 25 national societies, and over 100 educational seminars.

External links

* [http://www.stamps.org/ APS homepage]
* [http://www.stamps.org/directories/dir_UsefulLinks.htm APS Useful Links webpage]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • American Philatelic Society — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda La American Philatelic Society (APS) es la federación filatélica de los Estados Unidos, la más grande de las asociaciones filatélicas del mundo con 44.000 miembros (2005) en 110 países, incluyendo comerciantes… …   Wikipedia Español

  • American Philatelic Society — L’American Philatelic Society (APS) est la fédération philatélique des États Unis. Elle est la plus importante association philatélique dans le monde avec près de 44 000 membres en 2005. Son siège se trouve à Bellefonte, en Pennsylvanie.… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • American Philatelic Society — Hauptsitz der APS Die American Philatelic Society (APS) ist der größte philatelistische Verein der Welt. Der Verein hat fast 44.000 Mitglieder aus 110 verschiedenen Ländern (Stand: 2007). Gegründet wurde der Verein am 14. September 1886 in New… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Chicago Philatelic Society — Location USA Origins Chicago Stamp Collectors Union Key people club president Area served Chicago, Illinois, area Focus beginner to advanced Mission apprec …   Wikipedia

  • Royal Philatelic Society London — Le siège londonien de la RPSL au 41 Devonshire Place. La Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL, « société philatélique royale de Londres ») est une association philatélique britannique fondée en 1869. Son but est de promouvoir et de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Philatelic investment — Philatelic Investment, the investment of funds in collectible postage stamps for the purpose of realizing a profit, is a recent phenomenon when compared to other traditional investment endeavours. Investing in rare stamps is not for the novice.… …   Wikipedia

  • Philatelic fakes and forgeries — Brighton forgeries of the stamps of Jammu and Kashmir produced by Harold Treherne. In general, philatelic fakes and forgeries refers to labels that look like postage stamps but are not. Most have been produced to deceive or defraud. Learning to… …   Wikipedia

  • Philatelic literature — is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history.It is generally divided into the following categories: # Stamp catalogs ## Single country catalog ## Worldwide catalog ## Geographic area… …   Wikipedia

  • British Library Philatelic Collections — British Library Philatelic Collections …   Wikipedia

  • U.S. Philatelic Classics Society — The U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Type not for profit organization Location State of Indiana, USA Origins The Three Cent 1851 57 Unit of the American Philatelic Society Key people Wade E. Saadi Area served Worldwide …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”