A Review by Ernst M. Cohen
Catalogue de l'Exposition des 100 Lettres et Documents Philatéliques parmi les plus rares du monde (Catalogue of the Exhibition of 100 Stamps and Philatelic Documents Among the Rarest of the World), Anon., 1999, 176 pp., 8½ x 12", all color illustrations, hardbound with blue velvet cover and gold imprint, Swiss Francs SF75 + SF29 postage and handling, from David Feldman SA, P.0. Box 81, CH 1213 Onex, Switzerland.
Philatelic history was made at Monaco with two shows, in 1997 and 1999, at each of which only some hundred invited items were displayed non-competitively by an elite group, Club de Monte Carlo. By this and other means, the principality has taken steps to organize its own philatelic activities and to set itself somewhat apart from the bulk of organized philately.
The first of these Monaco shows was held on 28-30 November 1997. Held at the fairly recently opened Monaco Stamp and Coin Museum, it was to bring together 70 of the rarest stamps and philatelic documents, with an insurance value of over 200 million French francs. The show was preceded by a seminar on 'The Euro and Stamps,' held jointly at Monte Carlo by IFSDA and ESDA. It was concerned mostly with currency questions rather than with philately as such.
When the 1997 exhibition opened, the number of invited items had been increased to 104 rarities. They were shown in the treasure vault of the Museum, with long queues waiting daily to inspect them. No catalogue has ever been mentioned.
The exhibition for Monaco 99 featured the first Club meeting scheduled for 12-14 February 1999. Alex Newall, a member of the Club of Monte Carlo Consultative Council, called the Club of Monte Carlo the Elite of World Philately, where 'world' appears extraneous, judging by the title's citation and explanation in French, on page 7 of the catalogue, the original title being reproduced as the heading of this section.
The invited items, included one from the collection of the Queen of England, 7 from Postal Museums 96 belonging to the most renowned collectors of the entire world, all preceded by an item belonging to the Prince of Monaco.
It was reported that 83 members of the Club attended the meeting. President Alexander D. Kroo presided, flanked by Vice-Presidents Jean Fissore and Albertino de Figueiredu. Also present were Treasurer Maurice Boule, Secretary-General Amedeo Missaglia and Board Member Jacques Guiraud-Darmais. According to Hornung, the following were elected to the Consultative Council: Claes Arnrup, Enzo Carnio, Beppe Ermentini, the late Robert Françon, Alexander S. Newall, Robert P. Odenweller, Hermann W. Sieger, David Springbett, and Peng Hian Tay. Theme of the meeting, consisting of twelve papers and discussion, was 'The Present and Future of Traditional and Modem Philately.' The Club, originally intended to be restricted to 100 members, comprised 115 at its first convention and a waiting list of 148.
In contrast to most exhibition catalogues, at least of relatively recent vintage, the present catalogue is devoted almost exclusively to the exhibits and their descriptions. The color illustrations are, for the most part, excellent. The catalogue thus constitutes a fine repository of pictures that may be inspected for information, and of text that may be compared with what has become known in scholarly works about the stamps, postmarks, and postal usages to which they were subject.
As might be expected, the catalogue reflects some, though by no means all, fashions of philately that developed over almost 160 years of collecting, such as the single stamp (of unusual face value) on cover, large numbers of low value stamps used together, rates put together with different colorful stamps, and stamps of different postal administrations used in combination. I don't remember seeing any covers that went around the world, fancy cancels, plate numbers attached to singles or blocks, whole or exploded stamp booklets, nor complete long sets of stamps on small envelopes or tastefully arranged and neatly canceled on loose sheets of paper, to name just a few of the fashions that come to mind. Anyhow, deserving or not, a stamp or stamps alone were never the sole objects of any of these exhibits - times have changed
Knowing that collecting fashions exist, it is wise to consider whether particularly flashy items might have been especially created for just that reason. In other words, might the challenge factor have been greater if that particular fashion had not existed at the time? There are simple ways of finding out what the fashions of the day were, and more articles and even books ought to be written on the subject, so that philatelists can easily inform themselves about the fashion factor.
Not all descriptions furnished by the owners necessarily agree with the facts.
Adriano Bocci, of Italy, now owns the Shohola cover, the third one carrying one of the Buffalo Balloon labels. He writes about Samuel Archer Kind (whose name was really King) having the idea of charging 5 cents for a balloon label. Actually, no one knows whose idea it was and who, if anyone, collected those 5 cents. While the label was printed for the flight that finally started on 18 June, 1877, from Nashville, the Shohola (Pennsylvania) cover was certainly not on that Tennessee flight. It may have been on a flight from Philadelphia on 30 August, 1877, Shohola not being too far away from there. So much for the facts. There being no postal markings of any kind on that cover, we are left to guess who wrote it, whether it was flown, whether it was tossed out, and whether, if found, it was delivered to the intended addressee. Does that constitute 'one of the most important items of airmail postal history?'
Then there is the cover belonging to Hermann W. Sieger, carrying a block of 4 and a single Vineta provisional, a total of 15 Pfennig postage. Its circular date stamp reads "23rd April 1901," which puts it in the correct period of use - if not struck with the back-dated marking device. The five 3-Pf stamps yield a total postage of 15 Pf, At that time, no 15-Pf postage was possible. An ordinary letter cost 10 Pf, double weight was 20 Pf. Insurance was 5 Pf per Mark, but the minimum was 10 Pf. The letter has no postage due mark. So much for its postal history. It is described as a great rarity of German philately by the owner, an opinion not shared by other German philatelists like Kurt Karl Doberer (winner of a Sieger prize), Carlrichard Brühl, and Ullrich Häger, who have studied and reported on its origins.
These two covers are cited because I happen to have looked into them shortly before that show took place, not having any inkling that both would be pictured in this catalogue. Other items there may raise similar doubts. If so, why not follow up on your impression and eventually perhaps arrive at a definite positive or negative conclusion? Keep in mind, too, that some of the exhibitors may have used the occasion to try selling their wares by exhibiting, and all that may imply.
In any case, this interesting collection of unusual material is well worth spending time on. It may also be considered as a textbook for exhibiting philatelists, showing them how to present what they consider to be key pieces and giving many examples of how not to describe such material, particularly surprising in view of the fact that these exhibitors could undoubtedly call on professional help for their write-ups.
The catalogue itself is beautifully produced, a valuable general philatelic reference work, in which even the advertisements are worth looking at. Furthermore, it appears to me to be a good investment in philatelic literature, considering not only its intrinsic quality but also that it was almost sold out at the time of the show. It is a coffee table repository of pictures of expensive philatelic material, representing only the very tip of an 'iceberg' of rarities and uniqueness, many of which deserve the title and the valuation they have. From the pre-adhesive to the space cover, every page shown by an exhibitor presents at least one cover, and most of the philatelically illustrated advertisements display covers as well - an unmistakable sign of the philatelic fashion of the day. So why do general FIP exhibitions continue to suppress postal history by open and/or subtle means, making traditional philately look to be the most popular class? Could that be a sign of wishful thinking of the organizers?
See also Monaco 2000 Exhibition Catalogue
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