Expert opinion
It says ‘Expert Opinion’ above this piece, and I have to confess that I am not an
expert on Sarawak, writes Chris King, Chair of ABPS National Exhibitions &
International Committee. It’s a little known fact that a philatelic jury faced with
an exhibit about which they know little, has the option of seeking an opinion
from known experts who might be collectors, or also from the trade. At the
recent Seven Nations Challenge for example, Steve Schumann, Chairman of the
FIP Postal Stationery Commission, was asked for his advice on a tricky postcard
exhibit. Coincidentally Steve is the American Vice-President of the Sarawak
Specialists’ Society. There are many collectors, but philately is a small world.
So, for Sarawak, I asked Simon Martin-Redman, former Chairman of the
Sarawak Specialists Society for his thoughts, and like most philatelists he
responded positively. Now I know that Sarawak is a great country to collect.
There are beautiful early lithographed stamps, typo-graphed, recess-printed,
and photogravure, are all there. In addition die proofs, essays, fascinating postal
history, postal stationery, and air mail can be collected. Importantly, Sarawak
issued its stamps principally for postal purposes and never in excess quantities for
the purposes of making money from collectors.
For such a small country, many books have been published starting with the
early books written by BWH Poole, Sarawak; A Complete History of its Postage
Stamps (1906), Fred Melville The Postage Stamps Of Sarawak With a History
of the Post Office in Sarawak from 1869-1906 (1907), and Arthur Grellier,
The postage stamps of Sarawak written in 1910. GE Hansford and LA Noble
published Sarawak and her Stamps in 1935, followed by the later seminal work
of WR Forrester-Wood with The Stamps and Postal History of Sarawak in 1957,
illustrated, with 579 pages, and awarded the prestigious Crawford Medal by the
Royal Philatelic Society London in 1969. LH Shipman added Sarawak: the De
La Rue Issues of 1918 to 1928 and the Associated Provisionals in 1969. Literature
continues today, with both Neville Watterson and Bill Batty-Smith still finding
things new to study and to publish. There is a wealth of published knowledge to
be gleaned and developed, and philatelists ignore the literature at their peril.
Bernard Lardner’s study of Sarawak mirrors the experience of many
specialists. We start to collect a very small area, naively thinking that it’s
possible to ‘complete’ it, only to realise that it will never end. I loved his
comment that after forty years he’s still collecting Sarawak. When the study of
the stamps leaves little more to achieve, there’s the postal history, marcophily
(the collection of postmarks), the telegraph and revenue stamps, and then
there’s the ephemera. Postcards, photographs, coins and medals, shipping
labels... the opportunities are endless.
Incidentally, Bernard is wrong in saying that if you display competitively,
you can’t include the ephemera. There’s a specific class which allows you to
include up to fifty percent of non-philatelic items. It’s called Open Philately,
and it’s internationally recognised by the FIP (Fédération Internationale de
Philatélie). Postcards can also be exhibited under new rules recently adopted in
Athens by FEPA (Federation of European Philatelic Associations) which means
that all 43 member nations have a common approach to judging exhibits.
Finally, in Postal History Class 2C which covers ‘Historical, social and special
studies exhibits which examines postal history in the broader sense’, and ‘may
include non-philatelic material where relevant to the subject of the exhibit’. So
Bernard, let’s see some more of your lovely material in one or more of these
classes. All of these rules are on the FIP or FEPA websites.
Whatever area you collect, it’s important to find a specialist society, and
to join it. There’s a society for nearly every imaginable subject, but bear in
mind the best one for you might be overseas. The Sarawak Specialists’ Society
(encompassing collectors of North Borneo, Brunei and Labuan) has been
publishing its journal four times a year since June 1947, providing its many
members with a forum to share knowledge. See http://www.britborneostamps.org.ukExhibiting with the ABPS
The Association of
British Philatelic
Societies (ABPS) is the
national organisation in
charge of exhibiting in
the United Kingdom.
Competitive exhibiting
takes place at a variety
of levels within philately
and provides a friendly
forum for philatelists to
meet, exchange philatelic
research and study, and share knowledge to fellow
collectors, and the general public. Exhibiting requires
research, organisation and discipline, with rules to follow,
and your collection will be scrutinised by accredited
judges, but the challenge of creating an exhibit can
give you new skills, improve your collection, allow you
to meet like-minded collectors and give you a sense of
accomplishment.To find out more about exhibiting
visit the ABPS website: http://www.abps.org.ukSHARE YOUR COLLECITON! If you would like to have your collection featured here, e-mail: [email protected]
In 1946 the British Military Administration ran the country
for a short period during its early recovery stage. Stamps
were overprinted ‘B.M.A.’. This document was issued six
days after the withdrawal of BMA stamps from Post Offices
following the return to a civilian administration.http://www.stampandcoin.co.uk APRIL 2016 63p60 Reader stamps.indd 63 01/03/2016 11:38