The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. Voting membership was granted to 219 individuals who paid two bits (25¢) for the privilege. The organization's name was changed to its present name for a few months in 1897, then back, then permanently in 1908.

  • StampStore - online stamp buying and selling
  • Member sales circuits - for most collecting specialties via mail
  • American Philatelic Research Library
  • Stamp insurance - for stamp collectors
  • American Philatelic Expertizing Service - stamp authentication
  • Judging Accreditation for stamp competition
  • Stamp education opportunities
  • Dispute resolution - between members
  • American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame
  • APS Stamp Talk with Nancy Clark on internet radio talk station wsRadio (through 2024)

Members

APS membership includes over 600 commercial stamp dealers and about 450 local stamp clubs. In addition, nearly 200 specialty societies are affiliated with the APS. There are APS members from 110 countries of the world.

Individual membership reached a high of 57,815 in 1988

Events

The organization has two national events each year: APS AmeriStamp Expo is held each Winter and Great American Stamp Show 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. Local stamp clubs host smaller shows, some several times each year.

According to the 2019 version of the ARIPEX website, the 61st annual APS show was held 15–17 February 2019 in Mesa, AZ, and was "the last winter show conducted by the APS."

Honors and awards

The society honors those who serve honorably and notably in the field of philately. The American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame honors those now-deceased philatelists who have served philately. In addition, the society honors living distinguished philatelists for their contributions to the field with the Luff Award.

Controversy

Around 1970, numerous newly independent countries realized that issuing stamps was an excellent source of revenue. Because the stamps were sent to other countries, there was little risk of the stamps actually being used for postage. Historically, a country issued stamps to commemorate an event or honor a national figure, but these new nations created stamps that appealed to popular collecting themes, such as Disney figures, airplanes or space, famous people in the world. Instead of releasing a single stamp, they would create a set, with values ranging from a penny to five dollars. The APS was appalled and created the “black blot” program. The society published a monthly magazine for members and began to include a list of new stamp issues that were judged to be overpriced or unnecessary. A country with high illiteracy and a marginal postal service did not require 100 different stamps each year. However, many collectors rebelled at being told to reject some stamps, and the program was eventually dropped.

Post office

The original board and batten post office from Headsville, West Virginia, in service from 1860 to 1914, was purchased by the Smithsonian Institution in 1971, disassembled and moved to Washington, D.C., reassembled and opened as an example of a country store-post office for the Smithsonian's 125th anniversary in 1971. It operated as a contract post office there until 2006 when the National Museum of American History closed for renovations. The historic building was again disassembled and moved to Bellefonte on loan to the APS. It was reassembled and again operates as a contract post office.

See also

  • American Philatelic Research Library
  • American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame
  • The American Philatelist

References

  • American Philatelic Research Library