Eugene N. Costales
(August 19, 1894 – November 2, 1984) New York City
Costales was a famous dealer, auctioneer, cataloger and philatelic advisor of and about stamps of the United States. He entered the stamp business in 1909 and joined the Scott Stamp and Coin Co. in 1916. From then until 1926, he assisted John N. Luff in editing the Scott catalogs. In 1923, he became the first editor of the new Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps, continuing until 1926 when he left the company. He was to resume this task for Scott Publications in 1955, and remained its advisor and pricer until 1971.
In 1932, Costales founded his own stamp company, and began holding auctions in 1942. Among his 61 auctions were portions of the Col. E.H.R. Green collection and the important U.S. collections of Henry B. Close and E.F. Gore. His sales included important sales of U.S. covers, especially western covers. In 1950 Costales sold a portion of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein collection, including a selection of western covers and franks.
In 1952, Costales donated a part of his philatelic library to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1955 he joined Scott Publications and resumed his editing of its U.S. specialized catalog. He was, from 1955 to 1971, the pricing editor for Scott's Standard Catalogue.
“Gene” served as expert for the APS for many years, and served the ASDA in many capacities. He was an active member of the Collectors Club of New York and many other societies. In 1982, the Philatelic Foundation presented him with its award “for Meritorious Service to Philately” (now called the Neinken Medal). In 1983, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society awarded him the Dr. Carroll Chase Cup for his establishing the Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps. Costales received the Luff Award in 1974 for Exceptional Contributions to Philately.
Mortimer L. Neinken
(May 16, 1896 – November 14, 1984) New York City
Neinken was an outstanding collector, student and writer on U.S. classic stamps. His 1960 book, The United States Ten Cent Stamps of 1855-1859, extended the earlier work of Stanley B. Ashbrook, with whom he had studied and collaborated. Neinken wrote United States: The 1851-57 Twelve Cent Stamp (1964), a book for which he received numerous awards. He also extended and advanced the earlier work of Ashbrook on the 1851-1857 U.S. one-cent stamps in his 1972 book, The United States One Cent Stamp of 1851-1861.
Neinken was one of the founders of the U.S. 3¢ 1851-1857 Unit of the APS (now the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society). “Mort” was general chairman of the “Perforation Centennial” of the first perforated U.S stamps that was held at the National Philatelic Museum in Philadelphia in July 1957.
Neinken received the Luff Award in 1962 for Distinguished Philatelic Research and the Lichtenstein Medal in 1971. He was the first recipient of the Cryer Research Award given by the American Philatelic Research Library for outstanding philatelic research.
He served as chairman of the Philatelic Foundation as well as expert. In 1984 the Philatelic Foundation presented Neinken its award “for Meritorious Service to Philately.” He passed away soon afterward, and the award was renamed the Mortimer L. Neinken Medal.
Dr. Joseph Schatzkés
(August 28, 1898 – April 28, 1984) France
Dr. Schatzkés was renowned for his extensive research on French and Mexican classic stamps and postal history. His French philatelic studies included unusual cancellations on early French stamps, French Offices Abroad and Military Markings of Colonial Mail. Dr. Schatzkés collected several Latin American countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. He also studied the postal history and postmarks of early Mexico, and his book, The Cancellations of Mexico, 1856-1874, published in 1964, received that year's Crawford Medal.
Dr. Schatzkés served as president of L'Académie de Philatélie, Club Philatélique (Paris) and was on the Board of Trustees of the Musée Postal Française, Paris. He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1963, received the Lichtenstein Medal in 1974, and the Lindenberg Medal in 1983.
Robert P. Alexander
(November 26, 1904 – August 24, 1985) Washington, DC
Alexander was a world-famous collector, expert, and writer on the stamps and postal history of Japan. He was a founder, in 1946, of the International Society for Japanese Philately and held membership number seven. He served the ISJP for nearly 40 years in various offices, including president. At the time of his death, Alexander was president emeritus.
Alexander edited and published Japanese Philately from 1950 to 1955 and was a frequent author. He had an outstanding collection of the Dragon issues of Japan, but his collecting and writing covered the entire scope of Japanese philately. He was editor emeritus when he died.
Lucien Berthelot
(November 6, 1903 – October 30, 1985) France
Berthelot was a major figure in world philately, serving as vice-president and then president (1947-1972) of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP). He led the FIP as it re-established itself after World War II, organized world-wide international philatelic exhibitions, and modified its rules and regulations to reflect the changes made in the styles and categories of philately. Besides his administrative functions, he usually served as a member of the jury during his 25-year presidency.
Berthelot was also active in French philately. He served as president of the Fédération Français and was a member of L'Academie de Philatélie. Berthelot signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1972.
Richard H. Thompson
(June 28, 1903 – January 5, 1985) Baltimore
Thompson was an ardent collector and philatelic activist. He was president of the American First Day Cover Society (1964-1966) and won its Philip H. Ward Award for his writing on U.S Air Mail first day covers. He was also president of the Bureau Issues Association (now the United States Stamp Society) from 1968 to 1973, and chairman of its Board of Governors (1974-1977).
Thompson was president of the American Air Mail Society (1973-1974). He served as a director of the Society of Philatelic Americans from 1972-1977. His collecting interests spanned the subject matter of all these organizations. He used his skills as a practicing attorney to serve both the APS and the SPA as a legal consultant.
From 1929 until his death, Thompson was an active member of the Baltimore Philatelic Society. He served as president on several occasions and was chairman of its annual BALPEX stamp show. Thompson received many awards, including the Luff Award for Exceptional Contributions to Philately in 1982.
Harrison Donald Seaman Haverbeck
(October 9. 1913 – September 26, 1986) New York
Haverbeck was a world famous expert, collector, and author on the issues of the Indian Feudatory States, Nepal, and Tibet. He wrote several books, including The Postage Stamps and Postal History of Tibet (1962), The Postage Stamps of Nepal (1963) and Die Briefmarken von Bahawalpur (1964), as well as many articles in these areas. From 1948 to 1986 he served on the editorial board of the Collectors Club Philatelist, and succeeded Henry Goodkind as editor in 1970. He wrote extensively in the journal, and served the Collectors Club of New York in many offices. It awarded him its Lichtenstein medal in 1966.
Haverbeck served on the expert committee of the Philatelic Foundation where he used his knowledge of eastern languages and of the stamps and postal history of the Indian sub-continent. He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1970.
Dr. Soichi Ichida
(December 30, 1910 – June 30, 1986) Japan
Dr. Ichida was an outstanding student and writer on classic Japanese stamps. He was also a strong promoter of the advance of Japanese philately on the international scene.
He wrote important books and numerous articles on the classic issues of Japan. Most notable are: The Dragon Stamps of Japan 1871-1872 (1959, 2nd edition 1971); The Cherry Blossom Issues of Japan 1872-1876 (1965, completely revised and expanded in 1971); The Six Sen Violet Brown Native Paoper Stamp 1874 — which includes an abridged English Text. He received the 1966 Crawford Medal for the Cherry Blossom book.
Dr. Ichida was president of the All-Japan Philatelic Federation from 1961 to 1973, and a member of the FIP council from 1969 to 1984. He was founding president of the Inter-Asian Philatelic Federation (FIAP) in 1974.
He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1971, received the Lichtenstein Medal in 1972 and the Lindenberg Medal in 1981. He was presented with the Luff Award in 1984 for Distinguished Philatelic Research.
Ernest Anthony Kehr
(September 10, 1911 – November 13, 1986) New York City
Kehr was one of philately's most distinguished spokesmen. He became hobby news editor of the New York World-Telegram in 1935 and then stamp news editor of the New York Herald Tribune from 1939 until the newspaper closed in 1966. He continued as stamp columnist for Newsday (Long Island, NY) until his death.
Over a forty-year period, Kehr presented more than 2,000 radio and television programs promoting philately. He wrote several popular books of which The Romance of Stamp Collecting (1947) was a philatelic bestseller. In 1964 he founded the Philatelic Press Club (later known as the International Philatelic Press Club), and was chairman emeritus when he died.
“Ernie” frequently wrote on the current state of philately in the Collectors Club Philatelist. Kehr received numerous honors. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Collectors Club of New York and was awarded its Lichtenstein medal in 1974. He signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1975. He received the Luff Award in 1976 for Exceptional Contributions to Philately. In 1991, the APS established the Ernest A. Kehr award for excellence in the promotion of Youth Philately.
James H. Beal
(February 23, 1922 – July 26, 1987) Ohio
Beal was a well-known expert on the stamps of Mexico and on philatelic fakes and forgeries. He was one of the “Committee of Five,” who led the APS effort to put the notorious philatelic counterfeiter Raoul Ch. De Thuin out of business. He was an associate editor of The Yucatan Affair (1974, reprint 1980) that describes the story of this successful effort.
Beal served as Chairman of the APS Stamp Theft Committee (1981-1987), and through his efforts in working with the FBI, recovered many stolen stamps. Beal and Herbert A. Trenchard were instrumental in the recovery of a major part of the stamps stolen from the New York Public Library in May 1977. Beal and James H. DeVoss have recovered two of the "inverted Jennies" (Scott No. C3a) stolen from Ethel B. McCoy in 1955.
Beal received the Luff Award in 1985 for Exceptional Contributions to Philately.
Herbert J. Bloch
(November 21, 1907 – September 7, 1987) New York City
Bloch was the leading expert of his time on European stamps. In 1936 he emigrated to the United States and became a stamp dealer. In 1943 he joined the H. R. Harmer organization and was the describer for auctions of the famous collections of Alfred H. Caspary and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Bloch was a member of the Friedl Expert Committee, specialists in European stamps, along with Otto Friedl and Edwin Mueller, from its inception until it was disbanded in the early 1970s. After it was disbanded, he became chairman of the expert committee of the Philatelic Foundation. It presented him its Neinken Award in 1986.
“Herbie” joined Edwin Mueller at the Mercury Stamp Company in 1956 and continued it after Mueller's death. He and Mueller sold some of the most important European collections of that period. During his long career, he helped build many famous collections. He received many honors for his long and valuable service to philately. In 1978, Scott Publications presented him its first "Outstanding Philatelist" award.
Bloch signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1968. In that same year he received the Luff Award for Exceptional Contibutions to Philately. Bloch received the Lindenberg Medal in 1986.
William Reynolds Ricketts
(July 29, 1869 – October 14, 1956) Forty Fort, Pennsylvania
Ricketts was the greatest philatelic indexer of all time. He was also one of the greatest students and collectors of philatelic literature. Ricketts built an enormous philatelic library which he used to compile numerous indexes and bibliographies.
He wrote a series of Reports of the American Philatelic Society's Committee on Philatelic Literature from 1910 to 1917. He was librarian of the Southern Philatelic Association in the 1910s and 1920s, writing various indexes and bibliographies.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Ricketts was a librarian of the Collectors Club of New York, writing extensively about literature in general and the Collectors Club Library in particular. During his lifetime, he gave it portions of his library, including most of his foreign language journals. He was one of the initial group of signatories when he signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1921.
His greatest bibliographic contributions to philately were his two monumental indexes of the articles and notes published about stamps and about stamp collecting. One index catalogued everything about the stamps themselves. The other contained the articles about the literature of stamps and the history of stamp collecting. He began both in the early 1890s.
In 1910, the APS agreed to publish his index on the stamps, The American Philatelic Society Philatelic Index, as a supplement to The American Philatelist. Ricketts prepared the index cards, assisted by Clifford W. Kissinger and then sent them to Clifton A. Howes who arranged, edited and prepared them for publication.
The index appeared in the AP from 1911 to 1926. It went alphabetically from the letter A through the letter G. Ricketts then decided he would next publish his “U.S. Index”, which he had begun around 1908. But the APS decided not to continue publishing his index. Stung by this rebuke, Ricketts went on to other projects, mainly with the Collectors Club, and added very little to his “U.S. Index” during the rest of his life.
Ricketts privately prepared and distributed the companion index, The Philatelic Literature Bibliography Index, serially from 1912 to 1917. It included the articles pertaining to the literature and history of stamps and stamp collecting. The index covered the letters A through Library. It has never been reprinted.
Only a portion of Ricketts' index of United States stamps was published in his lifetime. The sections on U.S. locals, carriers, postmaster provisionals and Sanitary Fairs were published serially from 1912 to 1914 in the United Stamp Company Herald (Chicago). These sections were reprinted in 1990 in the Philatelic Literature Review, journal of the American Philatelic Research Library.
In 1945, Ricketts decided to sell his philatelic library. It was sold at auction and privately by Paul Bluss of New York City. Among the items for sale was the group of the “U.S. Index” cards that Ricketts had worked on for over 30 years. George T. Turner bought them. Turner also visited Ricketts to see if any other index cards remained. Turner thus obtained the edited cards Ricketts had used for his 1912-1914 United Stamp Company Herald index, and the index to Ricketts' library.
On Turner's death in 1979, these index cards and most of his library were bequethed to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1993, when the National Postal Museum was established, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries took possession of the Ricketts index cards. In 1994, the SIL agreed to allow the APRL to edit and publish Ricketts United States Index. The cards were edited by Gini Horn, Director of Library Services and published in PLR from 1995 to 1997.
Dr. Cyril Franklin dos Passos
(February 7, 1887 – October 29, 1986) Philadelphia, New Jersey
Dr. dos Passos was a renowned specialist and researcher on a variety of challenging and controversial philatelic subjects. He wrote prolifically on many topics, among them the 10-cent and 24-cent (1861-67) first and second (premiere gravure) issues, all of the grills - notably the rare B-grill - and all the Bank Note issues - especially the 15-cent secret marks and the 10-cent and 24-cent varieties.
His works were published mainly in The American Philatelist, the Essay-Proof Journal, the SPA Journal and in the books of the American Philatelic Congress. Dos Passos widely disseminated reprints of his papers to his fellow students and specialists.
He had an exceptional collection of U.S. locals, with a highly-specialized collection of the Boyd's locals. He collaborated closely with Elliott Perry on this and other philatelic subjects.
In 1981, dos Passos decided to sell his collections and philatelic library through Robbins Auctions, Inc (Louis K. Robbins). The sale of the U.S. material and the library took place September 22–23, 1981. In addition to a large collection of proofs and essays, his specialized collections were there, many lots including his detailed research notes containing unpublished information.
His library contained numerous important research documents. In particular, dos Passos owned a typescript original of the work on U.S. locals written by the controversial Henry C. Needham. Both dos Passos and Perry had published information proving that Needham had tampered with covers and published false information.
Dos Passos owned a unique document of great historical interest to the students of U.S. locals. This was the 36-page ledger kept by printer Thomas Wood between 1854 and 1866 of the stamps he printed for George Hussey. The recorded stamps (each with a copy tipped in) not only listed the stamps used by Hussey for his own private mail service, but also the imitations and reprints made of other locals which Hussey then sold to the stamp collectors of the time. The flood of these reprints and imitations made collecting U.S. locals in the early days of philately a daunting task.
Vincent Graves Greene
(February 11, 1893 – July 22, 1988) Canada
Greene was one of the best known Canadian philatelists, aptly called “Canada's Grand Old Man.” His adult interest in stamps began in 1925 when he specialized in Canada and the Provinces. He co-authored, with C.M. Jephcott and J.H.M. Young, The Postal History of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 1754-1867 (1964).
“Vinnie” was chairman of CAPEX in 1951, 1978, and 1987. He served in nearly all of the Canadian stamp societies and many international ones as well. In 1975 he established the Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Foundation in Toronto. Greene signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1963 and received the Lichtenstein Medal in 1964.
William Hubert Miller Jr.
(September 1932 – November 4, 1988) New York City
Miller was an outstanding contributor to the advance of organized philately. His collecting interests, begun when he was ten, centered on aerophilately. He specialized in Zeppelin flights and Pigeon Posts, writing on these and other subjects.
He was president of Aero Philatelists, Inc. when it merged in 1973 with the American Air Mail Society, becoming AAMS vice-president. From 1973 to 1985 he was its general counsel and a director.
He was chairman of the Philatelic Foundation from 1978 to 1983, and from 1985 until his death. He was awarded its Neinken Medal in 1985. He served as president of the Council of Philatelic Organizations from 1984-1986.
Miller was a tireless worker for the Collectors Club of New York, serving in many positions, and acting as its counsel in obtaining tax-exempt status. In 1985, he received its Lichtenstein Medal.
Prescott Holden Thorp
(April 28, 1897 – June 1981) New Jersey
Thorp was recognized as a world famous expert and dealer of U.S. stamped envelopes. In 1943 he followed in the footsteps of J.M. Bartels, editing the fifth edition of Bartels Catalogue of the Stamped Envelopes and Wrappers of the United States and Possessions. He received the Crawford Medal in 1945 for this work.
"Pep" edited the sixth edition, renamed the Thorp-Bartels Catalogue of the Stamped Envelopes and Wrappers of the United States, in 1954. This work received a number of awards. His Catalogue of the 20th Century Stamped Envelopes and Wrappers of the United States was published in 1968. Thorp also wrote a popular book, Complete Guide to Stamp Collecting (1953), and was editor and publisher of the monthly The U.S. Envelope World from 1949 until 1970.
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