Summer Seminar Online

Receive an overview on how to use the features of GoToWebinar in preparation of Summer Seminar Online.  (1 hour)

Receive an overview on how to use the features of GoToWebinar in preparation of Summer Seminar Online.  (1 hour)

Receive an overview on how to use the features of GoToWebinar in preparation of Summer Seminar Online.  (1 hour)

Receive a preview of the week ahead. Take part in a Q and A, and share your thoughts.  (30 minutes)

On-line sellers often misidentify stamps, fail to describe condition properly, offer altered stamps and tout forgeries as genuine.  Learn the ins and outs of distance purchasing in order to avoid spending good money on bad buys. (1 hour)

Postal history is the study of postal artifacts, known as covers.  The classical view of covers organized their analysis into four components:  Rates, Routes, Means (of transportation) and Marks.  This five-part course introduces each of the four components.  The five modules are designed to be stand-alone sessions, sign up for one or sign up for all five!  

Part I -  Interpreting Rates and Frankings

Learn how to read and interpret rates, rate markings, and how postage fees were paid. (1 hour)

Investigate the different designs, perforations, printing methods, and watermarks of the 1908-1922 series of U.S. Definitives known as the Washington-Franklins. Learn to identify the different stamps in a virtual environment.  Students should have at their disposal the basic tools needed to handle and identify stamps as the course moves along.

3 – One-hour sessions (monday, June 1; Tuesday, June 2; and Wednesday, June 3.

In August 1860, three U.S. post offices began using duplex handstamps that combined postmarking and canceling elements under one handle. This innovation constitutes one of the two most important evolutionary steps that were taken with regard to U.S. 19th century cancellation practices. (The other was the advent of machine cancellations.) The workshop will discuss the reason for this step, show covers relevant to the transition for each post office, and present additional information related to early duplex handstamp usage. (1 hour)

Enjoy a journey of US International Stamp Shows from 1913 through 2016, with an emphasis on 1956 through 1986. View items from countries around the world that produced postage stamps, covers, labels, and other items to both promote the shows and celebrate each day of the events. (1 hour)

Investigate the different designs, perforations, printing methods, and watermarks of the 1908-1922 series of U.S. Definitives known as the Washington-Franklins. Learn to identify the different stamps in a virtual environment.  Students should have at their disposal the basic tools needed to handle and identify stamps as the course moves along.

3 – One-hour sessions

As e-commerce continues to grow and provide alternatives to traditional retail shopping, international postal networks have taken on a larger role in parcel delivery and facilitating trade. Learn how the Universal Postal Union, the United Nation's specialized agency for the postal sector, governs international trade within postal networks and helps expand access to products worldwide. (1 hour)

The German zeppelin LZ129 Hindenburg remains an icon of aviation tragedy because it was one of the first air disasters recorded on newsreel film for immediate release in theaters throughout America. But the airship represents much more than the end of the great lighter-than-air era. An engineering feat that roused pride in Germans in the midst of an economic depression and political turmoil, it was the world’s largest flying post office; the first regular North Atlantic passenger and freight air service as part of an evolving international communications and transport system; a worksite; and a luxury liner. (1 hour)

Investigate the different designs, perforations, printing methods, and watermarks of the 1908-1922 series of U.S. Definitives known as the Washington-Franklins. Learn to identify the different stamps in a virtual environment.  Students should have at their disposal the basic tools needed to handle and identify stamps as the course moves along.

3 – One-hour sessions

Intimidated by world-class exhibits?  Ever consider trying your hand, but don’t know where to start?  Let’s start at the very beginning.  (It’s a very good place to start!)  With a pile of covers, an idea, and Microsoft Office, pick up tips for using Publisher during layout.  Learn how current trends in judging and a well-developed Synopsis will help you to get your best score. (1 hour)

Enjoy delving into specific eras and issues, including; the issue of 1860, WWI locals, post-WWI overprints and forgeries, inflation, gold currency, WWII occupation, officer camps issues, post-war issues both Communist and post-Communist, and the stamps engraved by Czesław Słania.  You will leave this course with the ability to read inscriptions on Polish stamps, to describe the various eras of Polish philately, to recognize some of the more common forgeries, to make sense of Polish specialized catalogs, and to use the resources of the American Philatelic Research Library. (1 hour)

APRL Digital, the library’s digital collections database, is continually adding new resources.  Come and hear about the progress that has occurred and improvements that are in store for the digital collection portal. (1 hour)

Where should I sell my items?  Should I use eBay, HipStamp, StampStore or some other vendor?  Learn about the work involved when selling online, selling tips, and options available from the APS.

Receive a preview of the week ahead. Take part in a Q and A, and share your thoughts.  (30 minutes)

The Large Bank Note Issue replaced the short lived 1869 Issue and had a relatively long 20-year run with 21.2 billion stamps in 12 denominations. Stamps were printed under contract by The National Bank Note Company, followed by the Continental Bank Note Company and finally the American Bank Note Company. Stamps are cataloged by the company that produced them, sometimes to the befuddlement of new collectors. Learn more about identifying paper, grills, secret marks, color and re-engraved designs. Discover characteristics that best fit each stamp to help with faster and more confident identification.  The session will finish with an overview of some listed and unlisted paper varieties. (1 hour)

Postal history is the study of postal artifacts, known as covers.  The classical view of covers organized their analysis into four components:  Rates, Routes, Means (of transportation) and Marks.  This five-part course introduces each of the four components.  The five modules are designed to be stand-alone sessions, sign up for one or sign up for all five!  

Part II -  Understanding and Determining Postal Routes

Using a cover’s origin, destination, and rate to determine the routes a letter might have traveled (1 hour)

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a far more comprehensive view by listing items no represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for manufactured tobacco, including; cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing and smoking tobacco.  Be privy to the impetus for tax increases and decreases for each category of manufactured tobacco.

4 – 1 hour sessions (June 8, 9, 10, 11)

How does one describe modern postal history?  The answer:  by looking at history, postal services, stamp production, handling & processing, distribution & delivery, rates & routes, and technology.  Discover areas for collecting and continued study. (1 hour)

Spend 3 inspiring sessions discovering the story behind Great Britain’s line-engraved stamps and the many ways to collect and appreciate them.

Session 1 – The Dawn of “Adhesives”; Engraving and Design (June 9)

Session 2 – Plating & Collecting Penny Blacks; The Reds (and blues) (June 16)

Session 3 – Separation Types; Reading & Understanding Covers; Forgeries (June 23)

3 – 1 hour sessions, that meet on Tuesdays - June 9, 16, and 23

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a far more comprehensive view by listing items no represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for manufactured tobacco, including; cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing and smoking tobacco.  Be privy to the impetus for tax increases and decreases for each category of manufactured tobacco.

4 – 1 hour sessions

Description not available

(1 hour session)

A Detective Story:  How does one investigate an 1856 cover with 20+ cancellations and manuscript markings to determine the routes it took as it traveled from Warren, Ohio, to Far East India, and back to Boston, Massachusetts?  Find out the process taken and resources used during this philatelic investigation. (1-hour)

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a far more comprehensive view by listing items no represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for manufactured tobacco, including; cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing and smoking tobacco.  Be privy to the impetus for tax increases and decreases for each category of manufactured tobacco.

4 – 1 hour sessions

What is the best way to turn your collection into an exhibit?  Are there ways to accelerate the process of putting together an exhibit? Learn an adaptive process for developing an exhibit, suitable for material of any level of specialization. Working with items from your collection, whether worldwide stamps, topicals, single country, first day covers, or postal history, this workshop can give you the thinking tools to get you quickly developing or improving your exhibit.

This course is made up of three sessions that will meet for 75 minutes each time (June 11, 18, 25)

Introduction to the definitive and semi-postal stamps used for sending World War I mail from Belgian towns not occupied by the Germans.  The stamps, postmarks, and covers to be shown are from an exhibit featuring aspects of WWI Free Belgium.  This program will include information on Ste. Adresse, Baarle-Hertog, and Elisabethville-Birtley post offices. (1 hour)

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a far more comprehensive view by listing items no represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for manufactured tobacco, including; cigarettes, cigars, snuff, chewing and smoking tobacco.  Be privy to the impetus for tax increases and decreases for each category of manufactured tobacco.

4 – 1 hour sessions

Explore some of the ongoing projects that the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL) has been working on to improve the access to the library’s philatelic collections.  There are even ways that you can help with these improvement efforts from home! (1 hour)

The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) is an independent agency of the U.S. government tasked with promoting integrity and accountability in the nation's Postal Service. Learn about how the OIG combats waste, fraud, and abuse at the Postal Service by investigating mail crimes, conducting audits of postal operations, and identifying potential risks facing the delivery agency.  (1 hour)

Receive a preview of the week ahead. Take part in a Q and A, and share your thoughts. (30 minutes)

Review the standard procedures for measuring U.S. perforations based on the Kiusalas gauge.  Learn the techniques and “tells” for determining genuine and fake perforations.  See how Photoshop overlay techniques can be used and methods for expertizing Washington-Franklin and Fourth Bureau issue stamps. (1 hour)

Postal history is the study of postal artifacts, known as covers.  The classical view of covers organized their analysis into four components:  Rates, Routes, Means (of transportation) and Marks.  This five-part course introduces each of the four components.  The five modules are designed to be stand-alone sessions, sign up for one or sign up for all five!

Part III:  Understanding and Determining Means of Transportation

Explore the different ways that letters traveled, from ships, trains, and planes to dogsleds, balloons, and submarines (1 hour)

Throughout history, postal operators have used unconventional methods to move the mail; pneumatic tubes, segways, and even missiles. As technology moves forward, so do innovations in mail delivery! Explore up-and-coming delivery innovations, such as futuristic mailboxes and in-home delivery, and their uses and impacts on delivery operations. (1 hour)

Spend 3 inspiring sessions discovering the story behind Great Britain’s line-engraved stamps and the many ways to collect and appreciate them.

Session 1 – The Dawn of “Adhesives”; Engraving and Design

Session 2 – Plating & Collecting Penny Blacks; The Reds (and blues)

Session 3 – Separation Types; Reading & Understanding Covers; Forgeries

3 – 1 hour sessions, meeting on Tuesdays - June 9, 16, and 23)

Description not available

1 hour session

Between 1885 and 1906 there were three main private express companies in Mexico:  Hidalgo Express, Mexican National Express, and Wells Fargo Express.  Learn about these companies along with postage and express rates through the covers of that time period. (1 hour)

What is the best way to turn your collection into an exhibit?  Are there ways to accelerate the process of putting together an exhibit? Learn an adaptive process for developing an exhibit, suitable for material of any level of specialization. Working with items from your collection, whether worldwide stamps, topicals, single country, first day covers, or postal history, this workshop can give you the thinking tools to get you quickly developing or improving your exhibit.

This course is made up of three sessions that will meet for 75 minutes on June 11, 18, 25

Using one rate (international post card rate) as an example, experience the German Post Office’s attempt at controlling the crippling inflation that many say was one of the causes of WWII. (1 hour)

Want to learn some of the tips and tricks that the library staff use when searching the online catalog? Go beyond simple searches, become a better researcher, and improve the results you retrieve when searching the online catalog.  (1 hour)

While online shopping is more convenient, it can also be stressful not knowing who you are doing business with.  We will talk about tips for safe shopping, places to shop, and what the APS offers. (1 hour)

Receive a preview of the week ahead. Take part in a Q and A, and share your thoughts.

The recent addition of small hole perforation listings to Washington-Franklin and Presidential series coils have raised many questions among philatelists and stamp dealers.  Learn how to use Photoshop to measure perforations.  Explore possible explanations for coil perforation hole size differences.  (1 hour)

Postal history is the study of postal artifacts, known as covers.  The classical view of covers organized their analysis into four components:  Rates, Routes, Means (of transportation) and Marks.  This five-part course introduces each of the four components.   The five modules are designed to be stand-alone sessions, sign up for one or sign up for all five!  

Part IV:  Recognizing Postal Marks – Cancellations

Postal markings can tell you more than when a letter was mailed.  Learn the different ways to classify cancellations.  (1 hour)

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a much more comprehensive view by listing items not represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for distilled spirits and much more.  Be privy to the stories driving the tax increases and decreases for each category of alcohol.

4 – 1 hour sessions (June 22, 23, 24, 25)

Exhibit treatment, including the title page, is arguably the most important aspect of how an exhibit is created and ultimately assessed. Review guidelines from the manual through the lens of a chief judge familiar with many different types of exhibit treatment and be privy to exhibiting secrets for success. (1 hour)

Spend 3 inspiring sessions discovering the story behind Great Britain’s line-engraved stamps and the many ways to collect and appreciate them.

Session 1 – The Dawn of “Adhesives”; Engraving and Design

Session 2 – Plating & Collecting Penny Blacks; The Reds (and blues)

Session 3 – Separation Types; Reading & Understanding Covers; Forgeries

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a much more comprehensive view by listing items not represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for distilled spirits and much more.  Be privy to the stories driving the tax increases and decreases for each category of alcohol.

4 – 1 hour sessions (June 22, 23, 24, 25)

This presentation examines WWII postal violations in allied and axis correspondence (civilian, military and POW mail) showing how authorities (censors) responded using various notification approaches such as the use of a slip, memo, notice, form, label, handstamp or letter. Usually the mail was returned to the sender.  (1 hour)

Pre-WWII stamps from Europe and a few of the British Colonies found in APS circuit books and ISU material are frequently mis-identified. Learn how to properly identify the stamps discussed and get some general hints about how to improve your chances of avoiding identification problems. (1 hour)

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a much more comprehensive view by listing items not represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for distilled spirits and much more.  Be privy to the stories driving the tax increases and decreases for each category of alcohol.

4 – 1 hour sessions (June 22, 23, 24, 25)

What is the best way to turn your collection into an exhibit?  Are there ways to accelerate the process of putting together an exhibit? Learn an adaptive process for developing an exhibit, suitable for material of any level of specialization. Working with items from your collection, whether worldwide stamps, topicals, single country, first day covers, or postal history, this workshop can give you the thinking tools to get you quickly developing or improving your exhibit.

This course is made up of three sessions that will meet for 75 minutes each time (June 11, 18, 25)

Description not available

1 hour session

The Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue lists less than half of the revenue stamps authorized and issued by the federal government.  The Springer Catalog contains a much more comprehensive view by listing items not represented in Scott.  Use the Springer Catalog to explore the stamps used for distilled spirits and much more.  Be privy to the stories driving the tax increases and decreases for each category of alcohol.

4 – 1 hour sessions (June 22, 23, 24, 25)

Since 1942, the APRL has published the quarterly journal, the Philatelic Literature Review (PLR).  Over the years, the PLR has been filled with book reviews, literature bibliographies, and research articles by some of the hobby’s most notable writers and bibliophiles.  If you would like to hear more about the PLR or are interested in writing for it, plan to attend this informative session.  (1 hour)

Do you need assistance with the identification of forgeries?  If so, a quality personal library can help!  Review the strengths and weaknesses of ten general reference books that you may want to add to your own reference collection.  (1 hour)

Receive a preview of the week ahead. Take part in a Q and A, and share your thoughts.  (30 minutes)

Postal history is the study of postal artifacts, known as covers.  The classical view of covers organized their analysis into four components:  Rates, Routes, Means (of transportation) and Marks.  This five-part course introduces each of the for components.  The five modules are designed to be stand-alone sessions, sign up for one or sign up for all five!

Part V:  Recognizing Postal Marks – Auxiliary Markings

Auxiliary Markings are the post office’s way to explain a letter’s odyssey.  Master these marks and become a master postal historian!  (1 hour)

Although presentation counts for very little as a judging criterion (5 points), it makes a significant impression on the viewer such that assessment of other criteria may suffer through bias. This seminar will discuss best practices for an attractive, clean and inviting presentation of the overall exhibit. Learn how color choices for papers and matting, windowing techniques, and mounting of objects can impact your exhibit’s presentation.  (1 hour)

The album and exhibit pages that we design allow us to display our love of collecting in creative ways.  Discover how the choice of paper, design format, and the use of white space can impact the esthetics of a page.  Observe how the use of scanners, design software and mounting techniques can provide you with the tools for creating your own album and exhibit pages.  (1 hour)