Sale Fetches Nearly $1 Million
The second sale of the Alfred F. Kugel Collection closed at a more than $993,000 hammer price. The net proceeds, estimated at $943,000, will go to the APS.
Cherrystone Auctions, the firm selected by the APS Board to handle the sale of the estate, held the sale on September 10th and 11th. The sale featured part of Kugel’s worldwide collection of military postal history.
The APS received the proceeds of the first sale, totaling $1.24 million, in August. The second sale will bring the total to nearly $2.2 million. The proceeds will fund priorities established in the joint APS/APRL Capital Budget.
In August, the APS Board approved $500,000 to replace and modernize the APS website and member management system. The next project is a partial replacement of the roof and HVAC at the Match Factory, covering the APS and some third-party tenant space, which could cost as much as $1 million.
“Thanks to Al and Dottie’s generosity to the APS, we can make much-needed investments for our membership without returning to the days of debt,” said Scott English, Executive Director, “The future sales will add to our financial security and allow us to further invest in reaching collectors around the world.”
In honor of Al and his collection, the APS extended Dottie Kugel an honorary Life Membership so that she would remain connected to her philatelic community.
The Kugel Collection, Part 3
Cherrystone is planning the third Kugel Collection sale in early winter, and the APS will announce the dates as soon as they are available. To register for the next sale, view the catalog, order a copy, or learn more, visit the Cherrystone Auctions website at www.cherrystoneauctions.com.
About Alfred F. Kugel
Alfred F. “Al” Kugel (1930-2022) of Hinsdale, Illinois, died May 11, 2022, at 91.
Kugel was associated with many philatelic organizations, especially Chicagopex, the Military Postal History Society (MPHS), and the American Philatelic Society. He served as a director of the Chicago Philatelic Society (CPS) and as exhibit chairman and general chairman of Chicagopex. The CPS honored Kugel with its Saul Newbury and Aubrey Berman awards.
A Life Member of the MPHS, Kugel served as its director, vice president, and president. Kugel had the lowest membership number (434) of any active member at his death.
With his experience in the investment field, Kugel brought financial stability to Chicagopex, considered one of the best World Series of Philately venues. As an American Philatelic Society finance committee member, he advised the APS on its investment portfolio.
Kugel was an expert on military postal history and had more than 100 single and multiframe exhibits in this field. He contributed scores of articles in this area, many of them in the Military Postal History Society Bulletin. He also contributed to The American Philatelist; the Collectors Club Philatelist; the Postal History Journal; Rossica; and German Postal Specialist, among others. Kugel and co-author Ed Dubin received the United States Stamp Society’s Barbara Mueller Award for the best article in the 2017 issues of The American Philatelist.
Al was an APS-accredited philatelic judge and served on CANEJ. In 2005, he was awarded the John N. Luff Award for distinguished philatelic research, and in 2011, he was elected to the APS Writers Hall of Fame. He was a council member of the American Philatelic Congress, an officer in the Collectors Club of Chicago, a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London, and he served on the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists. The APS Board of Directors selected Kugel for the APS Hall of Fame in 2023.
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