- Give a brief bio/background?
Terry Adams has been an APS member for 50 years, and is a life member passionate about U.S. history. He was born in Missouri, and can trace back his family’s life in the state to 1826. Before that, he has English and German heritage. His grandfathers diary is currently in the Columbia Missouri Historical Society and is also on display at the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, Missouri. Along with stamps, Terry has been collecting coins since 1960.
- What lead you to collect First Day Covers/ designing caches?
The reason I collect those is because of historic events that occurred in my state, such as the beginning of the Lewis and Clark expedition. William Clark later gave his diary mentioning St. Charles Missouri to Thomas Jefferson in Washington.Pioneer and frontiersman Daniel Boone passed away about 25 miles away from St. Charles, Missouri. There are also other events that I am interested in that are not related to the state, such as man going to the moon in 1969.
In 2004, on May 14 there was a first day of issue event celebrating the Lewis and Clark expedition. There were over 1000 covers cancelled in St. Charles Missouri, and I was at signature event for around two weeks. I was living in St. Charles at the time, and now I live in St. Peters a few miles to the west, which is also a very historical area.
The state of Missouri was 200 years old August 10, 2021, and I believe we have done a good of preserving the capital of Jefferson City. There are also two cover designs that I made with my daughter celebrating this because she’s good with graphic design, we made around 500 of each cover, and I still have around 350 left.
- What are some of your favorite stamps that you collected?
I love the Zeppelin stamps (some information about the stamps is provided in this article), but my favorite series is of course the The Trans-Mississippi Issue, which is a set of nine commemorative postage stamps issued by the United States to mark the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska. The 2 dollar stamp in that set (pictured in the cover image from the APS refrence collection) has a design featuring the Missouri River Bridge.
Scott 292 Cattle in the Storm, a highly sought-after stamp for U.S. collectors, from the APS refrence collection.
- How are your philatelic interests related to your job?
Retired but give tours down in St. Charles on the weekends, including the house of Harry Truman, that has two floors of information, and has his autograph on an FDC on a 1971 along with the autograph of the artist who designed the stamp. I sent two covers to Joe Biden, so he has those in his office.
- How does it feel to be a member of APS for 50 years?
I’m proud of the APS, it is the only organization that I am an active member in, I am not even active in local clubs. Again I am really proud to be a member, I was at 40 years and dropped out due to family issues,but was able to keep my membership number that I had from 1972 so I was really happy about that. The APS is the only organization that I can say I have been a member for 50 years, even a life member.
- What services have you used at APS and why?
I used the circuit sales when I started collecting, but eventually transitioned from stamps to FDCs, for which I used expertizing for around 20 years.
- Favorite memory of your time with APS? Or favorite show you attended ?
AFDCS shows in 1996 with Doris Gold, with 20-25 cache markers, including Fleetfood and Artcraft, who are out of business now. Also the show in St. Louis Stamp Expo in 2019 where I got to meet a lot of people. I also attended 1995 APS Nature Stamp Show in St. Louis, where they had the 1995 50c Bald Eagle first day of issue. I had a great time with my wife and daughter, and the show wasn’t overly crowded.
- How has your connection with other collectors changed since you joined APS?
The only time I see collectors is when I go to a stamp show.
- Has your knowledge of the hobby changed since joining APS?
Yes, positively yes.
- What are your hopes for the future of APS?
I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would say the organization will be stable.
- Anything else you would like to add/share?
I think stamp collecting is good, despite it being more difficult to certify stamps due to a lack of experts. Having more knowledgeable people will move our hobby ahead since it will help prevent forgeries, especially of higher value stamps like Zepplins. But once again the APS tries hard for its members. I have my plaque and medal in frame in front of me and I am really proud of that. Overall stamp collecting is a hobby that you can do for the rest of your life, and most stamps are not expensive, so even kids can collect them!