Tuesday June 7, June 14, and June 21 from 7-8PM

How does one make sense of the markings found on a cover?

Course Description: When a piece of mail encounters problems after entering the post, the often-tortured path the cover takes will be documented by postal markings; among them post office-applied hand stamps that explain a problem or instruct others down the line on how to handle the mail piece. Spend time examining a wide range of markings in order to decipher their meanings. Learn how to organized them in a collection. Examine resources that will help you identify a cover’s handling. 

Intended Audience (who should attend): This course is a “must” for all postal historians and anyone
wanting to better understand markings found on covers. 

Instructor Bio: John Hotchner is a life-long collector, specializing in several areas of US philately, worldwide EFOs, worldwide 19th century number and letter cancels, worldwide mourning covers, the 1934 and 1935 US Christmas seals, 20th century auxiliary markings showing delays in the US mails, and Korean War postal history. John also enjoys his album collections of 17 countries. He is a 16-year member of the APS Board including four years as Chairman of the Board of Vice Presidents and two as President. Hotchner is an APS accredited and FIP certified stamp show and philatelic literature judge with expertise in worldwide EFOs and US 20th century. He is an emeritus member of the National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists (1998-2017), past member of the Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (1998-2010), weekly columnist in Linn’s Stamp News since 1976, edits and/or writes for another half of a dozen philatelic publications. John is Vice President of Stamps for the Wounded, and past editor (1986-2010) and president (2010-2014) of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. He is a signatory of the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (2017). Retired from the U.S. State Department after 42 years, John ended his career with six years as a State Department representative in the intelligence community as senior policy advisor on impeding terrorist mobility.

Visit the Summer Seminar Page to register for the course!