The 2023 FLOREX show was held at the Volusia County Fair Grounds, just north of Orlando.

Vern Morris won the Single-Frame Grand and a Large Gold for “World’s Third Producer of Stamps: Philadelphia Local Post Fee Reduction, 1842 to 1861”.

James Allen and Alfredo Frohlich won Multi-frame Large Gold. James Allen’s “Rise and fall of the Grand Trunk Railway – The Big Picture” also won the British North American Philatelic Society Award. Alfredo Frohlich’s “1914-1919 – German Soldiers Captured in China: Japan Internment: Their Mail Use” also won the APS Award of Excellence: 1900-1940.

 
 
This year’s ChicagoPex was another success for the attendees, organizers, and exhibitors. The bourse had a wide range of dealers with super material. Visitors had plenty of the highest quality exhibits to view that included a Single Frame Court of Honor consisting of 21 exhibits, 11 of which were from Society members. And the presentations and talks were interesting and plentiful.
 
 
 
 
 
Society member’s exhibits did well winning the Single Frame Champion of Champions award, Multi-frame Grand, Multi-frame Reserve Grand, a Single-frame Reserve Grand, and many Golds, and a few Vermeils. Details follow.

Drum roll please for the Single-frame Champion of Champions awarded to our own Chip Gliedman for his “Mail Routes of Rupert’s Land, British North America“.

Other Society members included in the Single-frame Champion of Champions were
> Tony Dewey with two exhibits, “The War Rate: United States Postal Rates and Fees from February 1, 1815 through March 30, 1816” and “Swiss Official Stamps for the International Refugee Organization, 1950-1952”
> John Hotchner with two exhibits, “The Mid-19th Century Start of Perforating in Great Britain and the United States” and “Perforating the Sheet Stamps of the U.S. Third Bureau Issue”
> Michael Mahler with “California Blues: The Iconic 1857 ‘Gold Rush Revenues’”
> Mark Schwartz with two exhibits, “The Use of Boston’s “Paid in Grid” Cancels 1851-59” and “The “Special Arrangement” between Liverpool and the U. S. – 1843-1848”
> Richard Taschenberg with two exhibits, “The 10 Cent US Envelopes of 1870-1874” and “1861 Bicolor Envelope Usage – Unrecognized Rarity”
> Timothy Wait with “Adhesive Stamps Used to Pay the 2c Tax on US Bank Checks, 1862-1883“.

Daniel Knowles won the Multi-frame Bernard Hennig Grand for his “Mail Handling in the Confederate States of America by the Confederate Government and Private Individuals from Secession to Appomattox“. Also a Multi-frame Large Gold and the Collectors Club New York Best Multi-frame US Classic Period.

Mark Schwartz won the Multi-frame Felix Ganz Reserve Grand Award for “The New York Postmaster Provisional“. Also, Multi-frame Large Gold, Best Exhibit of a Chicago Philatelic Society Member and the United States Stamp Society Medal.

Michael Mahler won Multi-frame Large Gold for “Rebel Documents, Yankee Stamps: How the Union Collected Its Stamp Taxes in the Confederacy, During Wartime Occupation and by Post War Retroactive Stamping“. Also the American Revenue Association – Multi-frame Grand, Collectors Club of Chicago Gold Medallion, and the American Philatelic Society’s Research Medal.

Multi-frame Large Gold was won by Michael Mahler for “Philatelic Scripophily: Taking a Bite from the Bulls and the Bears. Revenue-Stamped Stock Certificates of the Civil War Tax Era, 1862-1872” (also the APS Pre-1900 Medal of Excellence); and Robert Hohertz for “Revenue Stamped Paper of the Spanish-American War Tax Era” (also the Norman and Jenny Banfield Special Prize).

Multi-frame Gold was won by John Hotchner for “United States Postal Counterfeits – The Classic Period to Modern Times, 1895-2004” (also Collectors Club of NY – Best Multi-frame US Modern Period); Larry Nix for “Hiram E. Deats: American Pioneer Philatelist“; and Tony Dewey for “The Amazing Cachets of Tom Mueller” (also APS Post 1980 Medal of Excellence).

Multi-frame Large Vermeil was won by Chip Gliedman for “Postal History Map of the United States of America” and Larry Nix for “The Library of Congress Jefferson Building: A Postcard History“.

Single-frame Large Gold was won by Dan Undersander for “Development of Star Die Envelopes and Wrappers” (also American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors Grand Award – 2); Robert Hohertz for “The American Phototype Two-Cent Instructive Clauses 1867-1872” (also AAPE Creativity Award); Peter Schwartz for “The Earliest Black Portrayals on US Stamps 1864-1872“; and Michael Mahler for “Fiscal History of U.S. Whaling, 1862-1872“.

Mark Schwartz won Single-frame Gold for “The First U.S. Postal Card 1873“. Dan Undersander also won Single-frame Gold for “The 5¢ Taylor Envelopes of 1875 to 1882“.

Lawrence Haber won Single-frame Large Vermeil for “United States 1908 Issue, 10¢ Special Delivery Stamp Uses“.

Photos by Jay Bigalke, Linn’s Stamp News.

The results are in, the judge’s votes have been tallied, and the winners announced. Your website, the USPCS site, has received a Large Gold from the APS as part of the Star Route Awards. This achievement is the result of many hands producing the amazing resource we have today which is actively maintained with Society-related news, new research materials – the Blood Local Post material is a great example – and eye candy like the evolving banner of intriguing, classic covers.

Please continue sending website contributions to keep our material fresh, interesting, and informative.

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