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My ASFE Collecting History and Plans
Everybody is getting older and finally reaches the retirement age. So have I. Here is a short summary of my ASFE memories and future plans.
Let me start from the 1960`. Since my childhood, I have been collecting ASFE. I had created my own ASFE lists, since 1971 amended according to FAZZ. I recommend everybody to prepare such a list, as it is an extraordinary lesson on political geography, better than any university study.
In the 1990`, when we started organizing ASFE collectors in Czechoslovakia, I was already finishing my ASFE collection according to FAZZ (780 entities), though with a few spacefillers.
Our club Geografilatelie published Zpravodaj, several numbers per year.
There used to be very practical information, as list of members, their age, addresses and how they were advanced. Well, the advance was to be taken with a reserve, as I know a few members whose collections are not so advance even today. The addresses enabled us to send mutually our wantlists and trade stamps.
About 40 articles of mine were published in Zpravodaj from 1990 to 2016. No other author had published so many articles. I had ready some 40 more, my goal was to offer 100+ articles. As Zpravodaj stopped publishing our internal stamp auctions, paying membership fees just to read my own articles has not given me sense.
My previous articles in Zpravodaj had sense, as they were used by J. Marek, when writing Atlases. The articles are free of charge on my blog ASFE Slovakia, now. They are not a replacement for the Atlases. Shown are many covers, which would be only consuming space in the printed books.
When J. Marek, in the meantime the chairman of our Prague based club, passed away in 2015, see the updated Do you collect ASFE?, there was left nobody more to coordinate successfully the two tendencies in collecting ASFE. While many collectors have been preferring a geographical view in collecting ASFE, hence including locals and artistamps, new leaders of our club preferred collecting of only strictly postal items, i.e. including meter stamps or even postal stationery cutouts. J. Marek has solved this dilemma supporting collecting both ways.
It is up to collectors to decide which tendency to accept, i.e. either geographical or postal. I have opted for the geographical one. Both can be interesting, but frankly, I do not see anything interesting in collecting stationery cutouts.
After Slovakia and Czechia spit, SSZZK (= Slovenská
spoločnosť zberateľov známkových krajín celého sveta = Slovak Association of ASFE Collectors) was established by 34 Slovak ASFE collectors in Bratislava on 9 June 1995.
Several founding members can be seen in this photo. From right to left they are Jiří Marek, future author of the Stamp Atlases as the representative of Czech ASFE collectors, J. Šumichrast,
Secretary Oto Hradský, President of the Slovak Philatelic Association Miroslav Ňaršík, A. Kuchta, J.
Ščevko, Chairman of the Expert Committee Peter Valdner, P. Strašifták, O. Sulo, on the left
M. Neipl. Remember me please the name of the last one.
Activities of the Association were based on cooperation of two members. The Secretary organized administration - summoned meetings, even issued membership cards, I wrote articles and updated ASFE lists. When the Secretary suddenly passed away, the formal activities stopped, though I continued updating the lists (published by Nitrafila) and writing articles for Geographilatelie. They were available also online on Infofila.
In 2009, Vojtech Jankovič proposed publishing the articles on his www site. So I revived the Association and as ASFE SLOVAKIA we went to the global virtual world. The site is still alive. Readers can find there my articles, previously published in Nitrafila and Geografilatelie, an updated 780 ASFE list and useful contacts. As I kept further updating them, I had always to ask the administrator to make changes. It proved time consuming, so I have created the blog ASFE SLOVAKIA where I have access.
The opened question was the fate of Zpravodaj. Though I was named a member of the Editors Committee, I saw the issues only after being printed. So I gave up. All my articles are uploaded on this blog, with added color pictures and what is important, permanently updated.
All my articles can be divided in three basic groups. I do not wait till they are printed any more. All can be opened by a click on the main page of ASFE Slovakia. The highlighted ones in English, for the rest use web translators, please.
Three basic articles are both on ASFE theory and practice. They emphasize the basic rule = collect what you prefer, how you prefer, create your own lists and Wantlists and publish them. They are Do you collect ASFE?, Spacefillers and My ASFE collecting - history and plans.
The second series are articles on most rare and interesting ASFE, as Buchara, Chorezm,
Basel, Tiflis, Mafeking, Idar, Mosquitia and Marianas espaňolas. Comparing the Wantlists, I can determine the ASFE rarity and plan new articles. Added were Bouvet, Cordoba, Dungarpur, Jasdan, Lady McLeod, Mafia, Scind, Shahpura,
Victoria Land, etc.
The third series are articles about ASFE, which are not on the updated 780 ASFE List as locals and artistampos. Identification of others is difficult or even incorrect in catalogues and stamp atlases, as Interpostals, Padania, Abu Dhabi, SCADTA,
Hungary Locals, Chile, Ecuador, Franchise Stamps, Zagreb, Nga Khe, Moldovia, Turkey,
Skorenovac, Lemnia, Ugljan, Belgian occupation of GEA, French Offshore Islands, Harar, Geraman occupation of islands
Brač, Hvar and Korčula, Akpinar, Challa, Ilo, Isla del Tigre, Dire Dawa,
Corn Island, Cabo Delgado, Precancels USA, Independent Bahawalpur, Cauca or Czechoslovakia 1945 Liberation Overpints.
This group is getting larger, I have added
Slavonski
Brod, Travnik, Six-Days War, GBLA - The Yelow Fleet, La Union and Revolutionary Issue of the Philippines, etc.
In the articles, I usually use local names, so that they can be understood abroad, too. The official names in Slovak and/or Czech could be difficult to understand for foreigners.
Sometimes I show several circulated covers. It is not because I recommend to collect them (to my taste they are too expensive), but they prove existence of ASFE.
Lets get to my ASFE collecting now. In 1990`, when we started organizing ourselves, I was already completing the last of 780 ASFE according to FAZZ, though with a few spacefillers. Except for 780 ASFE, I have been collecting also "dead" entities, development of ASFE and various kinds of stamps of each entity, which was satisfactory from political and philatelic points of view, but missing was the geographic one. Solution was collecting locals, which is a whole life collecting project. That time we had not enough information on locals, plus there was an official refusal on collecting Cinderellas.
Fortunately, booklets by Karel Holoubek on Czechoslovakia 1945 locals
and Jiri Marek on ex-USSR locals indicated the way how to continue collecting.
Both Czechoslovakia 1945 Revolutionary Issues and Ex-USSR overprints offered many cheap stamps available to be collected. Many of them of a private origin, but what is the problem? Most revolutionary and local stamp in any world stamp catalogues are of similar origin. Many of them were used as postage stamps.
As printing technologies advanced, overprinting stamps was replaced by their printing and got a name of Artistamps. They are of the same nature, just production is more sophisticated. And again arose the question where to find information.
The excellent Stamp Atlases by Jiri Marek included them. The author obviously realized that information on postage stamps are available everywhere, but private issues are often unknown. So collectors have a complex information today and it is only upon them if they repeat the mistake of many collectors who had ignored locals and later purchased them at much higher prices.
Naturally, everybody makes sometimes mistakes. Important is to learn from them. I made a serious one, too. I have not collected complete covers, vice-versa, I have washed many of them to get loose stamps. Fortunately, there is no such danger today - old covers got so expensive that nobody washes them.
So today, as I got old, I dedicate my time to teaching collectors, writing articles on stamp collecting. Most of them are on this blog ASFE Slovakia, others on other www sites and in journals as Zpravodaj, Nitrafila, since 2013 in Merkur Revue, etc.
The most important lesson learned is that a stamp collector must be free to decide what to collect That is why I have never exhibited any collection, as exhibition rules would limit me. If you like publicity, you are free to exhibit your collections. Either to satisfy yourself or to teach others. Just do not expect any medal, ASFE exhibits do not match any exhibition class. The maximum you can win is a diploma for participation in a non-competition class.
It is only up to you if you collect only "official" ASFE, or, as I do today, also locals, development of ASFE, or even artistamps. It is you who dedicate your time, your money, your will and it should be satisfactory for you. The updated "official" ASFE list is at 780 ASFE.
Another experience I want to share with you is publishing ASFE Wantlists. The more collectors know your list, the better is chance you get offers. My ASFE wantlist, permanently updated, is published on the main page of my blog.
What am I going to collect next, as I have already got good collections of Czechoslovakia 1945 liberation overprints, ex-USSR locals and artistamps? For sure US precancels, as they are very many, relatively cheap and if you are computer literate, easy to find. Plus my favorite British offshore islands and for sure Great Bitter Lake Association, which is a collecting area between locals and artistamps. My goal is to put together the world best collection of them and inform the collectors, as they are very little known and researched.
Now the promised update of 2022. After Jiri Marek passed away, see Do you collect ASFE?, and
later Editor-in-Chief Mirek
Prokop gave up, Zpravodaj is waiting for a restart.
Geografilatelie (later renamed) keeps collecting annual membership fees,
but stopped internal auctions, so does not offer to its members
practically anything that would not be offered
free of charge to non-members. Contacts
are still a property of a few Board members, collected funds are being
devalued by inflation. The only existing benefit, a moderate discount on purchased literature, is a mere theory, as no new publications have been published since
2011. My offer for a special edition of the GBLA book has not been
accepted. What a pity, as stamp collectors do like information printed.
Hence ASFE collectors have to rely practically only on internet.
What type of communities do I expect to prevail in future? For sure not closed groups, especially if collecting membership fees. In my opinion, future have open groups, where everybody can contribute with his knowledge and experience. Where each participant can address either the whole group or individual members. Preferably free of charge.
I remember the Yahoo ASFE Group, but Yahoo has closed all groups. Some of them moved to Groups.io, some to Google Groups or Facebook Groups, some got cancelled without replacement. So I expect some ASFE group to be created again. Important is to join so that colleagues know about you.
Recently, I have joined the newly created GBLA Facebook Group. In a few days it had more than 100 members, despite of the fact that GBLA is a very specific subject. If established, an ASFE Group could be joined by thousands of collectors from the whole world.
Contact: valdpete@yahoo.com
