FEPA News

FEPA NEWS 45 38 FEPA Exhibiting An alternative would be to deal with the 10 cents value through all the plates imperforate and perforated, followed by the 20 cents and the 40 cents to end with the late arriving (1861) 1 cent value. One could also start with the 40 cents since this was the first value to be issued. Or start with the 1 cent since this is the lowest value of the issue. In the introduction page it should be made clear what the chosen sequence is, and there should be an explanation of why this is a good way to deal with the stamps. Such an explanation is a lot more valuable than a long index-numbered listing of what is shown. After all, 90% of traditional collections are chronologically structured organised by sequence of issue and/or moving from the low values to the high values. There is little added value in stating that section 2.2.1 deals with the different shades of colour of the 10 cents value and section 2.2.2 deals with varieties on the 10 cents whilst section 2.2.3 shows unusual postmarks and section 2.2.4 provides examples used on cover. This is rather evident for the spectator when looking at the sheets in question. Knowledge & Research As already discussed, documenting knowledge is not best done by providing a long reference list of literature consulted. It what is more important to demonstrate how you master the knowledge. This is, of course, first and foremost is happening in the collection, but a word of explanation can help in passing on the message. It is easier to write about if knowledge is used in a new and untried combination, e.g. knowledge of the occurrence of different varieties is combined with knowledge on colour shades to establish a printing sequence. Such innovative elements in the collection need explaining and emphasis in the introduction page. Using established knowledge in new ways is also approaching research and, as I have said, your own research should be highlighted in the introduction page. The results of your research can be listed and reference should be made to where in the collection the new insights are described. References to research, or general articles, published by yourself are more useful than quoting a list of well-established titles and references. Importance “Importance” remains, in spite many attempts to explain exactly how points are gained here, a highly subjective matter and variation in the judging is almost unavoidable. These variations may be undesirable, but also means that a jury can be influenced with the ‘right’ arguments. This is why it is essential to explain what is important about your exhibit. The difficulty lies in making the explanation convincing. A common way of making the judgement more objective is to break it down to a number of elements which are scored individually to arrive at an overall score. Elements that are part of any definition of what is understood by ‘importance’ are: size, originality, place in history, legacy/impact, popularity, difficulty…. It is these elements you should focus on and use to stress how important your stamps are. Stamps of a larger area will mostly be considered more important than those of a small area. The first stamps produced in photogravure will always have a place in history, but so have the early stamps of the small island nation of Mauritius due to their legacy. Condition – Rarity Condition and rarity are two different topics that need to be addressed. Both are rather matter-of-fact but you can use the facts to your advantage by comparing them with other areas/countries of philately.