SEQUIM — The Strait Stamp Society promises something of interest for all ages at a free stamp show Saturday.
The show — featuring stamp dealers and stamp exhibits — will be from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Sequim Masonic Lodge, 700 S. Fifth Ave., Sequim.
Seven dealers will sell stamps and covers (i.e., envelopes) and other items.
“Items will be offered from all over the world, including many countries you never knew even existed,” said Phil Castell of the Strait Stamp Society, which organizes an annual show for stamp-collectors and those interested in philately, or the study of stamps.
They also will offer appraisals and can buy stamps from the public.
More than 20 frames of stamp exhibits will be displayed.
“People can vote for their favorite or most educational display,” Castell said.
Snacks will be available throughout the day.
A United States Postal Service employee will hand-cancel a specially approved show cancellation on envelopes.
“You may bring your own, or they can be purchased at the show,” Castell said.
The theme for this year’s show is the sesquicentennial of Port Angeles.
The design of the envelope, also known as a “cachet,” is a map showing the proposed plat of the city of Port Angeles from 1853, Castell said.
The cancellation is a profile of President Abraham Lincoln, who signed an order June 19, 1862, that established the town as a military and naval reservation.
Stamp appraisals
The appraisals are popular, club members say.
“In the past, we have seen people bring in a single stamp or two or even a whole car-trunk full of boxes,” said Richard Tarbuck a longtime club member.
“At times, it has the feel of an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ event, with folks bringing in what they have found in the attic or been given by family members,” Tarbuck said.
“Antiques Roadshow” is a popular PBS television show that travels to various cities throughout the nation.
Free prize drawings will be offered throughout the day, and there will be free packets of stamps for youngsters and a special club table where every stamp is available for just 1 cent.
“It is amazing to see the number of people who spend hours at the 1-cent table,” said Cathie Osborne, a club leader.
“They have an awful lot of fun and at the end of the day have hundreds of new additions to their collections for just a few dollars.”
Castell said the show offers a way to meet others who share the hobby of stamp-collecting.
“No two stamp collectors are the same,” he said.
“It seems as if everyone collects in their own unique way.
“There is no wrong way or no right way. It is truly an all-inclusive hobby.”
Castell said some collect stamps from a single country or a region, while others collect specific items on stamps, such as horses, trains, cars or birds.
“There is no limit except to what you can imagine,” Castell said.
“I once had a thoroughly engrossing conversation with a gent who collected ‘postage due’ stamps from Switzerland — not an area I had thought of before, but it was interesting to learn and hear a person’s passion for what they collect,” Castell said.
Postal history
Fellow club member Chester Masters always has a display of early North Olympic Peninsula postal history at the show.
“Before Sequim was Sequim, it used to be known as both Sequin and Seguin, and these covers that show those postmarks are extremely rare and date from the 1800s,” Castell said.
Castell said collectors and dealers come “from far and wide for this show, and it has a very loyal following from dealers from all over the Northwest and collectors from Victoria.”