I was pleased to note that some of our members have read my "Chairman's Notes" and to point out that the set of stamps issued by Liberia were not the only stamps showing paintings by Norman Rockwell.  I did say, "as far as I was aware"!  My American friends have pointed out that the 4 cent US stamp of 1960 showing Thornton Percival, a 15 year old Scout saluting and issued for the 50th anniversary of their Scouting was also by Rockwell.  Our friend Stanley Hunter from Scotland has written to me at some length about Rockwell and tells me that he is big money in the US. As well as the Philadelphia PA "Saturday Evening Post" Rockwell museum, he has also visited his house and studio in Stockbridge MA, which is also a museum.  The Boy Scouts of America holds the BSA Calendar/Boy's Life/Scouting cover illustrations, so due to copyright restrictions a number of counties have used details from his paintings but with small changes.

For those interested in Mafeking stamps I have been informed that this part of the Royal collection will be on show at a National Philatelic Exhibition "Chester 2002", at the Chester Racecourse on 29-30th November.
King George V was a very keen philatelist and a great collector of Mafeking.  He personally was responsible for purchasing a number of the choice items that are in the collection today.  This gives a rare chance to see some of the magnificent material including many proofs that are rarely seen on display.  The last time that the Mafeking collection was on public display was at the International exhibition in Paris during the 1980s.  Why not make a note in your diary, especially those in the northern part of the country.

During a recent visit to a stamp bourse in Budapest, I purchased quite cheaply, a used World Jamboree view postcard.  On a later inspection, I noted to my surprise that it did not have the usual letter (a - m) in the cancel, although it was dated 933 VII 10 (1933).  This was the first day of issue of the stamps.  However collectors of the 1933 Hungarian World Jamboree will know that the postmark at the camp always had the month abbreviated, as can be seen in the sample as "AUG".  I have enlarged the cancels so on further inspection it can be seen that part of the postmark is genuine, while the stamp and part of the postmark is from another cancel. The word Gödöllõ is blurred which is another sign that it was wrong.  What amazes me is that somebody should have gone to such trouble to fake a card with a low value.  When was it faked?  Probably at the time, and has it since been in a stamp collection?  The person who sold it to me was a postcard dealer, who I am sure would not have been aware that it had a fake cancel.

Plans for the next Euro-Scout meeting in Gent, Belgium are at an advance stage.  This will be held over the weekend of 25-27 October when the 4th International Scout Stamp Exhibition together with the 11th European Scout Collectors Meeting will be held at the main Congress Centre in Gent.  The Collectors Meeting will be held on Saturday 26th when the National Scouting Museum from Leuven will organise at the same time an important exhibition, where you will be able to view some exceptional objects from their collections of Scouting and Guiding.  The Philatelic weekend promises to be in the same tradition of the earlier shows, when some of the best European Scout Philatelic exhibits will be on view.  The official opening by the Province Governor and Members of the City Council will be on the Friday evening and this will be followed by a reception.  Various tours have been planned, and a Dinner has been planned for the Friday and Saturday evenings.  Collectors will have a chance to attend an Exchange Mart where those attending will be able to buy, swop or sell to improve their Scout collections.  For further details email: Info@euroscout2002.com or its own web site www.euroscout2002.com.

The Annual June Thematica held in London where the SGSC had its own table was well attended, and Peter Duck who was on the stand for most of the two days informs me that we had some interest in our Club, and that he managed to sign on at least one new member who took out a five years subscription.