St. Louis Stamp Expo to take place March 27-29

The St. Louis Stamp Expo will take place the weekend of March 27-29 at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Mo.

Show hours will be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Children under the age of 16 will be admitted to the expo free of charge. The admission fee for adults will be $5 per person, good for all three days of the show. Free parking is available with validation at the show hotel.

The expo features 50 dealer booths, a public stamp auction conducted by Regency-Superior, 2,600 pages of exhibits, a youth room, a United States Postal Service substation, speakers and  seminars.

The show also will host the annual meeting of the Germany Philatelic Society. In addition, the American Topical Association, and the Missouri and Illinois postal history societies will conduct meetings.

 The expo is an American Philatelic Society World Series of Philately exhibition. The grand-award winner will be eligible to compete in the APS Champion of Champions competition at APS Stampshow Aug. 20-23 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The show commemorates more than 200 years of Soulard Market, a farmers’ market located in the heart of St. Louis. Local architect and stamp collector Tom Minor designed a cachet and cancel honoring the market. He will be at the show on Saturday at 1 p.m. to autograph covers.

The cachet shows an interior scene of Soulard Market. It may be franked with one of the Farmers Market Forever Stamps issued in August 2014, and canceled with a special USPS cancel depicting the exterior of the market.

The cacheted covers are $3 each or $8 for a set of three, and are available at the expo, or by sending an addressed, stamped envelope along with payment to St. Louis Stamp Expo, 229 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri  63108.  

The exhibits will be judged by Robert Zeigler, chief judge; Elizabeth Hisey; William Schultz; Anthony Brooks; and John Grabowski.

The exhibitors’ awards banquet will take place at the Renaissance Penthouse Dining Room at 6:15 p.m. Saturday. Banquet tickets are $50 per person and may be reserved by calling 800-782-0066.

The two-day stamp auction (Saturday and Sunday) by Regency-Superior Auctions is open to the public. Viewing of the 3,300 lots will take place at the auction houses’ St. Louis gallery in the Central West End through Saturday, and at the expo during show hours.

The auction catalog can be viewed online. Collectors can bid directly at Regency-Superior’s website. Complimentary auction catalogs are available by calling 800-782-0066.

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Regency-Superior also will host a free appraisal clinic throughout the weekend. Collectors are welcome to bring their stamp collections, autographs, coins, currency, and space and Hollywood memorabilia to the show for valuation.

The St. Louis Stamp Expo will welcome hundreds of children from local elementary schools on Friday. Activities, videos, games and guided tours of the philatelic exhibits are planned for the children. They will receive a free bag full of giveaways including stamps, albums and literature.

Local collectors will conduct a full-day seminar Saturday for the Boy Scouts merit badge program. Past years’ programs have filled up quickly. Scouts interested in attending must make reservations. For further details on the merit badge seminar, contact Gary Hendren at 314-576-5261.

For more information on the expo, or an advance copy of the show program, call the St. Louis Stamp Expo at 800-782-0066 or 314-361-5699, e-mail expo@regencystamps.com, or visit the website.

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