Wade Saadi named Lichtenstein award recipient

Wade E. Saadi will receive the 2015 Alfred F. Lichtenstein memorial award at the annual awards dinner of the Collectors Club of New York on May 6.

The Collectors Club established the Lich­tenstein award in 1952 and presents it annually to a living individual for outstanding service to philately.

The announcement of Saadi’s selection for the award was made by the Collectors Club board of governors.

The board observed that Saadi’s contributions span not only organizational leadership, but also reflect outstanding scholarship, research and writing, and exhibiting.

Saadi is a lifelong collector specializing in the classic stamps of the United States.

A former vice president of the American Philatelic Society, Saadi served as the APS president from 2008 to 2013. As the society’s immediate past president, he currently serves as a member of the APS board.

He is also chairman of the World Stamp Show-NY 2016, the international stamp show taking place next year in New York City, and since 2003 has been a member of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum’s Council of Philatelists.

In 2005 Saadi was elected president of the Collectors Club after serving as a governor and as chair of several committees. He continues to serve as chairman of the club’s outreach committee.

Saadi has also served as president of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society and received the society’s Distinguished Philatelist award in 2014, its Susan M. McDonald award in 2013, and the Dr. Carroll Chase Cup in 1997. He is the section editor for 1847 and 1851 issues for The Chronicle of the U.S. Classic Postal Issues, the society’s quarterly journal.

He is also a member of the Royal Philatelic Society, elected a fellow in 1995. In 2010 he was elected to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.

The Collectors Club notes Saadi’s achievements as a philatelic exhibitor, citing his eight-frame presentation on the evolution of cancellations and postal markings, “Struck on Stamps — U.S. 1851-68,” which has won six gold medals from the International Federation of Philately (FIP).

“He exposed the well-known ‘Knapp shift’ as a fake,” the club added, “discovered and wrote the definitive article on the ‘T’ crack, position 69R, on the five cent 1847 plate. He has conducted extensive research on the deliveries, shades and color varieties of the five cent 1847 issue.”

The award is named for prominent philatelist Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1876-1947), who in 1996 was named the outstanding American philatelist for the first half of the 20th century by the Collectors Club.

Founded in 1896, the Collectors Club promotes the stamp hobby and the study of philately. For more information, visit the club online at www.collectorsclub.org.