First-day cover devotees to gather at Americover show: When and where it’s happening

By Lloyd de Vries

The Washington, D.C., area is a hotbed of stamp collecting, with one of the most active chapters of the American First Day Cover Society, so it is not a surprise that the AFDCS often holds its annual Americover show there.

Americover 2016 will take place Aug. 19-21 at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park in Falls Church, Va.

The pre-show tour on Thursday, Aug. 18, will include a special Maynard Sundman Lecture at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum.

The lecture is titled “Parks, Postmarks, and Postmasters: Post Offices within the National Park System,” and will be presented by former National Park Service interpretive planner Paul Lee. Chief Philatelic Curator Daniel Piazza also will lead a tour of the museum’s exhibits for attendees.

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Americover 2016 is a World Series of Philately show, and its 160 exhibit frames were sold out more than two months before the show. All of the exhibits are related to FDCs. The dealer bourse is nearly sold out, too.

The AFDCS will hold its annual meetings at Americover 2016, as will the Universal Ship Cancellation Society and the American Society of Polar Philatelists.

Because of World Stamp Show-NY 2016 earlier this summer, most of the World Series of Philately shows in the East are skipping their 2016 editions.

These deletions include Napex (Washington area), Nojex (Northern New Jersey), National Topical Stamp Show, PNSE (Philadelphia area), and Philatelic Show (Boston area), and the American Philatelic Society took its annual August Stampshow clear across the country to Portland, Ore., all to avoid collector burnout.

However, the AFDCS figures that two and a half months after World Stamp Show, FDC collectors and others will be ready for another show.

Americover tends to be a little untraditional — for example, the exhibit awards are handed out at a Saturday-morning meeting — but one tradition will be upheld this year: The show hotel rate is again under $100 per night. The discount code to obtain this rate at the Falls Church Marriott Fairview Park is ACVACVA.

Speaking of the show hotel, this is the third time Americover has been held at this site.

Additional information about the show can be found online.

Unfortunately, as of the Linn’s deadline for this column, no first-day ceremony has been scheduled for Americover 2016, the annual gathering of people who produce and collect first-day covers.

However, Americover will hold a dedication ceremony for the five Soda Fountain Favorites forever stamps issued June 30.

Bring your own spoon. 

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