APS to receive $1.3 million bequest

The American Philatelic Society will soon receive a gift of approximately $1.3 million.

The gift is a bequest of 25-year APS member Walter Weber of Bellingham, Wash., who died May 23. Mr. Weber designated the APS as the sole beneficiary of his individual retirement account, according to the society.

Mr. Weber was a private investor who collected the stamps of the United States, Canada and Switzerland. He also had a special interest in revenue stamps, the APS reports.

The donation is the single largest gift ever received by the society.

Former APS president William Bauer designated a gift of $1.2 million that the APS and the American Philatelic Research Library received following Mr. Bauer’s death in 2009.

The APS reports that other major gifts to the society and the library have come from the estates ofGeorge Fisher of Langhorne, Pa. ($600,000 in 2004); Osborne Morse of Leawood, Kan. ($300,000 in 2001), and Horace Harrison of Ruxton, Md. ($300,000 in 2002).

The American Philatelic Society is the nation’s largest organization for postage stamp collectors. Additional information is available online at www.stamps.org; or contact the American Philatelic Society, 100 Match Factory Place, Bellefonte, PA 16823; telephone 814-933-3803.