Collectors Club of Chicago takes top CG award at Monacophil 2015

The Collectors Club of Chicago took home the top prize in the 2015 CG award ceremony held Dec. 3 during the Monacophil 2015 stamp show and exhibition in Monte Carlo.

The CG international philatelic promotion award, sponsored by German auctioneer Christoph Gaertner, encourages philatelic studies and the preservation of philatelic knowledge via published articles, according to Gaertner, including printed word and digital media as it relates to the promotion of youth philately.

Each year the award is given to the best submission by a study group, society, club, association or publisher of a philatelic magazine or newsletter.

The jury considered 65 submissions from 19 countries: Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Israel, the United States, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and Germany.

The groups represented included thematic study groups, international study groups, large national collecting organizations and smaller local clubs, plus postal history societies and philatelic libraries.

This year’s jury members were Rainer von Scharpen, secretary general of the AIJP (the International Association of Philatelic Journalists); Damian Laege, former chairman of the International Federation of Philately thematics committee; Patrick Maselis, president of the Club of Monte-Carlo and president of the Belgian Academy of Philately; and Richard Johnson, president of the International Federation of Stamp Dealers Associations.

The prize to the Collectors Club of Chicago was accepted by Leonard Hartmann, a member of the club’s board of directors and the head of its publications committee. The first place prize includes a €2,000 award.

The Collectors Club of Chicago was incorporated in 1928 and has as its primary objective the documentation, preservation, advancement and promotion of philately through education, study research, and services, according to the club website. Membership is by invitation only.

Second place, with a €1,000 award, was awarded to the Bund Deutscher Philatelisten of Germany. Third place (€800 award) was claimed by the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors.

The special prize for digital contribution was awarded to the American Philatelic Research Library, and the special youth prize went to Germany’s Junge Briefmarkenfreunde Simeon-Hamm.

Gaertner notes that the judging panel’s deliberations are independent, and that the Christoph Gaertner auction firm is not involved in the assessment process.

The CG award was first given in 2013, making this the third annual ceremony.

With this year’s event completed, Gaertner invites applications for the 2016 CG award.