1st DECEMBER 2008
THE FIP COMMISSION FOR TRADITIONAL PHILATELY
RULES FOR JUDGING EXHIBITS
Guidelines for judging Traditional Philately Exhibits
Article 1:
Competitive Exhibitions
These guidelines have
been developed to assist judges in the evaluation and exhibitors in the
preparation of traditional philately exhibits.
In the event
of any discrepancies in the application of these Guidelines with the GREV and
the SREV; the GREV take precedence over the SREV and the SREV take precedence
over the Guidelines.
Article 2:
Principles of Exhibit Composition
2.1 In a traditional exhibit
the exhibitor tells a story or stories with her/his exhibit. Normally it is a
story of the stamps or issues themselves. It can begin with the reason why the
stamp was issued following with the possible essays and/or proofs. It can then
describe the development of the stamp, different printings, colours,
perforations, papers, errors etc. The usage of the stamp, the rates, routes,
postal forms, cancellations and other Items as described In SREV 3.2. are an essential part of the story.
The plan is organizing the chapters of the philatelic
story to be told. The title, treatment
and the plan must be consistent with each other and naturally with the exhibit itself. All the important
aspects of the area chosen must be shown in
a well balanced way. The different aspects like for instance the postmarks can be shown in a separate chapter or within
other chapters.
2.2 A
listing of basic groupings of "Material appropriate to traditional
philately" (Ref: SREV
Art. 3.1) will always be inadequate
when applied to some traditional specialities.
Traditional approaches to collecting the stamps of one country will make
the inclusion of certain items obligatory, while including the same sort of
items in an exhibit of another country would be quite inappropriate. Many small sub-specialities are unique to
different countries and the inclusion of some of them may be obligatory to
achieve the highest awards. The material
that is required and the techniques for exhibiting it vary from country to
country.
2.3 "Material
appropriate to traditional philately" is meant to include virtually all
items that are in any way connected with transmission of matter by, or outside
of, the postal service. This includes
railway, local and private mail services. Letter culture
like embossed ladies covers, valentine covers, illustrated decorative covers,
patriotic covers, etc can be included if they are supporting the story. Prestamp and stampless items and
postal markings must have a direct relationship to the shown material and
should not normally exceed 15 % of the exhibit space.
2.4 If
the status or genuineness of any item is in doubt, but the item is considered
significant enough to be included in the exhibit, it may be included, but its
status should be indicated by means of a certificate from an approved authority or by other explanatory remarks.
2.5 Traditional exhibits should
contain material that is related and can be described as a unit. The coverage
should be clearly and concisely stated in the exhibition catalogue description and on the title page. Actual arrangement of the exhibit is a matter
of personal taste and the choice of one of the many accepted forms of
presenting the material is left to the exhibitor. Innovation is always encouraged.
2.6 The introductory statement
describing the story (see Art. 2.1. above) and showing
the exhibitor's knowledge of the material he has chosen required by Art. 3.3 of
GREV must be added to the exhibit. Its purpose is to help people to
easily understand the treatment and objectives
of the exhibit and to
appreciate the significance of the key items on display. The Introductory
statement should include the plan as well as a list of literature references.
All exhibits should make full use of the introductory statement.
Article 3: Criteria
for Evaluating Exhibits
3.1 The selection of material for a traditional
philately exhibit involves a compromise between the many pages of material the
exhibitor may wish to show and the number of pages that will fit in the frames
allotted by the exhibition management. This selection is an important factor not only in
assessing treatment, but also knowledge. The
exhibitor may omit material that is of lesser significance. In general, the common values of an issue may
be represented by a token showing, while the better material of the same issue
should be shown in depth. The judges
will appreciate that this treatment shows the exhibitor's knowledge of the
material.
3.2 If a stamp is considered common in unused or
used condition, but relatively scarce on cover or in a particular combination,
then the showing of only the cover or combination on cover would constitute a
commendable understanding of the issue in question. However, a page of examples with no
differentiation as to shade or other
characteristic, or several pages of covers
all showing the same rate and usage, regardless of value, is likely to detract
from an exhibit.
The write up in the exhibit doesn't
need to describe the clearly visible facts, but all philatelic background
information demonstrates the philatelic knowledge of the exhibitor. In some
cases even the historical or social context might be helpful to fully
understand the role of the exhibited stamps or Issues.
3.3 Treatment of the exhibit reflects the degree
to which the exhibitor is able to create a balanced exhibit
characteristic of the chosen subject. A logical progression that is easy to follow and a clear concise write
up will help the jurors to appreciate the exhibit.
In assessing treatment; Jurors will
check that the statements made in the introduction and plan
are adequately represented in the display. Consideration will also be
given to:
a. The
difficulty of obtaining relevant and interesting material for the exhibit. This
should not be seen as a factor of rarity or value, but one of time and
dedication.
b. The
philatelic knowledge and skills required to assemble and present the exhibit.
Even
if postmarks and frankings are an essential part of a
traditional exhibit, they must be in a well balanced relation to the whole
exhibit (not for instance 1 frame of pure traditional and 7 frames of marcophily)
3.4 In assessing the importance of the exhibit
consideration is given to:
a. How much of the key material of the
chosen subject is present.
b. The
significance of the subject within the philately of the country or area
exhibited.
c. The significance of the subject on a
worldwide scale.
The introduction of three time periods has solved some
of the problems with the importance. For instance an excellent modern exhibit
with outstanding material, knowledge and treatment is often more important than
a weak classic exhibit.
Also the completeness of all important aspects of the
chosen area increases the importance of an exhibit. Excluding some important
aspects is lowering the importance even if that is mentioned in the
introductory statement.
3.5 Research and new discoveries should be given
full coverage in accordance with their importance. Major discoveries deserve important coverage
and recognition and should be identified by the exhibitor, while minor
discoveries should not overpower the main exhibit. It must be remembered that many classic and
modern issues have been very heavily researched over a long period and the
results of these studies have been published.
To gauge knowledge, the jury will consider how well the exhibitor has
made use of these resources. It is
unrealistic to require a collector to develop new findings in a heavily studied
and researched area. For this reason,
such exhibits will not be penalised for a lack of personal research, but will
be given additional consideration if, in spite of previous research that has
taken place, the exhibitor has managed to come up with new findings.
Only the knowledge documented
in the exhibit can be judged. Not only the background information about the
postage stamps but also about the rates, routes, postmarks etc. is the best way
to show the overall knowledge of the exhibitor.
Where appropriate; references should be given to the
exhibitor's own or other previously published information. Where the exhibitor has extended such
information a reference can be placed either in the introductory statement or
on the exhibition page to which the research refers.
3.6 The material in overall good condition is
essential to traditional exhibit.
Exhibitors are encouraged to show unique or very rare material that
does not occur in fine condition, but are cautioned from including other items in
a condition that may reduce the perceived overall condition of the exhibit. The condition of common material should be impeccable.
The
rarity of the whole issue or one value from the Issue counts normally higher
than the rarity of a small variety. The rarity and importance of varieties is
not the same for different countries or areas. This has to be taken into the
consideration when judging the exhibit.
SPECIAL REGULATIONS FOR THE EVALUATION OF TRADITIONAL
PHILATELY AT FIP
EXHIBITIONS
Article 1: Competitive Exhibitions
In accordance with article
1.4. of the General Regulations of the F.I.P. for the Evaluation
of Competitive Exhibits at F.I.P. Exhibitions (GREV), these Special Regulations
have been developed to supplement those principles with regard to Traditional
Philately.
Also refer to “Guidelines
for judging Traditional Philately Exhibits”
Article 2: Competitive exhibits
Traditional philately
embraces all aspects of philately. This includes also those aspects, which may
be used in other FIP classes and which are supporting the story the exhibitor
is telling by his exhibit. This story must be developed according to a logical
plan leading through the exhibit. It may include aspects of the story of the
stamp such as the way from the essays via proofs to the issued stamp with its
printing phases and all kinds of varieties. It includes all kinds of
appropriate material, even material, which might be used to form an exhibit of
one of the special classes. The usage of the stamp must normally be demonstrated
throughout the exhibit but this might also be a special section of the plan.
Then it must be well balanced with the rest of the exhibit. The usage means
here the different ways of cancelling, the postal rates and also routes if
needed. The presence of rare postmarks, unusual frankings
and postal forms has to be considered in judging.
Exhibits that do not principally follow the special rules of other
philatelic classes shall
be considered and judged as traditional philately exhibits. If an exhibit is transferred into another
class, the exhibitor has to be informed about the reason.
A transferred exhibit from
another FIP class not following the regulations of that class, can be judged as
traditional, but will normally receive lesser points for treatment, if not
built up traditionally.
Article 3: Principles of Exhibit Composition
The Title page must contain an
introductory statement, which explains the aim of the exhibit. It must be
followed by a logical plan. (Ref. GREV
3.3).
3.1 Material
appropriate to traditional philately includes, among other things, (Ref. GREV. Art. 3.2).
1.
Adopted or
rejected essays, die-proofs, plate proofs, colour trials, plate flaws and other
errors in stamp production
2.
Postage stamps,
whether unused or used, singles or multiples, and stamps used on cover, postal
forms, mixed franking with other countries etc
3.
The different
usages of the stamp including the different cancellations, rates, routes,
although an exhibit consisting entirely of this material would be more
appropriate under Postal History.
4.
Local stamps,
private delivery services, parcel company and carrier stamps, shipping company stamps
etc
5.
Varieties of all
kinds, such as those of watermark, gum, perforation, paper, printing and colour
as well as specialities of a single country.
6.
Plate
reconstructions and studies of printing plates
7.
Perfins, postally accepted
overprints and value surcharges, all kinds of postal labels like registration
labels, parcel stickers etc if they are supporting the story to be told.
8.
Postal
stationery if they are printed with the same cliché as postage stamps and
stationery outcuts, if they are used as postage
stamps
9.
Postally used
fiscal stamps and unused fiscals valid for postal use.
10.
Postal forgeries.
Other forgeries and reprints only in comparison with the genuine stamp if used
in a traditional exhibit presenting for instance one issue, see 3.2.4 below
3.2
Exhibits will
also be considered as traditional philately, if they are made up as following
1. Collections showing the development of
postage stamps.
2
Special studies
of papers used in stamp production, gums, perforations, colour variations,
errors of graphic design, perfins.
3
Collections of
borderline postage items such as letter-culture, letter closing, newspaper
labels etc.
4
Collections of fakes
and forgeries, reprints, registration labels etc.
5
Research
collections like plate reconstructions, development of plate flaws.
6
Comparative
collections e.g. issues of several countries including “omnibus” issues or
covering the first issues of a certain region.
7
Other
collections with special aspects such as events – “Day of the Stamp, Christmas
mail, fairs and other philatelic events
Article 4: Judging of Exhibits
4.1. Traditional
philately exhibits will be judged in accordance with Article 39 GREX (Ref. GREV, Art. 5.1.).
4.2 For
Traditional Philately exhibits the following relative terms are presented to
lead the Jury to a balanced evaluation (Ref. GREV, Art. 5.2.).
Treatment
(20) and Philatelic Importance (10) of
the Exhibit 30
Philatelic
and Related Knowledge, Personal Study and Research 35
Condition
(10) and Rarity (20) 30
Presentation 5
Total
100
Exhibits
will be evaluated by allocating points for each of the above criteria.
Article
5: Concluding Provisions
5.1 In
the event of any discrepancies in the text arising from translation, the
English text shall prevail.
5.2 These
Special Regulations for the Evaluation of Traditional Philately Exhibits at
F.I.P. Exhibitions were approved at