Pennsylvania Postal History Society

Pennsylvania Postal History Society PaPHS is a non-profit, educational membership organization founded in 1974. PaPHS encourages the acquisition and preservation of the material.

It has as its primary purpose the cultivation and promotion of the study of the postal history of Pennsylvania. PaPHS supports the publication of original research in respect of such knowledge for the benefit of its members and the general public.

Michael Sefi, philatelist and keeper of the royal stamp collection under Queen Elizabeth II, has died at age 82. As a st...
05/16/2026

Michael Sefi, philatelist and keeper of the royal stamp collection under Queen Elizabeth II, has died at age 82. As a stamp collector, I can’t imagine a more rewarding career than Mr. Sefi’s.

Here’s the cover of the upcoming issue of the HISTORIAN, the award-winning journal of the Pennsylvania Postal History So...
04/23/2026

Here’s the cover of the upcoming issue of the HISTORIAN, the award-winning journal of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society (PaPHS). Want to read the entire issue? Join the PaPHS today!

Great advertising cover from a very early (circa 1870) stamp dealer in Philadelphia. An article on this cover will appea...
04/15/2026

Great advertising cover from a very early (circa 1870) stamp dealer in Philadelphia. An article on this cover will appear in the upcoming issue of THE HISTORIAN, the award-winning journal of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society.

Here’s a wonderful self-addressed cover that famous Philadelphian philatelist Joseph A. Steinmetz sent to himself from t...
04/09/2026

Here’s a wonderful self-addressed cover that famous Philadelphian philatelist Joseph A. Steinmetz sent to himself from the Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) held in Seattle in 1909. The cover includes a tied AYPE label.

The Pennsylvania Postal History Society is alive and well on FaceBook! It’s been a while. Let’s get back into the swing ...
04/07/2026

The Pennsylvania Postal History Society is alive and well on FaceBook!
It’s been a while.

Let’s get back into the swing of things with a Philadelphia advertising cover from 1896. That is one sturdy Christmas tree holder, but with no ability to water the tree!

You can find the “Crown” Christmas tree holders for sale on eBay - used of course.

What’s up with you all?

11/03/2025

📣 PaPHS is thrilled to announce - our redesigned website is now LIVE!

🔗https://paphs.org/

You can now manage your membership, make donations, and shop our Monographs all in one place. The new PaPHS.org keeps our mission and branding front and center, with easier access to resources and community engagement. Thank you for your patience and support as we begin this exciting new chapter ♥️

📬 Reminder for current members: Keep an eye out for your copy of the November 2025 issue of the Historian - now mailing!

Get more website visits

Will you please take this short postal history survey?
09/15/2022

Will you please take this short postal history survey?

Huzza for our brave Civilian Soldiers!Can anyone help me with identifying the manuscript markings to the left of the Phi...
06/07/2022

Huzza for our brave Civilian Soldiers!
Can anyone help me with identifying the manuscript markings to the left of the Philadelphia Circular Date Stamp? I see the word "West" in there, but I don't understand what any of it means.
Thanks...

04/04/2022

Please join the Mid-Atlantic Federation of Postal History Societies for a Zoom presentation on Thursday, April 7, given by Charles J. DiComo, Ph.D. Charles is a lifelong philatelist, postal historian & award-winning author. He enjoys researching, restoring, writing, publishing, & presenting on a broad array of philatelic & postal history topics. He is President of the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County (PA); President of the Empire State Postal History Society, Editor-in-Chief of the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society’s The Chairman’s Chatter and Life Member, on the Board of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society, and an emeritus member of the Council of Philatelists of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. A native New Yorker, he currently resides in Lancaster, PA with his wife Kathleen and their two daughters, McKenna and Mia. Charles is a healthcare executive with a distinguished career in the Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Global Clinical Trials sector.

“From the U.S. to Farther India & Back Again. A Five-Month Journey of a Baptist Missionary Cover in 1856-1857. The Challenge: Determining the Rates and Routes”

Detective Story, an 1856 cover with 20+ cancellations & manuscript markings, determines the journey from Ohio to Far East India & back again to Boston over a 5 month period. I employed numerous resources to decipher: personal philatelic references; online databases, philatelic auction catalogs; digital manipulation software; and colleagues. I recently located the missing block of 6 of Scott #17 that originated on this cover – working to reunite.

Dr. Charles J. DiComo, President of the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County and the Empire State Postal History Society takes us on a five-month journey of a Baptist Missionary cover mailed in August 1856 from Warren, Ohio to Farther India (Hindostan/British India), today's Arakan, Myanmar. When the letter arrived after a multi-month journey the recipient, Reverend Alfred Satterlee, "was not there". The cover then made the long trip back to the United States, arriving in Boston a few months later in January 1857. The challenge with this cover is if one could determine the rates and routes. The cover is postmarked with over 20 cancellations and manuscript rate markings from its trip from the U.S. to Great Britain, then Egypt to India to Father India, and then back again to the U.S. The answer as you follow Charles' diagnosis, is yes. He was able to reveal the cancels and rates and the entire trip, even determining the sailing and steam vessels the cover was carried on. Charles also reveals a tragic aspect to the story of the Reverend Satterlee, his wife, and his child.

Topic: MAFPHS - DiComo
Time: Apr 7, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88583635616?pwd=cDNkemh1ODVBTm0xZ3NZS2N3TmZEQT09

Meeting ID: 885 8363 5616
Passcode: 305961

Please forward this email to anyone that you think may be interested in participating with us

Sincerely,

Steve Kennedy
President, MAFPHS
[email protected]
301-332-5939

Charles J DiComo

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See Jasmine and Bill on Zoom!
03/28/2022

See Jasmine and Bill on Zoom!

7:00pm Thursday May 19, 2022 (Via Zoom)

03/05/2022

The Mid-Atlantic Federation of Postal History Societies (MAFPHS) will meet on Thursday, March 10 at 7 pm. There will be a short discussion on society business, and then a presentation on Postal History Research Resources. All are welcome! www.mafphs.org

When: Mar 10, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArdeGrqj8iHdxfveqp7HNrq-nHUbK0nYon

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The Mid-Atlantic Federation of Postal History Societies was formed in 2020 to promote interest in postal history through the collaboration of postal history organizations. Contributions may be made in the name of a philatelic organization or individual to support the Federation. Please consider dona...

Address

PO Box 10082
Lancaster, PA
17605

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