Nominations for the annual Philip H. Ward Award for Excellence in First Day Cover Literature, presented by the American First Day Cover Society (AFDCS), will be open through May 1.
All works published in 2016 are eligible. All articles published in First Days, the official journal of the AFDCS, are automatically considered. Others may be submitted to Mark Goodson, chair of the Ward Award Committee, at bgdsn@comcast.net.
Douglas Weisz, Len McMaster and Alan Warren were the winners of the previous Philip H. Ward Award, which was given for works published in 2015.
Weisz is a well-known first-day cover dealer in the U.S. (Photo by AFDCS)
Dorothy Knapp: Philately And Family, a book by Weisz, a well-known first-day cover dealer and owner of Weisz Stamps and Covers, received first place.
McMaster received the first runner-up prize for “The 1898 One-Cent Green Franklin, Scott 279; The Issue Date and EDUs,” which appeared in the March-April 2015 issue of First Days.
Warren, a charter member of the AFDCS, wrote a five-part series in First Days, “Denmark Birth Certificates: Commemorative First Day Covers,” which concluded in the September-October 2015 issue.
PHILIP H. WARD AWARD
The awards are presented each year at Americover, the annual show and convention of the AFDCS. Americover 2017 will be held Aug. 11-17 in Independence, Ohio.
The award is named in honour of Philip H. Ward (1890-1963), a distinguished Philadelphia stamp collector, dealer and journalist who was a pioneer in the field of first-day covers. The award was instituted by the AFDCS in 1964.