Most Influential Philatelists

Thank you Rodney and Dianne, it is fairly uncommon that this hobby hands out acknowledgements. My wife and I recently passed 1,000,000 philatelic pages scanned. Virtually all of it strictly for the benefit of the hobby. I hope that these efforts are helpful and will benefit many until the future. It feels good to be productive and contributing seems more beneficial than sitting around whining that 'the hobby is dying'.
Don

Amen to that.

Along the lines of "Stampsmarter"
we also have "Postmaster GS" whose "Stampfix" has radically changed my
collecting enjoyment, and needless to say his assistance to all things German,
Postmarks perfins et al.

There is CALSTAMP whose gifts of rare stamp catalogues have
broadened my Library immensely.

There are lots of others on SCF with varying amounts of knowledge and
assistance.

It is the energy of the group that drives the pool of knowledge, and the
members whom condense it all into structured literature, we can be thankful for, it remains to amaze me, with their dedication and drive.

John, thank you, I am flattered at even being considered a philatelist, but I don't think of myself as much more than a stamp collector with some software skills.

Not being a Linn's subscriber, I have no idea as to whom is on the list, but, when I think of the most influential philatelists, my mind turns to some of the giants of philately in my sphere of interest, people who do true philatelic research, people like Stephen Reah-Johnson and David Spivac who recently won a Large Gold and the Literature Grand Award at the GASS for their The British South Africa Company: King George V Admiral Stamps 1913-1924.

These are truly the type of philatelists who should deserve the title.
Clive

"I wonder if it bruised any egos that thought they should be on the list,"

I know of one and there are undoubtedly others.

I guarantee that there are. Philately is as full of egos as any other endeavor.

I feel there is an under appreciation of writers (Literature class) compared to exhibitors. If one had a lot of money, one could create a world class exhibit, and get a lot of recognition at the awards events. Money is the key ingredient. You can hire someone to do it as some have done. Most exhibits represent a point in time and not often saved digitally in their state.

To me. it takes a lot more work and skill to create definitive reference books that I consider have more real value to the hobby. These are the ones that should equal recognition to the exhibitors when they call out the Champion of Champions.

We all have opinions of course and mine involves excluding people from the list who are simply acquirer's. That is to say that they got on the list by having a supersized checkbook and they hired people to find and acquire material. Looking at you Bill Gross. Sorry.

I also would exclude anybody that has had philatelic legal trouble in the past and there is one that I spotted right away. That person under his birth name which is different now, was expelled from the American Stamp Dealers Association and the American Philatelic Society in the 1980s, and was convicted in 1992 of federal mail fraud for selling fraudulently-altered stamps, taking $124,000 from collectors.

Those types of collectors have always existed, and they have done much to create interest and to exhibit rarities that most collectors would never have had a chance to see otherwise. And most had a serious love of the hobby. So they have been influential, perhaps in a broader sense then the writers and some others have been. But that type of collector is always important to the hobby.

How much cash expended to become that type of collector? One million, ten million, more?

This is all dumb and just a way for Linns to try and stay relevant. It is no different than Rollin' Stone listing best albums of all time, and putting bands like Led Zeppelin or Nirvana at the top. They may not be the real best, but it creates blurbs of controversy and raises interest It appeals to subscriber base.

In this case Its a ploy to sell subscriptions and self tout where they included their own columnists. The fact that its being talked about here, implies it is working.

"Influence" can remain your own personal opinion.

Here are some "Famous"

King Farouk was certainly one of the wackiest collectors, with his habit of generating special perforations etc of issues for hus collection. He was also a practical joker - among other things, picking Churchill's pocket when they met. Less hazardous than his habit of being driven around Cairo and taking potshots at other cars' tyres. An ambulance was in attendance to deal with any injuries.

The list was their list, not THE list, and of course each of use would come up with a different list. What's wrong with that? I did enjoy learning more about these people.

Also note it was titled most influential, not most important. I would say Bill Gross was important but not that influential.

"I also would exclude anybody that has had philatelic legal trouble in the past and there is one that I spotted right away. That person under his birth name which is different now, was expelled from the American Stamp Dealers Association and the American Philatelic Society in the 1980s, and was convicted in 1992 of federal mail fraud for selling fraudulently-altered stamps, taking $124,000 from collectors."

And they are great at marketing and they attract a ton of good material & sales from people who are unaware of who they are dealing with.

That is for sure, Eye.