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Sběratel.info

News Bulletin No. 54

Telephone cards still popular in Prague

Collector in Prague is perhaps the last big trade fair that still has telephone cards in its nomenclature. And we are pleased to note that these cards remain popular at the Collector Trade Fair. This is evidenced not only by the fact that Czechs are still collecting cards, but also that collectors from abroad make their way here as well. This year we have recorded registrations of exhibitors from the Czech Republic and, mainly, from abroad. Here is a list of only a few of the exhibitors who had already registered at the beginning of June: Yevgeniy Nikiforov and Andrey Mikhailov of Russia, Scotia Phonecards of Great Britain, MV Cards International of Italy, Gábor Nagy, Mánia Magazin, Tibor Simon and Zsuzsa Simon of Hungary, Phillipe Goui and Sylvaen Rouyer of France, and Harm van Essen, René van de Hoeve, R. Bravetel and five others from the Netherlands. Collecting telephone cards is still a great hobby!

Collecting historic postcards remains popular

Collecting historic postcards is still popular. At least that is the conclusion that can be drawn from the annually large number of exhibitors at the trade fair. In addition to traditional Czech exhibitors such as Evžen Majoroš, Daniel Hlaváč, the company Bard, Eva Djubeková, Jihočeské antikvariáty (Melcer), Miroslav Kolenčík, Jaroslav Kovařík, Miroslav Matura, Miloš Oliva, Petr Semerád, Starožitnosti Kolouch, Jaroslav Kovařík and Filatelie Baru, this year has also seen the registration of sellers from abroad, such as V.I.P. di Rag. Sergio Venditti of Italy, Wieslaw Cwikowski of Poland and Stephan Geis of Germany. Will you also come to buy a colour postcard of your hometown?

Exhibitors in the field of philately come together

Over two weeks at the end of May and beginning of June, we accepted the registrations of East Europe Philatelists of the Netherlands, Filatelie Karlin and Dr. Hauptman, Filatelie Pytlíček, Filatelie Kloubec, Jaromír Durchánek and Horácká s.r.o. of the Czech Republic, Paolo Gazzera of Italy, Michael Vojta of Austria, Mikhail Pinchuk of Belarus, Holger Tietz and Thomas Wilke of Germany, Eastern Europe Stamps of Lithuania, the firms Zberatel and Simco of Slovakia, Phila of Slovenia and others. The hitherto registered postal authorities of Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo), the Czech Republic, France, Lichtenstein, Germany, and the United Nations have been joined by the postal services of Slovakia and Ukraine, while the postal services of Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, among others, are in negotiations.

More sellers of coins, medals and banknotes

Last time we informed you about the large number of exhibitors in the field of numismatics. In recent days the following, among others, have registered: Artaks - Klemen Maganja, Numizmatika 3art and Robert Petek of Slovenia, Ivan Bútora of Slovakia, Gaijin - CZ of the Czech Republic, Francesco Spinelli and Walter Nasi of Italy. The latest participant to join in the big exposition is the Czech company Antium Aurum, which recently opened a representative shop in the centre of Prague.

Look forward to the accompanying events at the trade fair

In the previous bulletin we wrote about United Nations Day on the last day of the trade fair. We would now like to provide more information on other events. The Czech Numismatics Society (Česká numismatická společnost) prepares an interesting numismatics exhibition every year. This year the exhibit will focus on antique Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek coins. This year's trade fair will also see the celebratory launch of the new Catalogue of Paper Currency of Czechoslovakia1919-1993 and of the Czech Republic and Slovakia since 1993. The launch, the date of which has yet to be determined, will be connected with an autograph session featuring authors Jan Bajer, Jindřich Holna and Aleš Kohout. For the first time at the trade fair, philatelist Ludvík Pytlíček will present rare foreign postage stamps from his extensive collection.

Exhibitors must be satisfied

This is the credo by which we, the organisers, conduct ourselves. Therefore, we endeavour to make it as easy as possible for visitors - primarily collectors - to decide whether they will come to the trade fair or not. We already issue free tickets to the Collector Trade Fair in seven collectors' magazines in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Though this is a small gift, every crown saved has value, particularly when visitors use the money they have saved to purchase items from exhibitors. We also closely cooperate with certain philatelist and numismatics magazines abroad, as well as with associations of collectors in various fields. We are trying to ensure a meeting of AIJP, the global organisation of philatelist journalists, at this year's trade fair in Prague. We know that if exhibitors at the trade fair are satisfied, they will come back next year. And we can also expect to see the return of visitors who number more than eleven thousand every year. We are convinced that this year will be no different.