American First Day Cover Society

The AFDCS will have at least two tables (18 and 19) for sales and promotion of FDC collecting and the Society in the Americas Pavilion at the Boston 2026 international stamp show, May 23-30. Volunteers are needed to assist in staffing the AFDCS booth. Shifts will be 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12 to 2 p.m., 2 to 4 and 4 to 6 for the first seven days of the show and 10-12 and 12 to 3 p.m. on Saturday May 30, the last day of the show. Volunteers are also needed for cover preparation from 9AM to 10AM each day of the show (we will arrange for early admission to the show).

 If you can assist at the show, please email AFDCS Boston 2026 Show Coordinator Foster Miller at fmillerfdc@gmail.com. Please specify the dates and times you will be available. Please do not respond "as needed," but rather provide dates and times.

A variety of first day cover catalogues originally published by FDC Publishing (Mike Mellone) are now available for purchase either as a PDF digital download or three-hole punched unbound print-on-demand hardcopy here. These include the 18-volume Planty cachet catalogues for 1920s and 1930s issues, the Mellone cachet catalogues for the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and First Cachets Revealed 2006 Professional Edition.

Also, a limited number of AFDCS Court of Honor #45 (2025 holidays) first day covers honoring Carolyn Marks remain available and can be ordered on our website. There are also AFDCS cachets for recent issues and space missions here. (COH #45 is also on that page.) 

Keep checking the "Newly-Added" page for the latest issues.

The American Philatelic Society board has approved the joint show of BALPEX and Americover in 2026, with two World Series of Philately exhibitions.

Nominations will be accepted through May 30, 2026, for the Philip H. Ward Award for Excellence in First Day Cover Literature, presented annually by the American First Day Cover Society. All works published in 2025 are eligible.

All articles and published in First Days, the AFDCS journal, are automatically considered. Other articles and works may be submitted to the Ward Award Committee chair, Mark Goodson, 315 East Dewey Street, Ellettsville, IN 47429-1901, bgdsn@comcast.net, either as clippings or .pdf scans of the material as published.

The award is presented each year at Americover, the annual convention of the AFDCS, which will be held August 7-9, 2026, in conjunction with BALPEX. A complete list of past winners can be found at www.afdcs.org/Awards-&-Honors#phw

Past works honored by the AFDCS reflect a wide variety of sources, including journals of other organizations and books.

The award is named in honor of Philip H. Ward (1890-1963), the 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. 

The Board of Directors of the American First Day Cover Society has re-elected Lloyd de Vries of New Jersey as the organization's president for calendar-year 2026. Others re-elected as AFDCS officers were Ralph Nafziger of Oregon, executive vice president; Walter Douglas George of Massachusetts, first vice president; and Mark Gereb of New Jersey, recording secretary. In addition, Eric Wile of North Carolina was elected as Treasurer, replacing Mark Thompson of Tennessee, who has retired.

They, along with the editor of the journal First Days, the executive secretary, the immediate past president, the general counsel and the chairs of the Education, Sales and Membership departments, comprise the organization's executive committee.

The Board also chose Cynthia Scott of Indiana as its chair for 2026.

AFDCS officers and directors are not compensated nor reimbursed for their travel expenses. 

All 18 volumes of the Mellone's Planty Photo Encyclopedia of Cacheted First Day Covers, encompassing issues from 1901 through 1939, are now available from the American First Day Cover Society, either as digital downloads or computer-printed unbound copies punched for looseleaf notebooks. That includes the long out-of-print Volume 17 that catalogues the Baseball Centennial issue of 1939, Scott 855.

The AFDCS obtained permission from Michael A. Mellone's estate to reprint his important books on first day covers. Eventually, the society hopes to expand and update the listings. Already, Volumes 1 through 6 include updates that were published in First Days, the official journal of the society. The catalogues may be ordered here on the AFDCS website.

"First day cover catalogs are essential for any collector of first day covers," said Publications Committee chair Mick Zais. "They identify cachet makers and establish rough measures of scarcity and desirability. Providing thesecatalogs online is a great service that the American First Day Cover Society provides to its members and the public."

Also available are reprints of Mellone's Specialized Cachet Catalog of FDCs of the 1940s and the 1950s. A reprint of the 1960s catalogue should be available soon.

The cachet catalogues by Prof. Earl Planty first appeared in the 1970s, but Mellone's FDC Publishing Co. was responsible for refining and expanding the concept and making the books available to a wider audience. The knowledge contained in these books revolutionized first day cover collecting, allowing philatelists to know what they had and what they didn't have.

The AFDCS is the largest not-for-profit first day cover society in the world, with members in more than half a dozen countries. It publishes its award-winning journal, First Days, six times a year, as well as original handbooks, catalogues and YouTube videos, and is a co-sponsor of the annual Great American Stamp Show. It holds an annual cachetmaking contest and encourages philatelic exhibiting and writing about FDCs.

The AFDCS Publications Committee —Zais, Education Department chair Michael Lake, Tris Fall, Doug George and Pat Morgan —is working on reprints of other FDC Publishing works. The AFDCS also offers catalogues for specific issues, ranging from the 1969 Moon Landing stamp (Sc. C76) to Cats and Elvis.

There are lower prices for AFDCS members. Membership begins at $24 a year. The different options are listed here.

The American First Day Cover Society's latest fundraising auction is now online: Nearly 1,300 lots are illustrated in color here or click on the auction icon on our home page. The sale will close a minute before midnight on December 7, 2025.

The lots offered range from hand-drawn/hand-painted Freda Dickie Weaver FDCs (the featured artist in this auction; an example is shown below) to an entire National Stamp Exhibition (Byrd Antarctic Expedition) souvenir sheet on a registered cacheted FDC (1934). There is also a maximum card for the 1938 Swedish-Finnish Tercentenary with a second-day USS Nashville ship cancel on a Swedish America Lines postcard, just a few weeks after theNashville was commissioned (shown right). Special topics include Autographed Covers, Celebrate The Century 1980s and 1990s, and First Cachets.

The offerings are not just first day covers: There are more than a dozen handbooks and catalogues, presidential inauguration covers dating back to 1957, as well as sets, collections and bulk lots.

These auctions are held twice a year, with all the lots donated to the organization. Bidding is open to non-members as well as members, and bids may be submitted by regular mail, email, or — easiest of all — the "webform" on the website. The Terms of Sale can be found here.

Members of the American First Day Cover Society, the largest not-for-profit organization for FDC collectors, have chosen four people to serve on the Board of Directors for the next three years. Only one is an incumbent, but two have been on the board previously.

The results of the election were:

• Lloyd de Vries 175
• Chris Calle 164
• Steven M. Ripley 124
• Bobby Liao 116
• Michael Moticha 108
• Walter Douglas George 94
• Shirley Ulling 93
• Jim Tatum Jr. 67.

De Vries, the sole incumbent who was re-elected, is currently president of the AFDCS. Calle served on the board from 2009 through 2011 and is a popular philatelic illustrator. Ripley was the long-time chair of the AFDCS' Americover exhibition and show, first serving on the board in the 1990s. Liao was the 2025 recipient of the Luff Award for Outstanding Service to the American Philatelic Society. These four will serve three-year terms, commencing January 1, 2026.

Moticha, currently on the board, will complete the year remaining in the term of Patrick Morgan, who resigned earlier this year.

Nearly 250 ballots were cast, 244 of them valid. AFDCS directors are not compensated for serving on the board nor reimbursed for their travel expenses.

"I’m very honored to have won a seat on the board," said Liao.

The Elections Committee was chaired by Otto Thamasett with committee members Neal Parr and Jack Ginsburg, all members of the Robert C. Graebner Chapter of the AFDCS. The Nominating Committee was chaired by Mark Gereb.

The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization. It publishes its bimonthly award-winning journal First Days as well as handbooks and catalogues and maintains a YouTube channel. The AFDCS also promotes the collecting of both modern and "classic" issues and cachets, as well as exhibiting FDCs. It offers awards for outstanding first day cover exhibits and an annual contest for cachetmakers, and is a co-host of the annual Great American Stamp Show.

The American First Day Cover Society has chosen Trevor Bills of Texas to chair its Membership Department. The Board of Directors unanimously confirmed the appointment.

Bills, who holds a Public Service and Administration master's degree from Texas A&M and an MBA from Angelo State University, is an alumnus of the American Philatelic Society's Young Philatelic Leadership Fellowship. At Angelo State, he was student body president. The 23-year-old served an apprenticeship in Marketing and Logistical Operations at a vineyard and lists Digital Marketing as one of his skills.  In addition to the AFDCS, he is also a member of the APS, the American Topical Association, Postmark Collectors Club, Ebony Society of Philatelic Experiences and Reflections, and the American Ceremony Program Society. He also has reported on first-day ceremonies for Linn's Stamp News.

He has produced cachets under the name Trevor's Covers for occasional first-days and space and special events, winning honors in the annual AFDCS cachetmaking contest.

The AFDCS Membership Department is responsible for recruitment, membership renewals, and chapter memberships, although the actual record-keeping is performed by the Executive Secretary. The Chair of the Membership Department is a member of the Executive Committee, which meets throughout the year in-person and via the internet.

"I am honored to step into the role of Membership Chair and look forward to contributing to the continued growth of our organization," Bills said. "I look forward to fostering stronger connections among members and welcoming new individuals to our community."

The American First Day Cover Society is a not-for-profit educational organization. It publishes its bimonthly award-winning journal First Days as well as handbooks and catalogues and maintains a YouTube channel. The AFDCS also promotes the collecting of both modern and "classic" issues and cachets, as well as exhibiting FDCs. It offers awards for outstanding first day cover exhibits and an annual contest for cachetmakers, and is a co-host of the annual Great American Stamp Show.

AFDCS officers are not compensated for their services or travel and only receive reimbursement for some expenses.

The Boston 2026 team wants to see — and show — your cachets for the Boston 2026 stamps that came out in August!

It will post images of some or all of the FDCs on its social media sites. The offer is open only to AFDCS members.

If you wish to participate, send .jpg images — ideally, 1080x1080 or a vertical format — to Boston 2026 social media coordinator Julie Dennehy, dennehypr@gmail.com, with this information:

Artist Name and AFDCS Member #
Cachet line name
City/State/Country:
Medium Used:
Quantity Made:
Email:
Web Site/Social Media:

As an example:

Artist Name, AFDCS Member #: Lloyd de Vries, #LM381
Cachet line name: Dragon Cards
City/State/Country: Twp of Washington, NJ, USA
Medium Used: Commercial digital press
Quantity Made: 88 
Email: DragonCards@pobox.com
Web Site/Social Media: www.dragoncards.biz

And a personal tip: If you produced more than one design, I recommend you show the best or the best or the one you most want to sell!

—Lloyd de Vries