The American First Day Cover Society, the world's largest not-for-profit FDC collecting organization, will hold its Americover 2026 exhibition and 
annual convention in conjunction with BALPEX 2026, the Maryland World Series of Philately show. The dates are August 7-9, at the BWI Airport Marriott Hotel in Linthicum Heights, Md.
For the past four years, Americover has been part of Great American Stamp Show, of which the AFDCS is a co-sponsor with the American Philatelic Society and American Topical Association. However, "GASS" will not be held in 2026 because of the Boston 2026 international exhibition and the AFDCS decided it wanted to continue its streak of 71 consecutive annual conventions.
That means the hotel will be hosting two WSP exhibitions that weekend, BALPEX's and Americover. A single jury will judge both.
The Baltimore Philatelic Society has sponsored the BALPEX show and exhibition since the 1930s. Its 2017 Grand Award exhibit, "Colonial Central America" by James Mazepa, won the APS Champion of Champions competition for that year. The BWI Airport Marriott has a free shuttle from the airport and there is a free shuttle from the Amtrak BWI station to the airport.
From 1993 to 2019, the AFDCS held Americover as an independent show at locations around the country. It became a World Series of Philately exhibition in 2005. Although it will have a booth, meetings and seminars at Boston 2026, "we felt holding Americover at BALPEX would be a better fit for us than the International," said AFDCS president Lloyd A. de Vries.
"We are happy to have the AFDCS join us for BALPEX 2026, and look forward to a great show," said Richard Taschenberg, BALPEX exhibits chairman and program coordinator.
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.
