Eighty members of the International Philatelic Federation (FIP) are scheduled to attend this year’s PhilaTaipei World Stamp Championship Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1, which opens on Friday.
It is the first time Taiwan has hosted the exhibition, Chunghwa Post Co said. Previously the nation has hosted the Asian International Stamp Exhibition four times — in 1996, 2005, 2008 and last year.
The event coincides with the postal company’s 120th anniversary.
Though an FIP member, the All-China Philatelic Federation, based in Beijing, will be absent from the exhibition this year.
While Vietnam Post lodged a protest against Chunghua Post for publishing a set of stamps featuring Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in May this year, the firm yesterday confirmed Vietnam’s participation at the exhibition.
FIP members from Hong Kong and Macau have also confirmed their attendance at the exhibition, the organizer added.
Despite the absence of the Beijing federation, Chinese Taipei Philatelic Federation chairman Chen Yu-an (陳友安) said that a private stamp collector from Shanghai would attend the exhibition.
He said that the Chinese entrepreneur would showcase his stamp collection “The Legendary Block of Four,” featuring four red revenue stamps published during the Qing Dynasty that had the Chinese characters for “use as one dollar” printed on them in 1897.
The estimated value of the four stamps is close to NT$500 million (US$15.74 million), Chunghwa Post said, adding that the same four stamps were displayed in Taiwan in 1981 when they were owned by a Hong Kong entrepreneur.
Whoever owns the set of stamp is considered the “King of the Stamps” as they are the only ones of their type known to be in existence, Chen said.
The organizer said that 2,450 frames of valuable stamps are to be displayed at the exhibition with the insured amount topping NT$4.1 billion.
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