4TH MEETING OF PPCP

Dear visitors of the Prestige Philately Club Prague (hereinafter “PPCP”) web page, the 4th meeting of club members and invited guests took place on the 28th of May 2020 in the Crystal Ballroom of the Grand Hotel Alchymist, with a vast majority of members in attendance.

After a short introductory speech of JUDr. Tomáš Mádl, the president of PPCP, two new members were inaugurated as per customs: the members signed the Charter of the Club, their badges and certificates were handed over and their photographs were taken. The first new member is Mgr. Pavel Mošner, whose collection is focused on Austria between the years 1850 and 1919 and on significant stamps of the classical period. The second new member is Ing. Martin Šilhán PhD., MBA, whose impressive collection includes Fiume stamps, stamps from Old Italian states and British South-East Asia.

However, the main topic of the meeting was the preparation for the upcoming PPCP Biennale exhibition “Treasures of World Philately, which will take place from the 7th to the 22nd of November 2020. The highlight of the exhibition will be a Red Mauritius (POST OFFICE) from the collection of an anonymous Czech investor. Already the opening ceremony in the Pantheon of the National Museum on the 6th of November promises a grand event. Eminent figures have received invitations, such as the president of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, Albert II, Prince of Monaco, members of the country’s social life, the Czech Post, leading members of the most significant philatelic clubs and members of the media.

Due to the fact, that the representative halls on the 2nd floor of the National Museum will contain 60-80 rarities of great importance from the collections of members of PPCP, Club de Monte-Carlo de l’Elite de la Philatélie and the Viennese Vindobona, the next part of the program was dedicated to the introduction of a prototype of a new exhibition frame made from solid ash wood with a mahogany stain. Each frame will have LED lighting and special plexiglass. A total of 5O frames will be made. A very interesting feature will be a special educative frame with ED and UV lighting, thanks to which visitors will be able to try out the verification of protective elements of stamps. The rarities of world philately will therefore be presented in new, beautiful and most of all representative frames.

The next point of the meeting was the PPCP Biennale emission plan. The wide philatelic public will therefore be able to look forward to a luxurious exhibition catalogue, which will contain a commemorative print. An emission of 0 Euro banknotes, an item very valuable for collectors, will be issued. The Czech Post in collaboration with PPCP is preparing postal stamps, were the nominal values A and B will contain motives of rare Czechoslovakian stamps from PPCP collections (50/50 and 4K PČ19 granite paper), the nominal value E will carry a European rarity – Zinnober Merkur, and finally on nominal value Z we will see a rarity from overseas, the Red Post Office Mauritius. PPCP will also issue their own stamps with the motives of other rarities from the collection of its members and a stamp booklet containing amongst other things an image of the Club’s charter with the names of all members.

A discussion was held concerning the income and the expenditures connected to the preparations and realisation of the 2020 Biennale. Further media coverage an PR products are being prepared for the 2nd half of 2020, including interviews, flyers, rollups, LED spots, video documents about the history of philately etc.

PP presentations were given at the end of the meeting, with P. Sobotka talking about the banknote and other products aimed at furthering public awareness of the Biennale and also other commercial and public aspects and D. Kopřiva talking about the creation of exhibits, their amount, structure and installation in the National Museum.

The 4th PPCP meeting lasted until late in the evening and can be considered as very successful. A consensus about the work and Biennale preparations has been reached in every aspect. Progress towards our goals has been achieved and all of us agreed, that a lot has yet to be done in the months of summer. We will evaluate this period at the next meeting, where we will also finalize the 2020 Biennale. The 5th PPCP meeting will take place on the 27th of August 2020.