Vernon W. Pickering

Country: ITALY

Condition: AGRIGENTO CASTOR POLLUX TEMPL MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ITALY

Condition: BOY SCOUT PHILATELY Melegnano SPECIMEN FRAMA 2009

Description: SPECIMEN FRAMA ON CARD - very rare - only a limited number of impressions inscribed "SPECIMEN" were made to test the FRAMA mark MOST USEFUL & INTERESTING ITEM FOR THE CONNOISSEUR

Country: USA

Condition: USA HISTORY LAFAYETTE 1957 RARE MAXIMUM CARD

Country: VATICAN

Condition: MICHELANGELO SISTINE 2008 * 8 MAXIMUM CARDs

Country: USA

Condition: GERTY CORI NOBEL MEDICINE PHYSIOLOGY BIOCHEMISTRY MAXIMUM CARD

Country: FRANCE

Condition: DEATH OF SAPPHO Moreau MAXIMUM CARD

Country: VATICAN

Condition: CARDINAL CUSANO CASTLE MAXIMUM CARD

Country: USA

Condition: SCOUTS SCOUTING 70 YEARS SOUTH PARIS USA 2004 cover

Country: USA

Condition: WEEKLY CRUISES TO BERMUDA SS PRES ROOSEVELT Meter Mark

Description: This is a piece "cut out" from a cover - it is not a cover It comes from the BELLEVUE COLLECTION formed in the 1940s and 1950s when Meter Marks were invariably collected as "cut out" from covers. To this day most thematic collectors present Meter Mark items from "windows" created on their album pages, therefore the need for having the entire cover is rather marginal. OF GREATER SIGNIFICANCE IS THE SCARCITY OF THESE METER MARKS AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD THEM TO ENHANCE IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS

Country: VATICAN

Condition: various painters MADONNAS set of 10 MAXIMUM CARDS

Country: MONACO

Condition: NOBEL PRIZE MOTHER TERESA RED CROSS 2010 FDC

Country: SAN MARINO

Condition: MOZART Don Giovanni MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ITALY

Condition: COMPOSER GIAN CARLO MENOTTI CENTENARY CACHETED CARD & PMK

Country: ITALY

Condition: FERRARA ESTE CASTLE MAXIMUM CARD

Country: United States

Condition: JOHN WAYNE a

Description: FIRST DAY OF ISSUE SPECIAL POSTMARK * A Maximum Card is a picture postcard with a matching postmarked postage stamp affixed on the view side. The ideal maximum card has concordance between elements (depiction on stamp matching the depiction on postcard - or elements of it -- with a postmark that is as closely related as possible to what is depicted on stamp and postcard). However such a perfect concordance is not always 100% achievable because at the time the maximum card was processed there were no matching postmarks available.

Country: BELGIUM

Condition: TUYMANS Gentleman's PORTRAIT MAXIMUM CARD

Country: GREAT BRITAIN

Condition: NOBEL PRIZE MARTIN RYLE MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ITALY

Condition: VERDI ELECTED TO ITALIAN CONGRESS 1861 Special Postmark

Country: ITALY

Condition: SALERNO LONGOBARD CASTLE MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ITALY

Condition: ROWING RACE LA SPEZIA * ITALY 2015 MAXIMUM CARD

Description: COLORFUL ROWING RACE OF THE ROMANTIC LIGURIAN RIVIERA CELEBRATES ITS 90th ANNIVERSARY WITH A SPECIAL STAMP By Giorgio Migliavacca (copyright) On 1 August 2015 Italian Posts issued a € 0.95 definitive stamp for the “Traditional Events” series celebrating the La Spezia Gulf Rowing Race held on the first Sunday of August each year on its 90th anniversary. La Spezia is located between Genoa and Pisa towards the eastern end of the Ligurian Riviera. Started on a regular basis in 1925, the Rowing Race first took place in 1878 to celebrate the launch of the Royal Navy Ship “Dandolo”. The race is part of the Festival of the Sea and takes place at La Spezia’s harbour. Boats, whose crews consist of four rowers and a coxswain, cover a total distance of two kilometers, reaching three times the buoys that mark the race course, in a time of just over ten minutes. Thirteen teams representing as many neighboring small towns and villages take part in the “Palio del Golfo” (Prize of the Gulf); the winner of 2015 was the team from Fezzano – a village of 950 people near Porto Venere (Venus’s Port....more later). This was the fifth time the Fezzano team went home with the ensign of the popular Festival. The traditional launch of acrobatic paratroopers of the Italian Navy cheers the public and competing teams; the spectacular prelude includes the launch of a wreath into the waters of the Gulf in remembrance of the fallen of the sea – this touching moment is followed by a minute of silence since many spectators have a family member who died at sea while serving the nation. The Navy bugler concludes by playing the “Silence”. Then all vessels and their crews are saluted by trumpet blasts. After sunset the Festival comes to a spectacular end with a mesmerizing fireworks display. Massimo Federici, Mayor of La Spezia expressed his delight at the announcement of the special stamp issued on the very day of the Palio. He said the stamp gives national and international exposure to the event that involves teams from local pictoresque villages and has its undeniable cultural and folkloric facets. The stamp captures a moment of the Rowing Race; at top right is the ensign of the event that is awarded to the team of the winning village. The La Spezia Gulf is three miles in length and is nicknamed the Poets Gulf owing to the fact that a number of prominent figures of literature such as George Sand, David H. Lawrence, Gabriele D’Annunzio, playwright Sem Benelli, poet Lord Byron, lived or resided in the area, and mention must be made of Percy B. Shelley who died in these waters. The celebrated J.M. William Turner did a number of etchings depicting the Gulf; Botticelli is said to have chosen this gulf as a background to his famous “Birth of Venus”.

Country: VIRGIN ISLANDS

Condition: TITIAN Isabella of Portugal MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ROMANIA

Condition: PAVAROTTI (casual) RARE Maximum Card

Country: ITALY

Condition: CAR RACING ACE MICHELE ALBORETO MAXIMUM CARD

Country: ITALY

Condition: ROME PARLIAMENT MONTECITORIO MAXIMUM CARD

Condition: ITALIAN ALPINE CLUB 150th ANNIVERSARY (TELESCOPE) MAXIMUM CARD

Description: The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) celebrated its 150th birthday in 2013. To salute the anniversary in grand style the Italian Posts issued a commemorative stamp seen here on a Maximum Card featuring the very poster of the early 1900s that inspired the stamp design; the stamp is cancelled by the pictorial first day of issue postmark featuring the same design: postmark matching stamp, matching postcard...perfect concordance or shall we say MAXIMUM CONCORDANCE: That is to say the perfect Maximum Card. Some collectors expect this to always be the case; in the past this perfect concordance was difficult to achieve and in many cases even in modern times it is not easy to get the three elements blend perfectly. Some collectors are still looking for the pink elephant because they think that rules written in 2013 can change what was done in 1920s-1970s. Let’s be realistic!!! Rules are one thing: reality is a different thing and we live with reality. And let’s not forget: this is a hobby, not an headache! CAI was founded in 1863: its aims include promoting mountaineering, hiking and cave exploration; it also organizes training courses and it implements and maintains footpaths, alpine and mountaineering equipment. CAI is in charge and owns many mountain huts and bivouacs high altitude -- quantified to date in 774 facilities totaling 23,044 beds. CAI promotes scientific and educational activities .