Exchange Branch changes
An important announcement from Bob van Goethem, Chief Exchange Branch Superintendent.

It is with considerable regret that I have to report that the “One Country” service of the Exchange Branch run by Derek Ward has had to temporarily cease operation. Derek suffered a stroke in mid-January and as a result and very much against his wishes has had to give up the running of this section.

Derek is not yet up to receiving visitors and for the present I have no access to his circulation lists with names and addresses of his clients. I apologise for the length of time some books have been held by CSPS during the changes of Exchange Branch and now for the latest enforced problem.

From the books that have been passed to me it is clear that certain areas, countries and group of countries have not obtained a reasonable level of sales. In many cases there has been no interest. I am sorry that this is the case but the CSPS circulation is now much smaller that in past years and many members have reduced the areas of their interest. I will keep on file the names of members of these low interest countries, so that should a request arise, a link between a vendor and prospective buyer might be made.

A guide to making up club books for circulation
The Exchange Branch is now all postal. Vendors are advised to make up each book for one country only e.g. GB, or thematic theme e.g. butterflies. Some less popular countries may be grouped together e.g South America. If in doubt please ask for advice, by e-mail if possible.
In order to keep weight and hence postage charges to a minimum the EB will accept books of 2 pages up to 10 pages. For these smaller books it is recommended that vendors use the paper covers. Any books can be sent to me for circulation as I will direct them to the single country sections as necessary, when they have completed circulation, subject to there being a reasonable level of unsold material, I shall put them round the Spacefiller (SF) section to try and maximize sales. It should be noted that the Postal CW section will continue to operate as before and vendors please send direct to Reg Smith.

Just to clarify so you know who to contact or where to send material for sale:

The Postal Spacefillers circuit is being run by Bob van Goethem

The Thematic and Single Country circuit is being run by Bob van Goethem

The Postal Commonwealth circuit is being run by Reg Smith as before.

Members wanting to see material from the Exchange Branch
If you have a certain country you collect, a thematic area or a more general interest and would like to receive material or add you ‘wants’ to the listing that appears in each Bulletin, which allows vendors to make up books for specific areas, please let me know.

Contact with me is easiest by e-mail. robert.vangoethem@googlemail.com or you can use the other contact details at the back of the Bulletin

Exchange Branch- Single Country & Thematic Exchange Branch latest interests
GB recent, GB early mint and used, GB Victoria inc plates etc, GB Regionals (used), Regionals old and new – Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man

Australia, Australian States, Australian inc Antarctica Territory and Islands etc

British Africa inc South Africa, British West Indies inc Jamaica, Ascension Island, Canada, Cyprus, Falklands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, India, Malta, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka/Ceylon, Singapore, Malaysia

Non-Commonwealth: Eire, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Germany inc Berlin, German Colonies, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy inc postal stationery, Greece

Non-European: Turkey, Russia, Gulf States, Ethiopia, Thailand, Antarctica, USA, Central (Latin) America, South America

Thematic: Aircraft, Birds, Cacti/succulents, Heraldry, Lighthouses, Medical, Medicinal Plants, Minerals, Musical Instruments, Orchids, WW II

Miscellaneous: Fiscals, Perfins, Postal Labels, Registered labels etc.