Scouts Earn Stamp Collecting Merit Badge

Fourteen Boy Scouts completed the requirements for their stamp collecting merit badge at AMERICOVER 2012 in Irivine, Calif. over the weekend.

During the 4-hour workshop on Sunday, scouts learned about different types of stamps; where to get stamps; how to soak, hinge and mount stamps; how to use tongs, magnifiers, perforation gauges and catalogs; different types of albums; and designed a stamp.

They also got a tour of the bourse and exhibit area where they spoke to several dealers and exhibitors.

Each scout received their own notebook along with  tongs, U.S. and foreign stamps, hinges, manila stock pages and Vario stock pages.

Materials and other items were donated by the American Philatelic Society, American Topical Association, The Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER), the Claude C. Ries Chapter of the American First Day Cover Society, Scouts on Stamps Society International, Stephen Patillo and the Mystic Stamp company.

Shown above, scouts along with instructor Don Schilling (center) and scout dads Markus Vester (left rear) and Alwin Morgenstern (far right).  

For more information on the Boy Scout stamp collecting merit badge requirements, click here.