MAIL may be slowly making way for email, especially among the young, but postage stamps still deliver for the region’s collectors.
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Hundreds of collectors and more than 35 dealers will be at the Ballarat Begonia Festival Stamps and Coins Fair at the Ballarat Specialist School, next to the Ballarat Aquatic Centre, on Monday.
“We have two major stamp and coin fairs during the year but this is by far the better attended one,” Ballarat Philatelic Society secretary Keith Sanders explained.
“Last year we had approaching 400 people.”
Club member Peter Morey said the move towards email and other electronic delivery systems had not dampened the enthusiasm of collectors.
It may even prove a very good time for newcomers to begin a love of stamps.
“The stamp and coin fair is set up for traditional collectors but we’re really encouraging the kids to come along.
“We have some really good, really worthwhile giveaways,” Mr Morey said.
“We want to encourage young people to become collectors now because the stamps of today may well become very collectable.
“I use email myself but stamps have a lot more charm.”
To mark the fair, the Ballarat Philatelic Society has produced 100 limited edition souvenir covers featuring a picture of the Ballarat woollen mill.
The covers are the eighth in the Ballarat Historical Envelope series.
The event will also feature displays of Ballarat’s postal history, including stamps from the colony of Victoria before federation.
Attendees are invited to bring their own stamps for free valuations.
The fair starts at 9.30am.