The literature class of the exhibition had 34 entries. 26 of them were “paper” entries, and 8 “digital”.
The jury gave the entries the following medals:
- 1 large gold
- 5 gold
- 8 large vermeil
- 12 vermeil
- 8 large silver.
The large gold went to Atte Moilanen et al’s Early Finnish mail – Courier mail, crown letter mail and the early General Postal Service.
The book is based on Moilanen’s extensive research into early philatelic letters held by collectors. It is a good handbook to familiarise oneself especially with the different types of early philately and the ink markings on the letters. However, it is not a comprehensive handbook, as the study did not examine the old regulations and the Post Office’s own Circulars. The book can be obtained at https://webshop.trafiikki.fi/early-finnish-mail.
Two of the gold medals were given to the Catalogue of Polish (and related to Poland) Postmarks 2024 Volumes I and II published by the Fischer Sp z.o.o.
Another two golds were given to MICHEL catalogs MICHEL Handbuch Oldenburg and MICHEL Briefe Deutschland Band 2.
The fifth gold was given to The Stamp Cancelling Machine Slogan Postmarks of Trinidad and Tobago 1923 – 2023 by Ali Jazad. The book can be obtained at https://trinidadstamps.org.
The results of several entries differed more than 10 points from previous results. This is a sign of the weaknesses of the current literature regulations, which should be further reformed. Consideration should also be given to training the literature judges, as the regulations are now clearly interpreted differently.
The full result list of the Mare Balticum 2024 can be obtained here.
