Fair makes red letter return

A FAIR fixture for stamp and coin collectors is set to return this weekend.

The Ballarat Philatelic Society’s Ballarat Eureka Stamps and Coins Fair is taking place on Sunday, 9 October at the Eastwood Leisure Centre.

Held twice a year, the event last occurred during 2019’s Begonia Festival, and the society’s president Peter Morey said it’s good to be back.

“It’s fantastic to be able to put this back on. We’re keen for all our old friends to come back. We’ve got people from Warragul, Warrnambool, Bendigo, Geelong particularly,” he said.

“There’ll be a number of dealers and a display of about 15 pages of interesting philatelic options to look at it.

“It’s an opportunity for people to open themselves up to what really can be an inexpensive hobby.”

Entry will be free and there’s collection evaluations with more than 35 stamp and coin dealers onsite.

There are also club auctions, trading, a display competition and a limited editions series 25 of Ballarat Historical Envelopes will be available for $3.

Established in 1904, the Ballarat Philatelic Society has about 25 members, and secretary Jan Kerr said she hopes the fair’s return will serve as a recruitment drive for the group.

“We’re looking to get children especially interested in collecting. This will also be about teaching them how to handle stamps,” she said.

“When the children are collecting, even when they’ve got their iPads with them, they can look up the name and history of the country on that too, so there’s a real educational value to the hobby.

“Every child that comes into the fair will be getting a package of stamps or a little album. We really want to push this for new, younger members.”