We usually remember those events at which we ourselves had to fulfil a task in some capacity. In retrospect, the many other, smaller stock exchanges or exhibitions are forgotten. In general, it is becoming more and more difficult to persuade collectors and dealers to help in this regard (we are usually talking about front work here!). This is unfortunate, but not easy to change. If, however, two of the really outstanding events have taken place extremely successfully in a single year, it is definitely worth mentioning. First of all, the grandiose exhibition "Extrem - 175 years of Swiss stamps" at the “Museum für Kommunikation” in Bern. The old Swiss rarities shown here were simply phenomenal.
I have great doubts as to whether it will be possible in the future to ever again gather such a great abundance of top-class pieces. We can only congratulate the whole team of show makers. Hans Schwarz and Jean-Paul Bach were in charge of the Swiss Stamp Dealers' Association.
This exhibition and also the very dignified exhibition catalog will remain in unforgettable memory. Only every six years does a National Stamp Exhibition take place in Switzerland. This was the case in Lugano in 2018. The team around Adriano Bergamini has presented us with an exhibition with an abundance of extraordinarily outstanding exhibits, which will remain in everyone's memory. Lugano is described by many as "the most beautiful city in the world". Therefore it is a pity to take the long way there under the wheels only because of an exhibition. Hopefully all those of you who have not spent another day or two at your leisure this year will soon have the opportunity to do so, when these well-rehearsed exhibition organizers start planning again! My son and I will again be personally committed to motivating collectors from all over the world to show their treasures in Lugano. This National in Lugano and also the exhibition in Bern were the actual reasons for the work "Die Zürcher Kantonalmarken", which was written with enormous effort. Because these were 175 years old in 2018! It is mainly thanks to Jean-Pierre Senn and his son Colin, who spent hundreds of working hours trying to research the history and development of the first Swiss stamps, Zurich 4 and 6. Completely new ideas and points of view have come to light which show that even ancient knowledge or traditions must be reconsidered, supplemented or corrected. Jean-Pierre Senn, for example, was able to prove in extraordinarily extensive research that there had already been Zurich stamps with horizontal negative pressure lines before 1846, which Jakob Gnägi had already indicated as a possibility in his booklet "Die Zürcher Kantonalmarken von 1843" on page 20. Jean-Pierre Senn lists meticulously the found documents and comes for the years 1843, 1844 and 1845 for Zurich 4 total on 3 documents (possibly + 1) and for Zurich 6 on a total of 5 pieces (possibly + 1). If the proof of the authenticity of these documents is successful everywhere, one arrives with it at a percentage of the horizontal stamps before 1846 of around 1% of the vertical stamps. Of course it can be assumed that more will appear here in the coming years, because hopefully as many collectors as possible will look for such pieces. He - or we - would be very pleased to receive any such notifications of such evidence. According to Gnägi, this could indicate one or at most two somehow damaged vertical sheets that had been trimmed and inserted crosswise to save paper.
Senn has proven that even today you can discover new things with our old Swiss stamps through hard work. And by the way, he not only hinted at an interesting theory as a possibility, but also proved it. In my opinion, these horizontal stamps should be listed as versions of the vertical issue before 1843 and evaluated accordingly higher. Whether these will be included in the catalog depends not least on the demand from interested collectors. The only problem will be that these types can only be detected in letters. Another - not lesser - new discovery was made by Bernhard Geiser, one of Switzerland's most adept connoisseurs of lithography, at Poste Locale without a cross border. However, the investigation and the opinion-forming process have not yet been completed, so that this will not be further elaborated at this point.