United Nations & Show Covers

                An interesting area to collect and appreciate are covers which are produced at Stamp Shows or Exhibitions where the United Nations has a actual presence. This would mean that they have a booth and sell UN Stamps and provide information about them.  In some cases, there may also be a meeting of the UN Specialty Societies held during the show. 

                   Two of the most well known and popular shows are ones held in the larger cities. Compex and Interpex are among these. Interpex was held in the New York City area and always had a presence of the UNPA because it was located there. At every show of this size, there is usually a First Day Cover Society and a special envelope with cachet are used for the show only.  Shown here is an early Interpex cover. This Interpex cover also has a red cancel placed on the cover at the show. 

                  Shown below are two covers from Compex which was held in Chicago, Illinois. These covers show that the location was the Lasalle Hotel located in downtown Chicago. These covers are from the years 1962 and 1964 respectively. The location and venue for Compex was later changed to a location more closely located to the O'Hare Airport. Circumstances have changed and the Compex show is not longer being held. It was held I believe until the mid 2000's . 

                These covers make a nice specialty area for collection and you can pick your favorite city. They are available most of the time on Ebay and are very reasonable in price. Be sure to sort through the large boxes of covers at your next stamp show and you may find a couple of them probably for "a buck a cover".

Good Collecting