St. Pancras, London
St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...
Association of British Philatelic Societies
The Association of British Philatelic Societies, commonly known as the ''ABPS'', is the British national association of philatelic societies, regional philatelic federations, and specialist philatelic societies.Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
, London"The Late Alexander J. Sefi", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. XLIII, No. 514, October 1934, pp. 220-221.) was an English
philatelist
Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...
and
stamp dealer
A stamp dealer is a company or an individual who deals in stamps and philatelic products. It also includes individuals who sell postage stamps for day to day use or revenue stamps for use on court documents. Stamp dealers who sell to stamp collect ...
who signed the
Roll of Distinguished Philatelists
The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921. The Roll consists of five pieces of parchment to which the signatories add their n ...
in 1933.
Early life
Sefi was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School. Later, he spent three years conducting geological and scientific expeditions in Asia Minor, Syria and Arabia.
Stamp dealing
Sefi worked in association with David Field who published several of his works. In 1921 he joined P.L. Pemberton and E.L. Pemberton as ''Sefi, Pemberton & Co. Ltd.'' Together, they donated the Sefi-Pemberton Cup to ''The Junior Philatelic Society'', now the
National Philatelic Society
The National Philatelic Society is one of two national philatelic societies in Great Britain. The other is the Royal Philatelic Society London.
History
''The National'', as it is known, was formed in 1899 by Fred Melville and the first meeting i ...
. The firm continued until 1956 when it was acquired by
Robson Lowe
John Harry Robson Lowe (7 January 1905, London – 19 August 1997, Bournemouth) was an English professional philatelist, stamp dealer and stamp auctioneer.
Life and career
Lowe is regarded by philatelists as the father of postal history, ha ...
."Reminiscences of a Stamp Dealer", ''
The London Philatelist
''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892 by
philatelic literature
Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history.
Background to philatelic literature
Philatelic literature is held by stamp collectors and dealers, philatelic soci ...
, his ''magnum opus'' was his masterful "''An Introduction to Advanced Philately...''", re-issued in facsimile form by the
Royal Philatelic Society London
The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...
in 2010. At the time of his death, he was engaged with C.H. Mortimer in preparing a book on Jammu-Kashmir which was eventually published in 1937. He won the ''Bates Prize'' at the 1923 ''Philatelic Congress of Great Britain'' in London, and the ''Congress Cup'' for his paper "Forgeries and Fakes" at the 1929 Birmingham Congress. His philatelic interests were wide and he contributed numerous articles to philatelic periodicals.
Other
Sefi played
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
for England.
Selected publications
*''The Postage Stamps of Grenada''. London: D. Field, 1912.
*''King Edward VII Land''. London: D. Field, 1912
*''The Postage Stamps of Malta''. London: D. Field, 1913.
*''An Introduction to Advanced Philately, with special reference to typical methods of stamp production''. London: Rowley & Rowley, 1926. (2nd edition 1932)
*''The stamps of Jammu-Kashmir: including chapters on postal history, obliterations, post cards and telegraph stamps''. London: Sefi, Pemberton & Co. Ltd., 1937 (with C.H. Mortimer).