Ralph Andrews Barry (November 30, 1883 – December 10, 1939), of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, was a renowned writer of

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 ...

and was often referred to as the “Dean of American Philatelic Writers.”

Philatelic activity

Barry was known not only for his philatelic literature but also for his encouraging the collecting of

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

and

coins A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

. He helped cover the events and exhibitions at various stamp shows and other philatelic events. At the ''

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Herald Tribune'' he was the stamp and coin editor from 1933 until he died in 1939. Ralph Barry discussed the pleasures and techniques of the hobby of stamp collecting on various media, including on radio. He authored the book “A Glossary for the Stamp Collector” in 1936, and it was updated and revised in 1938 and 1940.

Honors and awards

Because of his extensive work in encouraging stamp collecting, the Ralph A. Barry Award was established in 1942 and is given to writers whose newspaper stamp column quality deserves acknowledgement.

References

Ralph Andrews Barry
1883 births 1939 deaths Philatelic literature American philatelists Writers from New York City American Philatelic Society {{US-philatelist-stub