On Tuesday May 10th 2022 Banbury Stamp Society held its AGM followed by members presenting ‘Anything but stamps’. The AGM saw Ian Grace take on the role of chairman and his first task was to thank the outgoing chairman, Malcolm Moodie, for eleven years of dedicated leadership.
The collecting interests of members beyond stamps are always as surprise.
We started with a rare telephone with an interesting history – starting off as a ‘turn the handle and ask the operator to be put through’, it had a rotary dial added when wartime led to a shortage of material for making new telephones. 
Cigarette cards have always been collectable, but we were shown the original artwork for a Players card from the 1935 Kings & Queens set for Henrietta Maria.
Next up was a collection of ration cards in the form of propaganda posters for the International Brigade fighting in the Spanish Civil war – collected by the uncle of the current owner.
Hyper-inflation has occurred in various countries over the years and results in interesting bank notes – amongst the examples we were shown was a 100 billion dollar note from Zimbabwe in 2008.
Stamp collecting often leads to an interest in history and we were shown a magazine article from 1904 explaining how the British Government settled some long-standing disputes with France, dating back to the 18th Century, by taking back fishing rights in Newfoundland and giving France a port on the river Gambia and more land in Northern Nigeria. Finally, we had a putting competition from one of our keen golfers.
The first event of the new season will be ‘The Bahamas 1860- 1970’ on Tuesday 20th September 2022 at 7:30pm at the Hanwell Fields Community Centre. The Banbury Stamp Society is on-line at ‘www.banburystampsociety.co.uk’, or contact John Davies on 01295 255831.