Maximaphily is a branch of

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

involving the study and creation of maximum cards. It is one of eleven classifications of philately recognised by the

Fédération Internationale de Philatélie The Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) is the world federation for philately (the study of postage stamps and postal history). Based in Zürich, Switzerland, the FIP was founded on 18 June 1926. Aims The FIP was founded in 1926 w ...

(FIP) and therefore has its own FIP Commission. The FIP Maximaphily Commission holds a biennial conference on the subject, most recently in Seoul in 2014.

Maximum card

a maximum card (also known as a maxi-card, or maxicard) is a

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

with a

postage stamp 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). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

placed on the picture side of the card where the stamp and card match or are in maximum ''concordance'' (similarity). The cancellation or postmark is usually related to the image on the front of the card and the stamp. Not every country issues maximum cards (e.g. US did very few) and some who do (e.g. Germany) have only a limited number of releases every year whereas others issue maximum cards for every stamp (e.g. Australia).

History

Maximaphily did not become organised until after the Second World War. Before then maximum cards were created as novelties, often by tourists. Maximaphily is closely associated with thematic or topical stamp collecting and many thematic collections are enhanced with appropriate maximum cards.

Elements

A maximum card (maxicard, maxi-card, MC) is made up of three elements: the postcard, the stamp and the postmark. The object of maximaphily is to obtain a card where the stamp and picture are in close concordance, ideally with an appropriate cancellation, too. If all three elements are concordant, then that card truly is a maximum oncordancecard (hence the name maximaphily). Preferably, the image on the postcard should not be simply an enlargement of the image on the stamp. There are exceptions. For example: a work of art, like a painting (not a detail of it), is often shown in its entirety, both on the postcard and on the stamp of the maxicard.

Competitions

Maximaphily displays have become popular at competitive philatelic exhibitions and special rules have been developed by the FIP to assist in judging the entries.

References

External links

FIP maximaphily regulationsThe largest maximaphily group on Facebook (over 3,000 members): 'Maximaphily, traditional and non-traditional'Asia Pacific MaximaphilyMaximum cards of bridgesMalaysia Maximum cards by Ye Choh SanMy maxi cards collection
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Postcrossing Blog: maximum cards
Philatelic terminology he:גלוית מרב#מקסימפיליה