About MFN and its activities

MFN stands for: Motor Filatelisten Nederland (Motorcycle Philatelists Netherlands). As the name already tells, the MFN is a club, which members collect stamps and related items (e.g. postal items, franking stamps, postmarks, First Day Covers) with the theme Motorcycle.
The MFN has been founded in 1987, on the initiative of the current chairman, Jan Termaaten. At this moment the MFN has about 100 members. Off course many of the members do ride a motorcycle, but others don't (anymore). The members can be found in all age groups: from youth to seniors.

The most important aim of the MFN is to bring motorcycle philatelists in contact with each other, and to inform them. This happens especially during the 2 meetings that are held every year, and by issueing a newsletter. Further the MFN makes that members can extend their collection, by organising a novelty delivery service and now and then an auction.
In the following overview you can see which activities the MFN organises. If you want to get more information on a specific item you can directly contact the indicated contact person, or via the general e-mail address.

A newsletter is issued for the members. In the newsletter information is given about different aspects of motorcycle philately. Examples of the contents are:

announcements of the executive committee
newly issued stamps
background information on certain themes in the collection (e.g. Manx TT, Olympic motorcycle stamps)
announcement and report of the meetings
list of items in the auction (see beneath)
tips and hints for your collection

The newsletter is issued 4 times per year. Unfortunately, the newsletter is published in Dutch only. For sending the newsletter a special personalised stamp is made, with an image related to motorcycle philately and the MFN logo. Extra stamps can be purchased (in unlimited amounts) by all members. A few examples:

Articles that can be interesting for non-members are also published on this website, shortly after the newsletter has been sent. Where possible images are published here in full colour.
Click here to see the contents of the last newsletter (in Dutch). There is an overview of all articles that have been translated into English. All articles in Dutch can be found in the article archive.

Information

Members can ask their questions related to the motorcycle philately to the "walking encyclopedia" of the club. When he can not answer the question himself, it will be tried, sometimes through a publication in the newsletter, to get the answer from another member.

Meetings

Club meeting April 1999 Every year 2 meetings are held for the members, 1 in the spring (mostly April), and 1 in the autumn (mostly October). The meetings are held in different parts of the country, alternately on saturday and sunday. The exact date and location are announced well before.
At the meetings all members have the possibility to show their collection to others, and to exchange, sell or buy stamps. Sometimes also an auction is held of motorcyle stamps and other postal items. The spring meeting is also used for a (short) annual general meeting.

One of the members shows his collection on an MFN meeting

For each meeting a special personalised stamp is made. These stamps are only available on the club meeting, with a maximum of 11 (1 sheet of 10 + 1 loose stamp) per person. A real collectors item, making it worth to visit the club meeting. Here 2 examples:

The meetings are also open to non-members who want to become acquainted with the MFN. For more information about the next meeting click here.

Catalogue

The MFN also issues a catalogue, which contains all known stamps with the theme motorcycle. Next to a good quality image of the stamp, the reason and date of issue and the stamps number in the 3 mostly used catalogues (Yvert, Michel and Stanley Gibbons) are given. Next to this every item gets an MFN catalogue number. At this moment we are busy to put the complete catalogue online, with full colour images. This service is exclusively for MFN members. Please note that the catalogue is in the Dutch language only!
On the right you can see an example of a page from the catalogue (click on it for a larger image).
The catalogue is issued in 5 volumes, according to the system of the Michel catalogue: Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia/Middle East, Amercia. Further there are 3 special volumes:
- Bogus I, with local and other non-official stamps
- Bogus II, with speculative issues (stamps issued only to earn money)
- Other Postal items.
The catalogue is issued both on paper (A5-sized booklet) and on CD (WordPerfect file format).

For ordering or the most recent information, please contact Hans de Kloet.

Novelties service

The MFN organises a novelties service. Members who subscribe automatically receive all new issues. Different types of subscription are possible, for instance only normal stamps, blocks, stamp booklets, first day covers etcetera.

For question about the novelty delivery service you can contact Eric Mulder.

Auction

On most of the club meetings an auction of is held of stamps and other postal items. The items to be sold are either brought in by the club, or supplied by members. The auction is for members only.
Except during the auction itself, it is also possible to bid before in writing. The auction lists are published well before in the newsletter and on this site. Images are included as many as possible, on the site in full colour.

The auctioneer in action

For questions about the auction, please contact the organizer.

Want to become a member?

The membership of the MFN costs only 12 euro a year (outside the Netherlands 15 euro due to higher postal rates). For this money you receive the newsletter (in Dutch only!) 4 times a year, sent to your home address, and you get free access to all facilities listed above.

You can subscribe online by using the application form.
You can also subscribe by sending an e-mail to the MFN, or to the secretary. If you first want to receive more information about the MFN, you can contact the chairman or the secretary.