Unlike most postal entities the United Nations issues stamps primarily for collectors, not for the delivery of mail. Like most postal entities it uses stamps as a tool to promote governmental goals, celebrate cultures and note important events.
 
 During Anthony Fouracre's 12 years as chief of its postal administration many memorable designs depicting UN aims and ideals were executed by distinguished artists. He guided the department successfully through some financially hard times and developed popular themes like the World Heritage series. But Fouracre may be most remembered for engineering the controversial sale of UN postal archives.
 
 Because the archives were in storage, serious philatelists had rarely been able to research and study progressive die proofs of an issue, plate for varieties and hold in their hands original documents recording the development of a UN stamp issue. And most never will.
 
 The upcoming David Feldman auction (www.davidfeldman.com) in Switzerland of the UN archives will offer an opportunity to acquire material for study and to build gold medal collections. But it will deprive the collecting public of an important research resource.
 
 For collectors and dealers who have invested in the very scarce material that managed to escape the UN security printer's tight controls it is a bittersweet time. They worry that the value of their rare UN items will plummet as a flood of new material enters the marketplace. Some take the long view, feeling that once the material is absorbed into collections prices will bounce back.
 
 Stamp2.com met with Fouracre to discuss the sale, his time at the UN and the outlook for future UN postal issues.
 
 Due to retire this year, Fouracre works across the street from the UN complex in a large glass windowed office overlooking New York's skyline of high rise apartment houses and office buildings. Slim, medium height with wavy white hair, dressed in a conservative dark blue suit, white shirt with French cuffs and a light and dark blue striped tie, he spoke about his years guiding the United Nations Postal Administration (www.un.org./depts/UNPA) in New York, Vienna and Geneva.
 
 As he talked quietly, surrounded by the trappings of the job, he turned a pair of six inch sharp-point stainless steel stamp tongs in his hands. Desk, tables and tops of bookcases were piled with stamps, first day covers, auction catalogs and stamp catalogs.
 
 Q: You've led the UN Postal Administration for 12 of its 51 years. What would you like to be remembered for?
 A: I think making United Nations stamps more current, attractive and appealing to young collectors. Our customers are collectors rather than specialists.
 
 Q: What stamp issues were you happiest to see come out?
 A: That's a hard one. Most stamp issues have very happy memories and stories behind them. I liked working with artist Peter Max (major European pop artist), whom I had known for many years. I knew he wanted to donate something to the UN. He had, of course, done stamps in Europe. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro I talked to the Secretary General, who turned out to be a great fan of Peter's, and suggested Peter Max do a stamp. So we had the go ahead and he did our earth summit issue of May 22, 1992.
 
 Another issue was the usage of the DNA double helix concept for International Peace Day in 1993 by the Swiss artist Hans Erni. That was an amazing piece of art work. The engraver did white lines on pure white sheets. The lines actually go over each other, just incredible.
 
 Q: Did you come out of an art background?
 A: My previous job was security operations for interagency crisis situations.
 
 Q: When you arrived United Nations stamps had fallen out of favor with many long time UN collectors. Did you have a plan back then to turn the situation around? Many dealers and collectors acknowledge you've done that.
 A: I never felt United Nations stamps were on a downward slope. Even with trends in collecting going down, we had not fallen out of favor. That's because the appeal of UN stamps is universal and the subjects we focus on are important to humanity, like the environment and world peace.
 
 Q: In the 1970's the minimum amount of stamps printed for a new issue averaged 1.5 million to 2 million, yet in the 1980's and 1990's average printings were cut back to a half million. Why the change?
 A: We tried to get a better handle on how many stamps would be sold. Traditionally when a stamp comes off sale the remainder has to be destroyed. The auditors were very critical of the waste of resources. Now when an issue doesn't sell out we use the off sale stamps, canceled to order, for publicity purposes to schools. That helps get the UN message out to a new generation of collectors.
 
 Q: What was the thinking behind selling UNPA NY's archives of stamps, covers, proofs, artwork, etc.?
 A: We had been thinking about it for sometime. We had material of great interest sitting in cartons in two basement rooms asking for a home, and the postal museum in Geneva has what we needed. I saw the New York material as a way of documenting and enriching private UN stamp collections, and most of all creating new interest in UN collecting. The funds realized will go to support the museum in Geneva. We have a written and photographic copy of the material that is being auctioned, and the auction catalog that will further document the collection.
 
 Q: A number of dealers and collectors have expressed unhappiness at your decision. They say that the value of the rare UN items bought at auction, like proofs, will decline with the new material being sold.
 A: If anyone has bought proofs on the market they better be quiet about it because those proofs are the property of the United Nations. We have never (before) authorized the sale of any of our proofs or printed materials. Accidental release of imperforate stamps is another matter and it is not our intent to reduce the value of collector holdings. The provenance of the material we are releasing is most important. Auction houses and dealers know where it came from and it is free of problems.
 
 Q: How do you decide on the subjects for new issues?
 A: We are instructed by the General Assembly to issue a stamp on a particular theme, sometimes it's an obvious choice like the 2002 conference in Johannesburg on sustainable development. Individual departments write us asking to have a stamp for an international year event, like 2003's International Year of Fresh Waters.
 
 Q: Can collectors be included in the decisions on what stamps the UN chooses? Who in the end makes the decision?
 A: We get many letters from collectors suggesting ideas for new stamps and they are taken under consideration. There is a design committee that passes on issues, but it is a cooperative effort. Getting agreement on designs that match the UN intent can be difficult. We held a design competition for a stamp on aging and the designs came back with people in nursing homes. Our mandate was to show seniors active, participating in society. We scrapped the competition and commissioned an artist to portray the senior generation helping the younger generation.
 
 Q: Could a member of the collector or dealer community be a member of the UN stamp selection committee?
 A: The UN in general does not have outside people on its internal committees. I've suggested in the past that we have outside participation, but then you start getting into should we have someone from the United States or should we have someone from Europe. So far it's not an idea whose time has come.
 
 Q: What is the chief function of having a UN postal service?
 A: We don't move the mail. That is done by the host nations and we reimburse them for the cost of doing so. I have always felt that our mandate is promoting the activities of the organization and disseminating information on the UN. That is key.
 
 Q: What percentage of mail originating at the UN is franked with stamps?
 A: About 20 percent is stamped, the rest has UN meter cancels. If they have stamps on them, they are private mail.
 
 Q: What about requiring UN departments to use UN stamps on their mail?
 A: The trend has been for business to use metered mail and it is no different for the UN. But it is something that we should explore.
 
 Q: What are the profits from the stamp operation used for?
 A: Any profit goes back to member states and reduces their contribution to the regular budget. Many years we make a profit, but last year with the 9/11 terrorist attack the UN effectively shut down for four months we did not.
 
 Q: How is incoming mail being security checked and what kind of delivery delay are you experiencing since the 9/11 attack?
 A: Mail delivery has slowed down considerably. The mail is being checked and irradiated (nuked). On stamp returns the process has not been kind. Stamps have been damaged, but we may eliminate some of the checks.
 
 Q: Most postal administrations are increasingly issuing stamps with self-stick gum. The public loves them but a lot of collectors hate them; it's hard to soak them free from envelopes. What plans does UNPA have for using pressure sensitive adhesive, or continuing to issue stamps with water activated gum?
 A: At this stage we will continue with gummed stamps. We may introduce a self-adhesive (peel and stick) product for some businesses that mail from the UN. Our business is selling stamps to collectors versus the consumer. And the collector buys gummed stamps.
 
 Q: Have you enjoyed the job?
 A: Very much. In an environment such as the UN to have some creative output has been very exciting.
 
 Q: What would you like to do in the immediate future were you still at UNPA?
 A: What I would like to see is personalized stamps. If you're a visitor to the UN, a personalized stamp is a way to have a personalized souvenir and to indicate publicly on a stamp your support for the UN. As the secretary general has said, "This is your UN."
 
 Bob Gray, who is the new chief for UNPA New York, invented them for Australia Post. One of the reasons we brought him on board was to have them available to UN visitors. We hope to have them in early 2003.
 
 Q: It's a nice idea, but this is New York and tourists have too much to see and do to wait for a stamp to be printed and have their number called. How long will this process take?
 A: About one minute.

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