About

Background

I have been a philatelist since the age of 8, buying stamps at the post office and attending local stamp shows. At 14, I decided to specialize in the US Departmental Official stamps that were issued in 1873 and 1879. A couple years later at the age of 16, I began to collect and study the US Large Banknote series 1870-1888 by specializing in the 2c Vermilion Jackson issues. I have formed a large research library to study Worldwide classics and develop my knowledge of the overall stamp field. For one year (1999-2000), I worked for Stanley Richmond at Kelleher Auctions in Boston, MA to learn more about the stamp business. I worked for Matthew Bennett Philatelic Auctions for a number of years before moving to California where I spent ten years at Schuyler Rumsey Auctions as vice President. We moved back to the east coast to start Kewriga Auctions.

Exhibiting

I first exhibited at the Boxboro Philatelic show in Massachusetts back in 1995 at the age of 17. I was happy to take home a gold medal at the show with my 2c Vermilion Bank Note material that was accumulated over the previous few years. I later showed the exhibit at Pacific 97, Israel 98 (best youth exhibit), Luxembourg 98, and Germany 99 (best youth exhibit) in the youth class. My exhibit of US Officials was shown at Johannesburg 98, taking best youth exhibit at the show (subsequently sold). I moved to adult exhibiting at various national shows taking mostly gold medals with my 2c Vermilion exhibit. In Milan 99, the exhibit took a large vermeil in the adult class at 5 frames. After moving to 8 frames, the exhibit received gold medals at Spain 2004, Singapore 2004, and Washington 2006. Domestically it has received a Grand Award at Vapex 2004 and two Reserve Grands.

Judging

On December 12, 2001, I was accredited as a US National level judge of stamp exhibits. I thus became the youngest philatelic judge ever in the United States at the age of 24. I am actively seeking to judge shows in the United States and Worldwide with my areas of specialty being United States Stamps and Postal History.

Work Experience

I worked from age 11 to 22 at my father's hardware store during high school and college. This enabled me to generate a little cash to pay for all those stamps I was able to purchase during my early years. In my last year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute I was able to work for Stanley Richmond at Kelleher Auctions. I was able to gain experience in lot describing and auction catalog preparation. I completed college with a bachelor of science degree in Industrial Engineering. I began to work at UPS on March 6, 2000 and left in May 2004 to work at Matthew Bennett Philatelic Auctions until 2009. My specialty was US classics with particular emphasis on postal history.

After Bennett, I was a full-time stamp dealer doing shows and website sales until I joined Schuyler Rumsey auctions in 2012. I worked 10 years at Rumsey rising to Vice President. I moved to Richmond Va. in February 2023 to start Kewriga Auctions.