If you can send scans from Maximum cards which are not in my online catalogue please send me an eMail, clicking here:
The Maximaphily items should
conform to the principles of maximum possible concordance between
a) The postage stamp
b) The picture postcard
c) Postmark
1. The postage stamp
The postage stamp should be postally valid and affixed only on the view
side of the picture postcard. (postage due, pre-cancels, fiscals and
stamps violating the "Code of Ethics of the UPU" are not admissible, as
well as official stamps, except those which are at the disposal of the
public: United Nations, UNESCO, European Council, etc..).
2. The picture postcard
Its dimensions must conform to universal postal convention (max. 105 x 148
mm, min. 90 X 140 mm). At least 75% of its area must be used for the
picture and the illustration should show the best possible concordance
with the subject of the stamp or with one of them, if there are several.
Picture postcards with mere reproduction of the stamps are forbidden.
3. The postmark and time
The pictorial design of the cancellation and the place of cancellation
(name of the Post office) should have a close and direct connection with
the subject of the stamp and of the picture postcard, and should be dated
within the validity of the stamp and as close as possible to the date of
its issue.
There are many cards on the philatelic markets offered and sold as Maximum cards, which do not fulfill all of the criteria established n the rules above. Some of them show an identical image of the stamp on the picture side of the card, others do not have a suitable cancel. Some examples are shown here:
This is not a correct Maximum card because the picture side of the card shows an exact reproduction of the stamp.
Two aspects of this card are correct, the card itself and the stamp, but the cancel has no direct relation with the topic. There is a famous sports institute in Magglingen (the place where there card was cancelled), but it has no direct relation with Volleyball.
You might ask: What is wrong with this Maximum card ?
Cancel, card and stamp all show Volleyball - this must be a Maximum card !
Well, the picture side of the card does not cover 75 % of the area, and
that fact converts it into an ordinary card.
Another exact reproduction of the stamp on the picture side of the card, this time from the USA.
detail
There is hardly anything to justify the name of Maximum card for this UNO-card issued for the "Inter Agency Games". The only detail is the text "Volleyball" in what seems to be the list of sports practiced at these games. Neither the cancel nor the stamp have a relation with our sport.
I could continue with examples of cards that are no real Maximum cards, but let's show some of the correct examples. There are a lot of beautiful Maximum cards promoting the beautiful sport of Volleyball.
The oldest Maximum card in my collection is from Brazil: Sept 28th, 1957.
You might say that this is not a real Maximum card, because the cancel has no relation with the topic. But you must know that the card was cancelled in Oss, the birthplace of Bas van de Goor, who won an Olympic Gold medal with the Dutch Volleyball team in 1996 in Atlanta, USA.
This Russian picture postcard (it is actually a postal stationery card) was used in Romania to produce this real maximum card.
Here is the same card used as Maximum card in the Soviet Union.
A nice example from Latin America.
A beautiful setting to play Volleyball. Maximum card from Czechoslovakia.