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Welcome to The Gibraltar Study Circle (GSC) web site.

Are you interested in the Stamps, Postal History or Stationery of Gibraltar or Morocco?

If so, come join us!

The GSC is a global non-profit society founded by Wally Jackson in 1975.  It aims to expand the knowledge of the philately of Gibraltar in all its forms for the benefit of collectors (philatelists) from all levels and walks of life. This includes postal history, stamps, postal stationery and associated overprints from Gibraltar and any of these used in Morocco.

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Annual Competition

The Gibraltar Study Circle Annual Competition 2026 is now on-line.

As previously announced, the GSC Annual Competition is being held entirely on-line from now on.

There have been just four entries to the competition this year, two in the Traditional (Adhesive Stamps) Class and two in the GB Used in Gibraltar Class.  The entries are from philatelists with a wide range of experience from first time applicants to previous Gold Medal winners.  Of course this will be taken into account in the feedback but please remember,  the FIP rules will still apply to actual scores.

The entries are displayed in the Member’s area in order to make it possible for our members from around the world to both view and enter the competition.  Club level competitions have several aims:

• to share exhibits of potential interest to members
• to help entrants improve the quality of their exhibits
• to “try out” an exhibit at a club level to get feedback before submitting it to a regional or national competition.

To this end, the judging at club level is based on the same FIP standards as regional and national standards, wherever possible by a FIP certified judge.  There would be no point in using different criteria at each level and expect entrants to succeed.

Trophies will be awarded to attendees where possible and kept by them for a year, but must be returned to a Committee member before the next competition.  Where this is not possible due to the cost of postage and/or insurance, winners will be sent certificates, physical trophies will not be sent.

Auctions

Each Autumn an auction will be held via postal bids, providing that the Honorary Auctioneer has received sufficient material to make up an auction worth holding.  Detailed listings and, where possible and appropriate, high quality scans of the lots being auctioned, will be displayed or listed on this website.

Details for submitting lots and the process to follow can be found in the Competition Rules on the website.

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Membership

The GSC has a global membership covering six continents.  The research carried out by the members has resulted in the GSC being the foremost source of expertise on Gibraltar philately in the world.

If you are interested in becoming a member please fill out and send the Online Membership Form.  If you have any questions please contact the Honorary Membership Secretary via our Contact Us page.

We extend a warm welcome to new members wherever you may live and whatever level of expertise you may have – beginner or seasoned collector with years of expertise. 

Meetings

A weekend meeting is held in the Spring of each year for the Annual General Meeting, with an on-line Competition being held each Autumn.  Competitions are only open to GSC members.  Members can find more details including entry forms by logging in.

The locations of the meetings are varied to make it easier for people to get to at least one meeting a year.

Families of members are made most welcome.  We try to encourage the social side of the meetings to ensure it is not just about the philately.

We also organise meetings in Gibraltar every few years to which all members are invited.  The last visit was in October 2019, with another planned for later this year.

Auctions

There are two auctions of general philatelic material per year.  Due to the lack of members atending the meetings these are being moved on-line, arranged to coincide with the two annual events – the AGM and the competition.  These auctions typically comprise around 400 lots with bidding accepted both in person and via post from members worldwide.

Postal Packet

The GSC offers an on-line Packet.  This used to be a postal packet but has been moved on-line to open the packet up to overseas buyers.  This provides members with:

• an inexpensive way of obtaining more common material
• an outlet for their surplus philatelic items.

Publications

Books

Prior to the formation of the GSC, information about the Postal History and Stamps of Gibraltar was scarce.  There were just two or three publications from the early part of the century, such as “The Postage Stamps Of Gibraltar“, by Sir Geoffrey Duveen – Published in 1932, updated 1972

Study Papers

Many of these publications started life as Study Papers.  These are exploratory publications putting forward the research of the authors, expressing the ideas and concepts and asking for others to contribute to the knowledge on the subject.  Once sufficient knowledge has been garnered, the Study Paper is put into book format for a more formal publication.  Members of the Study Circle have issued 26 Study Papers on various topics including: