Owner Biography
Ethel B McCoy
Ethel McCoy
Mostly from the A.P.S. Website:
Ethel Bergstresser (Stewart) McCoy (June 20, 1893 – August 17, 1980) New York City
Ethel McCoy was an ardent stamp collector and philatelic activist. She formed many collections, most notable of which was her U.S. airmails. She was one of the earliest topical collectors.
Ethel was the daughter of Charles Milford Bergstresser, a journalist who with Charles Dow and Edward Jones was a founder of Dow Jones & Company. Her inherited wealth allowed her to happily indulge her collecting passions, which included airmail stamps of the world and stamps depicting palm trees
She became a director of the American Air Mail Society in 1937, when few women held office in any philatelic organization. She was then known as Ethel B. Stewart (her first husband, Bert A. Stewart, died in 1936). In 1941 she married Walter R. McCoy, like her, an enthusiastic stamp collector and activist. They both belonged to many stamp societies and often provided special prizes for philatelic events. She was a director of the Essay-Proof Society for over 20 years.
The highlight of her U.S. Airmail Collection was a block of four of the 24-cent "inverted Jenny" (Scott No. C3a) which she acquired in 1936. The block was from positions 65-66, 75-76 of the original sheet of one hundred, and was one of the best centered of the few blocks in existence. It was stolen from her exhibit in the 1955 APS Convention in Norfolk, VA. In 1979, she transferred title to the stolen stamps to the American Philatelic Research Library. As of May 2016, three stamps from the block have been recovered (Positions 65, 75 and 76).
Read the article by Ken Lawrence about Ethel B. McCoy
Ethel Bergstresser (Stewart) McCoy (June 20, 1893 – August 17, 1980) New York City
Ethel McCoy was an ardent stamp collector and philatelic activist. She formed many collections, most notable of which was her U.S. airmails. She was one of the earliest topical collectors.
Ethel was the daughter of Charles Milford Bergstresser, a journalist who with Charles Dow and Edward Jones was a founder of Dow Jones & Company. Her inherited wealth allowed her to happily indulge her collecting passions, which included airmail stamps of the world and stamps depicting palm trees
She became a director of the American Air Mail Society in 1937, when few women held office in any philatelic organization. She was then known as Ethel B. Stewart (her first husband, Bert A. Stewart, died in 1936). In 1941 she married Walter R. McCoy, like her, an enthusiastic stamp collector and activist. They both belonged to many stamp societies and often provided special prizes for philatelic events. She was a director of the Essay-Proof Society for over 20 years.
The highlight of her U.S. Airmail Collection was a block of four of the 24-cent "inverted Jenny" (Scott No. C3a) which she acquired in 1936. The block was from positions 65-66, 75-76 of the original sheet of one hundred, and was one of the best centered of the few blocks in existence. It was stolen from her exhibit in the 1955 APS Convention in Norfolk, VA. In 1979, she transferred title to the stolen stamps to the American Philatelic Research Library. As of May 2016, three stamps from the block have been recovered (Positions 65, 75 and 76).
Read the article by Ken Lawrence about Ethel B. McCoy
