A. J. Sefi


Alexander Joseph Sefi was an English philatelist and stamp dealer who signed the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1933.

Early life

Sefi was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School. Later he spent three years conducting geological and scientific expeditions in Asia Minor, Syria and Arabia.

Stamp dealing

Sefi worked in association with David Field who published several of his works. In 1921 he joined P.L. Pemberton and E.L. Pemberton as Sefi, Pemberton & Co. Ltd. Together, they donated the Sefi-Pemberton Cup to The Junior Philatelic Society, now the National Philatelic Society. The firm continued until 1956 when it was acquired by Robson Lowe.

Philately

Sefi edited the Philatelic Journal of Great Britain from 1926, and also Philatelic World and The West-End Philatelist. He researched the silk thread issues of Switzerland 1854-62. In philatelic literature his magnum opus was his masterful "An Introduction to Advanced Philately...", re-issued in facsimile form by the Royal Philatelic Society London in 2010. At the time of his death, he was engaged with C.H. Mortimer in preparing a book on Jammu-Kashmir which was eventually published in 1937. He won the Bates Prize at the 1923 Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in London, and the Congress Cup for his paper "Forgeries and Fakes" at the 1929 Birmingham Congress. His philatelic interests were wide and he contributed numerous articles to philatelic periodicals.

Other

Sefi played bridge for England.

Selected publications