Michael began collecting stamps at an early age, focusing primarily on Australian stamps.

But, his senior executive roles in Information Technology & extensive global business travel commitments, resulted in a 25 year pause in his stamp collecting hobby. After semi-retiring, his interest in stamps was rekindled, when he received an extensive international stamp collection, from a grand uncle a few years ago.

Soon after, Michael turned his attention to filling gaps in his own Australian collection, and in 2023, he ‘discovered’ Counter Printed Stamps, as well as Framas; but was frustrated by the lack of a quality reference catalogue/handbook that focused on either.

His desire to complete his own Counter Printed Stamp collection, resulted in extensive personal research, including sifting through countless documents from a variety of sources.

Michael began buying from sellers across the globe, while establishing invaluable relationships with key philatelic experts/collectors in Australia, that helped him piece together & eventually solve the puzzle of Australia’s Counter Printed & Monetel Stamps.

With countless hours invested over the past 3 years – he has completed a detailed 600+ page catalogue & handbook, incorporating thousands of personally scanned images, including variations, print errors & unauthorised issues; and combined this with a detailed introduction, as well as a thoughtful assessment of rarity/scarcity tiers & market value ranges for each issue & sub-issue.

For Michael, this has truly been a labour of passion & dedication, & is reflective of his personal commitment to excellence, with the result being a catalogue/handbook that sets a new global benchmark for a key category of Australian stamps, that were with us for just 25 years; from the 1991 test/trials, to the very last issues in 2016!

Counter Printed & Monetel Stamp issues, have many of Australia Posts’ lowest ever print quantities, making them highly desirable for collectors & investors alike.

Michael is based in Sydney, Australia, is married, and has 2 adult children. He is equally passionate about great wine, food, travel, gardening & playing tennis!

He looks forward to receiving your feedback on this exciting addition to Australian philately.

In 2028, he plans to release his 2nd reference catalogue/handbook, focused this time on Australian Framas (ATM’s).