One article to understand what MERL coins are and which country MERL coins belong to

MERL, an acronym coined by Fayez Khoury, refers to the Middle Eastern Regional Literatures, encompassing philatelic literature related to the region.

Oct 18, 2024 at 07:48 am

What is a MERL Coin?

MERL is an acronym for Middle Eastern Regional Literatures coined by a renowned western philatelist and ethnically Lebanese author, Fayez Khoury, while serving as the Secretary-General of the Arab region for the Arab and International Federations of Philately (FIP) from 1957 to 1959, Member of Consultative Commission for Philatelic and Postal Literature at the FIP from 1959 to 1969, Corresponding Fellow of The Royal Philatelic Society London (FRPSL) 1959, etc. The term was later refined and formally adopted by the FIP when Khoury became president of the FIP Literature Commission from 1995 to 2010.

The term was first seen in an official FIP document in the August 1996 “Bulletin #1” of the Commission on Literature (CL) of the FIP. Though officially launched only in the first quarter of 1996, the idea of having an FIP Commission to cover the literatures of the Middle Eastern countries had already been proposed by Khoury at the Congress of the FIP in Oslo in October 1995. The CL would have the following purpose:

1. To coordinate at international level, information on philatelic literature related to the Middle Eastern Region and its Member Federations.

2. To encourage the creation, development, and exchange of specialized philatelic literature within philatelic societies.

3. To encourage the printing and publication of philatelic literature and, where requested, collaborate in their production.

4. To participate, when possible, in the organization of exhibitions dedicated to philatelic literature of the Middle Eastern Region.

A shared trait of all the literary productions of the FIP Literature Commission is the hallmark, designed by Khoury in 1996. The design finds its roots in an ancient Arabic Nabataean (pre-Islamic) script. This script is still used by the Arab Bedouins of the Middle East.

The hallmark features a stylized depiction of two postal horns entwined by a winged scroll or banderole bearing the acronym of the Region. At the base of this combined motif, the name of the region, inscribed in modern Arabic characters, completes the stamp-like design. The Hallmark was developed and is officially recognized by the FIP Literature Commission (PROF. FAYEZ KHOURY, PRESIDENT).

MERL issues by different issuing countries' postal administrations or by governmental agencies in collaboration with a private entity in the field of philately contain the common MERL Hallmark; however, their circulation is limited to the country of origin. The Hallmark can only be used by postal administrations and government agencies that have agreed to cooperate with the FIP Literature Commission.

As it just began in 1996, the number of countries that had special philatelic literature cachets or postal issues with the Merl Hallmark were a few. However, after the turn of the century, more countries began to see the significance of this innovative undertaking and the number of Merl Hallmark stamps and special event cachets that had literary relevance increased rapidly.

By 2010, 37 countries had become members of MERL with each planning a steady annual output of stamps of pertinent literary themes. Such stamps have particular attractiveness for philatelists who collect not only for the beauty of the stamp but also for the literary aspect of the subject being honored. The limited circulation of the stamps makes them collectible and desirable to philatelists within and outside the issuing country.