| Birth Date: | June 26, 1878 |
| Birth Place: | Hungary |
| Death Place: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Stamp dealer Stamp collector Auctioneer |
| Years Active: | 1911-1944 |
| Known For: | American Philatelic Society president 1935-1937 APS Hall of Fame Person who bought the "Inverted Jenny" sheet of 24-cent inverted airmail stamps |
Eugene Klein (June 26, 1878 – April 30, 1944) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was an internationally known stamp collector, stamp dealer, and auctioneer who was president of the American Philatelic Society from 1935 to 1937.[1] [2] [3]
Born in Hungary on June 26, 1878, Klein was educated in Budapest and Vienna. As a youth, he developed an interest in philately.[4]
Klein was the official expert of the American Philatelic Society from 1911 to 1931 and its international secretary from 1928 to 1935 and 1937 to 1944.[5] He also served as president (1935–1937) and international secretary again from 1937 until his death. He authored the 1940 book United States Waterway Packetmarks: Handstamped and Printed Names of Mail-Carrying Steamboats on the United States of America Inland and Coastal Waters, 1832-1899, called a seminal work by the American Philatelic Society, (APS), in a highly-collectable area.[1]
His customers included King George V of Great Britain and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[6]
Eugene Klein was inducted into the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame in 1944.[1]
Klein is remembered as the dealer who bought the sheet of the 24-cent Inverted Jenny 1918 United States air mail stamps from its finder, William T. Robey.[1] [7] [8] [9]
In poor health during his final months, Klein died at the age of sixty-five at the Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia on April 30, 1944.[10]