MonacoPhil2009 kicked off in style at The Hermitage Hotel in Monte-Carlo on Thursday 3 December.

At a cocktail reception to open the exhibition the great and good of philately gathered to see Mr Charles Shreve accept the ASCAT Grand Prix Award on behalf of Mr Bill Gross.

Mr Charles Shreve accepting the ASCAT Award

You can view our exclusive video of the event, along with Mr Shreve's amusing anecdotes as he told the audience more about Mr Gross and his collection.

The 100 members of the Club de Monte-Carlo were also in attendance.

Each had provided an extraordinary piece of their collection to form the centrepiece of the MonacoPhil exhibition.

The Z Grill and block of four inverted jenny - part of the world famous 'swap' - were part of the display.  

Paul Fraser with the Z Grill and Jenny

The 100 stamps were displayed in a separate Museum building with restricted access allowing only four people to enter at any one time. 

Not surprising given the value of the stamps on display - $100m.

HSH Prince Albert arriving at MonacoPhil 2009

The exhibit was opened by HSH Prince Albert who spoke about the importance of the event to the Principality of Monaco.

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