In addition to being a banker, Bassil is an avid collector of historical postal artifacts with abiding interests in archaeology and history. In 2009, he published a bilingual book titled “Soixante-dix ans d’histoire postale du bureau de poste français à Beyrouth (1845-1914)” (Seventy Years of Postal History at the French Post Office in Beirut [1845-1914]).[20] In 2011, the book earned him a Gold Medal from the Chicago Philatelic Society.[21][22] This was followed by an English-language volume, “French Postal History in Tripoli (1852-1914)”, in 2013.[23] The preface to the latter was written by the president of the French Academy of Philately, renowned French postal historian Robert Abensur.[24][25]