Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
For example, I began with conventional albums and hinges at 10 years of age. I went from a Majestic to a Scott World Album. I traded that in for some better US and got a Harris Liberty Album. 15 years later I returned to WW collecting and loaded up a Harris Ambassador Album. Then about 10 years ago I discovered how wonderful the Scott International Junior was for someone like myself who is fascinated with older stamps.
So I have a 1940 SIJ album, and my Harris Collection of newer graduated to a Statesman, then a Senior Statesman, and now a Standard, with lots of supplements and pages from the previous albums which expanded it to 4 volumes. I like Harris because it is what I know, and it is the most affordable of the conventional albums, but if I could do it over again I would have tried to get into the Minkus Comprehensive or Global years ago!
In case you forgot, I collect old stamp albums as well as stamps, so this topic interests me.
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My first album was, like you, the Majestic. When that started to bulge too much, I received the Harris Standard album as a birthday present. I was thinking of moving up to the Citation, but received a 1968 Scott International as a Christmas present. That picked up where my Standard left off. By the way, the album with binder cost just $19.99 at the time. For the next several years, my birthdays and Christmases were set to receive another International album! I was not happy with how abridged the 1840 through roughly 1950 pages were. At the time, my US and Canada needed something more. So, I got a Whitman Canada album and the Scott Minuteman. That lasted me through college. When I started working, I finished getting the Internationals, but started getting the Scott Specialty albums, starting with the National, Canada, Germany and United Nations. I would pick up more as I was able to afford them. I also got hundreds of blank International pages and started to go through the International albums one page at a time. For the sections of each country that were not complete, I would toss the printed pages and made my own complete pages based on the Scott catalogs. That was my first study of the catalogs, something which I have done now for forty years. Yes, I have gone through the catalogs page by page many times over!
Scott with its ridiculous price increases and on and off Specialty albums, I decided to make a hybrid of my albums. I was able to get Specialty pages of all countries up to roughly 1950, replacing the handmade pages. Many go beyond that, but the main point was to have a complete album for each country. I then decided that due to cost of the supplements, it would be cheaper to get the International pages. I use blank pages for any souvenir sheets or minor varieties that are not included. I also use the Steiner pages for countries that Scott doesn't supply, and for some countries where the Steiner pages are more complete than Scott, and also for back-of-book material, which Scott doesn't provide pages for most countries in the International pages. It's working out pretty good. I use the #5 green binders from G&K. They are like Scott Specialty binders, but hold many more pages than the skimpy, and expensive, Scott binders.
I am now going through my albums and Scott, Gibbons and Michel catalogs to create my "ultimate" albums where I will use the Steiner pages and blank pages to set up the albums so that the spaces contained in the albums will be what I place in my inventory lists. If a stamp is not listed there, then I will not place it on my want list. My way of locking down what I want/need for my collection.
I like to get old, small albums and put my duplicates in there. Looks nice as it fills up with only stamps that are appropriate for the year of the album. When it is completed as much as possible, I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a stamp for that album, I look through it one last time and then sell it. I once filled a Harris Traveler album from 1946. Now I'm working on a 1952 Minkus New World-Wide album. I'm thinking I will keep this one, though, when it is filled.
Finally, I also have an Ivory Album for Postage Stamps of the World. This is the old Captain Tim album. It was printed by Harris. It is in bad condition due to the high acidic level in the pages, but it is a piece of old time radio history and philately. (I also collect old time radio shows.) I hope to one day find another in decent shape.
So, there you go, Thom. That's my perspective on albums. (Yes, I have stock books for Cinderellas and such.....)
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Our collection is broken down into 5 sections...
We have out U.S. Collection which is in a set of Mystic Heirloom Collection binders using thier album pages. You want affordable, at just under $40 for a complete set of pages and binders, I couldn't beat it.
Then we have what I call the U.S. Sheets, Blocks, & Stationary albums. In it, we collect just what it says. Pretty much, if I come across something out of the ordinary, like a block of nine stamps, or a block of 5 stamps, in new or used condition, they will most likely end up in there. Each entry into these binders gets it's own page where I write up a nice descriptive "report" on them using info gathered from Mystic, Smitsonian and USPS websites. Actually, the pages are very similiar to my wall mount displays.
Then there's the world wide albums. Since I never could find one with pictures that was cheap, I bought into Steiner's Album pages and just print out the appriate page when I have stamps from a certain country. As I stated in an earlier post, each country is headed up by a picture of the world and on that map, the country is marked and referenced to where we live. Following the map is a descriptive page about the country. that data is just taken right off of Wikipedia.
Then there's a couple of "Specialty" albums. One is a Disney album, another is Marshall Island's Our Greatest Century. We even have one with Winter Olympic stamps in it that I had bought in an auction here.
Of course, we have the stock books, although all the stamps are face down so that i can read the Scott #'s penciled in on the back.
And last but not least, my most favorite stamps might also be duplicated and mounted in a pretty and informative wall display.
---Pat
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Right now.. i have...
Albums:
1) A scott album I've had since I was a kid, it's still in pretty good shape. Since getting back into stamps, I use it occasionally. It's mostly for standard stamps, although a couple of the pages are in rough shape. But stamps on those pages are gradually being moved to one of the various items below.
2) A Harris traveller's album that's in pretty beat up shape for the most part. It's got even less space for "preset" stamps, so I rarely use it all, although I'm probably going to use it for common duplicates.
3) One I picked up that is for nothing but pre-1940's stamps and for countries that go from J-Z is an International Harris album (I think it's Harris) with pre-printed pages a collector put together (if they're in there.. for instance it doesn't include anything from Switzerland for instance).
4) A blank album with nothing but blank grid paper that I used to put larger sets for individual countries in.. although I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange this one without ruining the stamps or the album pages that are in and what to use it for in the future. It's down to being pretty empty but still has stuff in it I'm not sure what to do with yet.
Binders/Stockbooks
5) right now.. 3 small 3 ring binders for vario sheets for various countries. Those are European (Scandinavia, Western Europe) and Far Eastern.
6) a couple of larger stock books, some of the older variety with just 'cardboard pockets'. Mostly those are for coninental/country breakdowns with larger number of countries. 1 is strictly for my current African stamps, 1 is for my Latin American stuff (pretty much anything North American that isn't US/Canada), 1 is Mediterranean Europe (italy, Greece, Turkey), 1 is middle eastern (this is one of those cardboard pocket books i don't really like, just needed it to get the stamps semi-organized), and one i haven't figured out what to do with yet (probably will be a US/Canada or a GB stock book)
7) About 5 smaller stock books for countries stamps that I like to have separate, but don't have enough to put in their own large stock book. (although I probably need to pull my Yemen stuff and put from group #6 and put it in group #7 - since I have enough of those for their own stockbook)
First Day Cover/Cover Collections.
6) Its' basically about 5 albums (I'd have to go recount) of US and GB first day official covers from the post.. (well it used to be official covers only but I've picked up a few US FDC's and those are just .. well covers 
), as well as some covers in vario pages that are loose (mostly ones i just got from pre1940classics)
Royal Wedding Collection
7) Way too many SG albums to count (with a bunch of loose pages still that I don't have albums for, and apparently can't get from the company anymore) for preprinted pages for the Charles/Diana royal wedding stamp blocks and individual stamps from former British empire colonies and current British commonwealth stamps.
8 through whatever number) Loose Vario sheets, and stuff in sandwich bags, large and small (for instance, I've got three plastic sliding boxes with nothing but bags of Machins in them... ), a batch of Monaco stamps on loose pages from various collections, various items... a couple of small topicals or specialty collections, such as a stamp that went on a sailboat that went across the Atlantic (it's one of those that has a small piece of the sail in it's own little bag, along with the stamp on a cover.. this is one I've been planning on scanning, but just keep putting it off.)
I used to be a album type guy, but I've DEFINITELY gone to liking the idea of stockbooks (but not those cardboard pocket ones, since you can only see the top halves of the stamps.. I only bought them cause i got them at a show for like $5 each...) and vario pages/3 ring binders.
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I never liked stamp books for two main reasons: one they never were complete or the issues were randomly placed on a page. Second, what if you collected plate blocks, line pairs or first day covers? No pre-printed book covers this. I prefer, albeit, very time consuming to make my own pages whereas I can put all these items together on the appropriate page with data corresponding to the stamp(s) withing my books. This is not for everyone as it is very expensive and time consuming but most satisfying to view.
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One of the things in this hobby that sets me off is when I see writing on the backs of stamps. Such actions damage the stamps. I know some people don't see it this way, but to me, the backs of stamps are not for writing on.
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The very first I got was stockbooks. Small and cheap. Pretty soon (age 9 or 10) I got a Stender album with pictures of all Danish stamps and major varieties. As I´m a sucker for stamps I´ve always collected worldwide, and for that I always used stockbooks. From my teenage years I used Leuchturm/Lighttower stockbooks, and still do for my ww collection. I don´t remember when I quit the Stender album, probably in my late teens, and for a while ALL my stamps were in stock books. In the late 1980s I started collecting "pictorial recess definitive stamps from British Commonwealth" And from day 1 it was split in 3:
1: Blank pages in a binder for complete sets.
2: Blank pages in another binder for almost complete sets.
3: A stock book for loose stamps.
In the late 1990s I started collecting stamps from Antarctic territories, and they are split in 2:
1: Blank pages when I can make a complete page in chronological order.
2: A stock book for loose stamps. I find it very difficult to find these stamps used so ....
I mount with hinges on blank pages because that way I can compose the page exactly as I want it.
Apart from that I still collect worldwide, and for that I have 65 stock books in varying sizes. From 16 to 64 pages.
An album page with stamps from Antarctica may look like this
:
And a page with pictorial recess definitives ... etc ... may look like this:
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"One of the things in this hobby that sets me off is when I see writing on the backs of stamps. Such actions damage the stamps. I know some people don't see it this way, but to me, the backs of stamps are not for writing on."
It could be worse... they could write on the FRONT of stamps... I was ready to kill someone when I got a British stamp i didn't have in my collection, with a weird cancellation mark on it, only to realize someone wrote their name or SOMETHING in DEEP blue marker all over the front of the stamp..
"I never liked stamp books for two main reasons: one they never were complete or the issues were randomly placed on a page. Second, what if you collected plate blocks, line pairs or first day covers? "
Variosheets and stockbooks aren't much more help in this regard.. simply because you have to expose anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4's of the entire block or use sheet styles that just stand out as a non-conformity. I only wish the stock mount strips were easier to work with in that regards.
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Have to be careful with someone's signature on the front of a stamp. Sometimes it is the engraver/designer who has autographed the stamp. Some of those can be worth some $$$. Of course, revenue stamps are usually canceled with a signature or initials, which is acceptable.
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Albummers:
If this discussion has revealed anything, it is that "one size does not fit all". How reassuring, in today's cookie-cutter, homogenized world, to see that individuality reigns supreme within Stamporama.
Back, away back, in the 1960's, when flavoured coffee was marketed in individual packets, sold in cigarette-package-sized plastic containers with transparent lids, I began to use these containers to hold my stamps awaiting mounting. Some of those stamps are still "waiting".
Every now and then, when moved by emotion and sentiment, I give these containers a shake or two so that different stamps become available for viewing through the transparent lids... (audible sigh).
John Derry
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michael, that's why i added the "or something" on the front.. cause it was pretty obvious it wasn't a full signature in the space of one stamp (again, I don't typically do covers as a standard practice), so it was only part of whatever was written, which really didn't do anything in terms of value or collectability.
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I use Lindner hingeless albums for my early US, Canada, and Newfoundland - I found a page in a box lot I bought when I first returned to collecting and really liked it. Essentially they are clear stock pages attached to a thick paper album page, so almost a album/stockbook hybrid instead of some other brands of hingeless albums that are album pages with the mounts already attached.
For my pre-1952 British Commonwealth I use Vario Plus stock pages in Vario binders and slipcases. For my other misc. organized collections I use regular Vario pages or G&K stock pages in the inexpensive binders/slipcases Amos sells. For sorted stamps I do not have a binder for, I use 102 cards.
Josh
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I have been designing my own albums and mount with hinges. I find a number of advantages of doing it this way.
Firstly, just like using blank pages, I can lay out the pages how I prefer, and I can type up whatever captions that interest me. E.g., I can put less detail on boring topics like sport and more on interesting ones like fauna. I can sort stamps by thematic series rather than strictly chronological. For example, I put Christmas stamps on separate pages, and group together long-running definitive or topical series, such as Australia's Legends series, or Italy's tourism pictorials.
Secondly, designing them on computer means that they will look better than handwritten pages. I sometimes even use clip-art for borders and such. Important of course to use acid-free paper when using your own stock, and I also avoid placing printer ink directly under a stamp because I have no idea what the long-term effects might me. I leave a white box where I want stamps to go.
Here are a couple of examples:
As you can see, I have one high value missing 
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I started out with a Traveler album as a gift from a great aunt who got me started collecting & promised an album if I stuck with it. I then went to a Citation and added a second Citation when the 1st one started to bulge. Along the way I have acquired a number of older albums and a Global. Last acquisition was a Scott National with updates to about 1982.
In the meantime, I began going into postal history but have now come back to stamps. So most of my stamps are housed in many stock books (an ongoing project) with the US collection either going into the Scott National or I may do my own pages. One of my (US) interests is used multiples, and nobody provides pages for those, so I am working on designing my own. Worldwide is almost exclusively stockbooks. About 2 years ago a friend gave me her late husband's stuff (which included his are their daughter's albums and stockbooks and accumulations). Still don't know what to do with all of them--I'm thinking of selling the albums (nothing beyond the usual used stuff. The good stamps in the accumulation have been soaked off and are being sorted & organized by country. Much of my accumulation/collection will stay in stockbooks (or stock pages).
I doubt that I will EVER decide what I want to do. One day it's this way & the next day it's the other way.
Roger
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Roger, as long as you can say that you're having fun with the hobby, there is nothing more to decide. The rest is just mechanics.
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George I like your layouts however I try to let the color in the stamps act as the eye catcher. Black mounts took up too much space so I stuck with the clear mounts.
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02:26:31am
I'm probably one of if the youngest collectors here not in age but in years of collecting.I've been collecting for only a year or so now got into it for the history.
My first album was a Scott modern album.I picked up for $20 online not knowing if I'll like the hobby.Now I think it's one of the best hobby's out there,but I found that the album didn't really have much for each country.So I bought others to see if I like those and found they to where lacking in variety for each country.Until I got the Harris Standard World Stamp Album 3 volume set.Very nice in variety for every country.For my U.S. collection I got the Harris Liberty Album which I also really enjoy.
I used to hing my stamps when I first started but really didn't like hinging.Then I discovered mounts so much to my liking,and it looks so much better.
I don't really know anyone where I live to help me with my collecting questions.So every thing been trial and error for me,but I think I've been doing fairly good for myself 
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You have a bunch of fellow and lady collectors right here, so don't be afraid to ask a question if you have one!
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10:41:53am
Thanks Michael that makes me feel real welcome here.
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okay, got a question for you guys and gals in terms of your layout for your stamps...
Let's just assume you've got one stamp.. same variety, same scheme, watermark, etc.
and you've got the following panels/layouts:
1) A single stamp, perforated
2) A perforated pair, horizontal
3) A perforated pair, vertical
4) A block of 4
5) A block of 6
6) A perforated strip of 3 (horizontal)
7) A perforated strip of 3 (vertical)
8) A perforated strip of 4 (horizontal or vertical)
9) And then a "L" cut (a perforated strip with one stamp on the extreme edge off to the side) (of any size, whether it's 3 stamps, 4, 5, 7, etc.)
What of those groups would you keep? And what would you not?
I'll be honest, i was originally thinking you'd keep all of them, but then i had something similar to the above hit (basically everything but 5, 7, 8).. and it took up a LOT of space in a stockbook to put those in, so I had to rethink my strategy in regards to identical stamps in different blocks/cuts
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why would you want more than just the single stamp?
(if i had the space and the inclination i might try and collect blocks of four, but i really have very limited space)
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For me, in this case, it's one page per stamp--unless they're commemoratives. Definitives are a different matter. I keep them in stockbooks or on stock pages until I can figure out a layout for mounting on a page.
Roger
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If it´s a scarce classic stamp I will keep all units, but for ordinary contemporary stamps, I´ll only keep a single stamp.
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Saving multiple issues of the same stamp? First of all I like a stamp that has been postally used. Also Line Pairs and Plate Blocks may be the same stamp but increases the value somewhat. Can we forget FDC's, they add an interesting difference also? So, One stamp, NO WAY, Various types of cancels is also fascinating. Each one stamp could easily fill one page and if done correctly make a beautiful presentation, including commentary, on the concept of the stamp, year of issue, etc, etc. Too each his own in collecting.
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George, as Peter said, sometimes it might be something along the lines of a scarce classic... And I _was_ thinking along the lines that Spon wrote. (Right now I don't think i've got enough of any one variety to qualify at the moment though.)
I finally decided to narrow mine down to single, longest strip (vertical and horiz.) and various block sizes...
I was just curious to see what other folks did with theirs, when they hit those kind of issues in terms of storage.
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I use Mystic Heirloom albums for my US. Rest of my collection is on self printed Steiner pages in 3-holes binders. Sorted but yet to be mounted stamps in second hand stockbooks that I got from a stamp bazaar here and glassine envelopes.
Will attempt to post some pictures later on.
Cheers
Ram
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OK, here goes...
United States
Stamps are mounted (black), Harris pages, Harris Liberty Binder, 2 volumes.
Liechtenstein
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are in black mounts, 3-ring binder.
Australia, Canada, Poland
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are hinged, 3-ring binder, each in 2 volumes.
Canal Zone & US PNC
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are hinged, 3-ring binder each.
Latin America & Scandinavia
Vario pages, 3-ring binder
TOPICALS
US Nondenominated Postage & Louisiana
Self made pages on acid free paper, pages in page protectors & 3-ring binder each
New Mexico, Texas, National Parks, Love, Santa, Chris Calle Engraved Stamps
Free pages from the APS printed on acid free paper, pages in page protectors & 3-ring binder each
US International Treaties & Agreements, US Organizations & Associations, US Weaponry, Native American Culture
A4 Quadrille pages, old Harris 2-post binder
Nudes & Pinups, Ships, Baseball, Basketball, Football
Vario pages, 3-ring binder
American Revolution & Bicentennial
Undecided
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10:05:31pm
I am curious how my fellow collectors mount or display their stamps. I know several collectors who now prefer stock books or stock pages rather than the conventional stamp album. Also, I am curious to get your insight on your methodology. FOr example, if you have a Minkus Comprehensive Album, why did you choose it? Was it your original album? When did you decide to switch if you did?
For example, I began with conventional albums and hinges at 10 years of age. I went from a Majestic to a Scott World Album. I traded that in for some better US and got a Harris Liberty Album. 15 years later I returned to WW collecting and loaded up a Harris Ambassador Album. Then about 10 years ago I discovered how wonderful the Scott International Junior was for someone like myself who is fascinated with older stamps.
So I have a 1940 SIJ album, and my Harris Collection of newer graduated to a Statesman, then a Senior Statesman, and now a Standard, with lots of supplements and pages from the previous albums which expanded it to 4 volumes. I like Harris because it is what I know, and it is the most affordable of the conventional albums, but if I could do it over again I would have tried to get into the Minkus Comprehensive or Global years ago!
In case you forgot, I collect old stamp albums as well as stamps, so this topic interests me.
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04:03:01am
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
My first album was, like you, the Majestic. When that started to bulge too much, I received the Harris Standard album as a birthday present. I was thinking of moving up to the Citation, but received a 1968 Scott International as a Christmas present. That picked up where my Standard left off. By the way, the album with binder cost just $19.99 at the time. For the next several years, my birthdays and Christmases were set to receive another International album! I was not happy with how abridged the 1840 through roughly 1950 pages were. At the time, my US and Canada needed something more. So, I got a Whitman Canada album and the Scott Minuteman. That lasted me through college. When I started working, I finished getting the Internationals, but started getting the Scott Specialty albums, starting with the National, Canada, Germany and United Nations. I would pick up more as I was able to afford them. I also got hundreds of blank International pages and started to go through the International albums one page at a time. For the sections of each country that were not complete, I would toss the printed pages and made my own complete pages based on the Scott catalogs. That was my first study of the catalogs, something which I have done now for forty years. Yes, I have gone through the catalogs page by page many times over!
Scott with its ridiculous price increases and on and off Specialty albums, I decided to make a hybrid of my albums. I was able to get Specialty pages of all countries up to roughly 1950, replacing the handmade pages. Many go beyond that, but the main point was to have a complete album for each country. I then decided that due to cost of the supplements, it would be cheaper to get the International pages. I use blank pages for any souvenir sheets or minor varieties that are not included. I also use the Steiner pages for countries that Scott doesn't supply, and for some countries where the Steiner pages are more complete than Scott, and also for back-of-book material, which Scott doesn't provide pages for most countries in the International pages. It's working out pretty good. I use the #5 green binders from G&K. They are like Scott Specialty binders, but hold many more pages than the skimpy, and expensive, Scott binders.
I am now going through my albums and Scott, Gibbons and Michel catalogs to create my "ultimate" albums where I will use the Steiner pages and blank pages to set up the albums so that the spaces contained in the albums will be what I place in my inventory lists. If a stamp is not listed there, then I will not place it on my want list. My way of locking down what I want/need for my collection.
I like to get old, small albums and put my duplicates in there. Looks nice as it fills up with only stamps that are appropriate for the year of the album. When it is completed as much as possible, I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a stamp for that album, I look through it one last time and then sell it. I once filled a Harris Traveler album from 1946. Now I'm working on a 1952 Minkus New World-Wide album. I'm thinking I will keep this one, though, when it is filled.
Finally, I also have an Ivory Album for Postage Stamps of the World. This is the old Captain Tim album. It was printed by Harris. It is in bad condition due to the high acidic level in the pages, but it is a piece of old time radio history and philately. (I also collect old time radio shows.) I hope to one day find another in decent shape.
So, there you go, Thom. That's my perspective on albums. (Yes, I have stock books for Cinderellas and such.....)
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Our collection is broken down into 5 sections...
We have out U.S. Collection which is in a set of Mystic Heirloom Collection binders using thier album pages. You want affordable, at just under $40 for a complete set of pages and binders, I couldn't beat it.
Then we have what I call the U.S. Sheets, Blocks, & Stationary albums. In it, we collect just what it says. Pretty much, if I come across something out of the ordinary, like a block of nine stamps, or a block of 5 stamps, in new or used condition, they will most likely end up in there. Each entry into these binders gets it's own page where I write up a nice descriptive "report" on them using info gathered from Mystic, Smitsonian and USPS websites. Actually, the pages are very similiar to my wall mount displays.
Then there's the world wide albums. Since I never could find one with pictures that was cheap, I bought into Steiner's Album pages and just print out the appriate page when I have stamps from a certain country. As I stated in an earlier post, each country is headed up by a picture of the world and on that map, the country is marked and referenced to where we live. Following the map is a descriptive page about the country. that data is just taken right off of Wikipedia.
Then there's a couple of "Specialty" albums. One is a Disney album, another is Marshall Island's Our Greatest Century. We even have one with Winter Olympic stamps in it that I had bought in an auction here.
Of course, we have the stock books, although all the stamps are face down so that i can read the Scott #'s penciled in on the back.
And last but not least, my most favorite stamps might also be duplicated and mounted in a pretty and informative wall display.
---Pat
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Right now.. i have...
Albums:
1) A scott album I've had since I was a kid, it's still in pretty good shape. Since getting back into stamps, I use it occasionally. It's mostly for standard stamps, although a couple of the pages are in rough shape. But stamps on those pages are gradually being moved to one of the various items below.
2) A Harris traveller's album that's in pretty beat up shape for the most part. It's got even less space for "preset" stamps, so I rarely use it all, although I'm probably going to use it for common duplicates.
3) One I picked up that is for nothing but pre-1940's stamps and for countries that go from J-Z is an International Harris album (I think it's Harris) with pre-printed pages a collector put together (if they're in there.. for instance it doesn't include anything from Switzerland for instance).
4) A blank album with nothing but blank grid paper that I used to put larger sets for individual countries in.. although I'm trying to figure out how to rearrange this one without ruining the stamps or the album pages that are in and what to use it for in the future. It's down to being pretty empty but still has stuff in it I'm not sure what to do with yet.
Binders/Stockbooks
5) right now.. 3 small 3 ring binders for vario sheets for various countries. Those are European (Scandinavia, Western Europe) and Far Eastern.
6) a couple of larger stock books, some of the older variety with just 'cardboard pockets'. Mostly those are for coninental/country breakdowns with larger number of countries. 1 is strictly for my current African stamps, 1 is for my Latin American stuff (pretty much anything North American that isn't US/Canada), 1 is Mediterranean Europe (italy, Greece, Turkey), 1 is middle eastern (this is one of those cardboard pocket books i don't really like, just needed it to get the stamps semi-organized), and one i haven't figured out what to do with yet (probably will be a US/Canada or a GB stock book)
7) About 5 smaller stock books for countries stamps that I like to have separate, but don't have enough to put in their own large stock book. (although I probably need to pull my Yemen stuff and put from group #6 and put it in group #7 - since I have enough of those for their own stockbook)
First Day Cover/Cover Collections.
6) Its' basically about 5 albums (I'd have to go recount) of US and GB first day official covers from the post.. (well it used to be official covers only but I've picked up a few US FDC's and those are just .. well covers ), as well as some covers in vario pages that are loose (mostly ones i just got from pre1940classics)
Royal Wedding Collection
7) Way too many SG albums to count (with a bunch of loose pages still that I don't have albums for, and apparently can't get from the company anymore) for preprinted pages for the Charles/Diana royal wedding stamp blocks and individual stamps from former British empire colonies and current British commonwealth stamps.
8 through whatever number) Loose Vario sheets, and stuff in sandwich bags, large and small (for instance, I've got three plastic sliding boxes with nothing but bags of Machins in them... ), a batch of Monaco stamps on loose pages from various collections, various items... a couple of small topicals or specialty collections, such as a stamp that went on a sailboat that went across the Atlantic (it's one of those that has a small piece of the sail in it's own little bag, along with the stamp on a cover.. this is one I've been planning on scanning, but just keep putting it off.)
I used to be a album type guy, but I've DEFINITELY gone to liking the idea of stockbooks (but not those cardboard pocket ones, since you can only see the top halves of the stamps.. I only bought them cause i got them at a show for like $5 each...) and vario pages/3 ring binders.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I never liked stamp books for two main reasons: one they never were complete or the issues were randomly placed on a page. Second, what if you collected plate blocks, line pairs or first day covers? No pre-printed book covers this. I prefer, albeit, very time consuming to make my own pages whereas I can put all these items together on the appropriate page with data corresponding to the stamp(s) withing my books. This is not for everyone as it is very expensive and time consuming but most satisfying to view.
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11:24:45am
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
One of the things in this hobby that sets me off is when I see writing on the backs of stamps. Such actions damage the stamps. I know some people don't see it this way, but to me, the backs of stamps are not for writing on.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
The very first I got was stockbooks. Small and cheap. Pretty soon (age 9 or 10) I got a Stender album with pictures of all Danish stamps and major varieties. As I´m a sucker for stamps I´ve always collected worldwide, and for that I always used stockbooks. From my teenage years I used Leuchturm/Lighttower stockbooks, and still do for my ww collection. I don´t remember when I quit the Stender album, probably in my late teens, and for a while ALL my stamps were in stock books. In the late 1980s I started collecting "pictorial recess definitive stamps from British Commonwealth" And from day 1 it was split in 3:
1: Blank pages in a binder for complete sets.
2: Blank pages in another binder for almost complete sets.
3: A stock book for loose stamps.
In the late 1990s I started collecting stamps from Antarctic territories, and they are split in 2:
1: Blank pages when I can make a complete page in chronological order.
2: A stock book for loose stamps. I find it very difficult to find these stamps used so ....
I mount with hinges on blank pages because that way I can compose the page exactly as I want it.
Apart from that I still collect worldwide, and for that I have 65 stock books in varying sizes. From 16 to 64 pages.
An album page with stamps from Antarctica may look like this:
And a page with pictorial recess definitives ... etc ... may look like this:
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
"One of the things in this hobby that sets me off is when I see writing on the backs of stamps. Such actions damage the stamps. I know some people don't see it this way, but to me, the backs of stamps are not for writing on."
It could be worse... they could write on the FRONT of stamps... I was ready to kill someone when I got a British stamp i didn't have in my collection, with a weird cancellation mark on it, only to realize someone wrote their name or SOMETHING in DEEP blue marker all over the front of the stamp..
"I never liked stamp books for two main reasons: one they never were complete or the issues were randomly placed on a page. Second, what if you collected plate blocks, line pairs or first day covers? "
Variosheets and stockbooks aren't much more help in this regard.. simply because you have to expose anywhere from 1/2 to 3/4's of the entire block or use sheet styles that just stand out as a non-conformity. I only wish the stock mount strips were easier to work with in that regards.
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12:53:33pm
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Have to be careful with someone's signature on the front of a stamp. Sometimes it is the engraver/designer who has autographed the stamp. Some of those can be worth some $$$. Of course, revenue stamps are usually canceled with a signature or initials, which is acceptable.
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The past is a foreign country, they do things different there.
11 May 2012
01:49:29pm
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Albummers:
If this discussion has revealed anything, it is that "one size does not fit all". How reassuring, in today's cookie-cutter, homogenized world, to see that individuality reigns supreme within Stamporama.
Back, away back, in the 1960's, when flavoured coffee was marketed in individual packets, sold in cigarette-package-sized plastic containers with transparent lids, I began to use these containers to hold my stamps awaiting mounting. Some of those stamps are still "waiting".
Every now and then, when moved by emotion and sentiment, I give these containers a shake or two so that different stamps become available for viewing through the transparent lids... (audible sigh).
John Derry
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
michael, that's why i added the "or something" on the front.. cause it was pretty obvious it wasn't a full signature in the space of one stamp (again, I don't typically do covers as a standard practice), so it was only part of whatever was written, which really didn't do anything in terms of value or collectability.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I use Lindner hingeless albums for my early US, Canada, and Newfoundland - I found a page in a box lot I bought when I first returned to collecting and really liked it. Essentially they are clear stock pages attached to a thick paper album page, so almost a album/stockbook hybrid instead of some other brands of hingeless albums that are album pages with the mounts already attached.
For my pre-1952 British Commonwealth I use Vario Plus stock pages in Vario binders and slipcases. For my other misc. organized collections I use regular Vario pages or G&K stock pages in the inexpensive binders/slipcases Amos sells. For sorted stamps I do not have a binder for, I use 102 cards.
Josh
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I have been designing my own albums and mount with hinges. I find a number of advantages of doing it this way.
Firstly, just like using blank pages, I can lay out the pages how I prefer, and I can type up whatever captions that interest me. E.g., I can put less detail on boring topics like sport and more on interesting ones like fauna. I can sort stamps by thematic series rather than strictly chronological. For example, I put Christmas stamps on separate pages, and group together long-running definitive or topical series, such as Australia's Legends series, or Italy's tourism pictorials.
Secondly, designing them on computer means that they will look better than handwritten pages. I sometimes even use clip-art for borders and such. Important of course to use acid-free paper when using your own stock, and I also avoid placing printer ink directly under a stamp because I have no idea what the long-term effects might me. I leave a white box where I want stamps to go.
Here are a couple of examples:
As you can see, I have one high value missing
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I started out with a Traveler album as a gift from a great aunt who got me started collecting & promised an album if I stuck with it. I then went to a Citation and added a second Citation when the 1st one started to bulge. Along the way I have acquired a number of older albums and a Global. Last acquisition was a Scott National with updates to about 1982.
In the meantime, I began going into postal history but have now come back to stamps. So most of my stamps are housed in many stock books (an ongoing project) with the US collection either going into the Scott National or I may do my own pages. One of my (US) interests is used multiples, and nobody provides pages for those, so I am working on designing my own. Worldwide is almost exclusively stockbooks. About 2 years ago a friend gave me her late husband's stuff (which included his are their daughter's albums and stockbooks and accumulations). Still don't know what to do with all of them--I'm thinking of selling the albums (nothing beyond the usual used stuff. The good stamps in the accumulation have been soaked off and are being sorted & organized by country. Much of my accumulation/collection will stay in stockbooks (or stock pages).
I doubt that I will EVER decide what I want to do. One day it's this way & the next day it's the other way.
Roger
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08:40:25pm
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Roger, as long as you can say that you're having fun with the hobby, there is nothing more to decide. The rest is just mechanics.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
George I like your layouts however I try to let the color in the stamps act as the eye catcher. Black mounts took up too much space so I stuck with the clear mounts.
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02:26:31am
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I'm probably one of if the youngest collectors here not in age but in years of collecting.I've been collecting for only a year or so now got into it for the history.
My first album was a Scott modern album.I picked up for $20 online not knowing if I'll like the hobby.Now I think it's one of the best hobby's out there,but I found that the album didn't really have much for each country.So I bought others to see if I like those and found they to where lacking in variety for each country.Until I got the Harris Standard World Stamp Album 3 volume set.Very nice in variety for every country.For my U.S. collection I got the Harris Liberty Album which I also really enjoy.
I used to hing my stamps when I first started but really didn't like hinging.Then I discovered mounts so much to my liking,and it looks so much better.
I don't really know anyone where I live to help me with my collecting questions.So every thing been trial and error for me,but I think I've been doing fairly good for myself
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08:30:51am
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
You have a bunch of fellow and lady collectors right here, so don't be afraid to ask a question if you have one!
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10:41:53am
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Thanks Michael that makes me feel real welcome here.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
okay, got a question for you guys and gals in terms of your layout for your stamps...
Let's just assume you've got one stamp.. same variety, same scheme, watermark, etc.
and you've got the following panels/layouts:
1) A single stamp, perforated
2) A perforated pair, horizontal
3) A perforated pair, vertical
4) A block of 4
5) A block of 6
6) A perforated strip of 3 (horizontal)
7) A perforated strip of 3 (vertical)
8) A perforated strip of 4 (horizontal or vertical)
9) And then a "L" cut (a perforated strip with one stamp on the extreme edge off to the side) (of any size, whether it's 3 stamps, 4, 5, 7, etc.)
What of those groups would you keep? And what would you not?
I'll be honest, i was originally thinking you'd keep all of them, but then i had something similar to the above hit (basically everything but 5, 7, 8).. and it took up a LOT of space in a stockbook to put those in, so I had to rethink my strategy in regards to identical stamps in different blocks/cuts
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
why would you want more than just the single stamp?
(if i had the space and the inclination i might try and collect blocks of four, but i really have very limited space)
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
For me, in this case, it's one page per stamp--unless they're commemoratives. Definitives are a different matter. I keep them in stockbooks or on stock pages until I can figure out a layout for mounting on a page.
Roger
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
If it´s a scarce classic stamp I will keep all units, but for ordinary contemporary stamps, I´ll only keep a single stamp.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
Saving multiple issues of the same stamp? First of all I like a stamp that has been postally used. Also Line Pairs and Plate Blocks may be the same stamp but increases the value somewhat. Can we forget FDC's, they add an interesting difference also? So, One stamp, NO WAY, Various types of cancels is also fascinating. Each one stamp could easily fill one page and if done correctly make a beautiful presentation, including commentary, on the concept of the stamp, year of issue, etc, etc. Too each his own in collecting.
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
George, as Peter said, sometimes it might be something along the lines of a scarce classic... And I _was_ thinking along the lines that Spon wrote. (Right now I don't think i've got enough of any one variety to qualify at the moment though.)
I finally decided to narrow mine down to single, longest strip (vertical and horiz.) and various block sizes...
I was just curious to see what other folks did with theirs, when they hit those kind of issues in terms of storage.
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03:17:21pm
re: How do you mount/display your collection?
I use Mystic Heirloom albums for my US. Rest of my collection is on self printed Steiner pages in 3-holes binders. Sorted but yet to be mounted stamps in second hand stockbooks that I got from a stamp bazaar here and glassine envelopes.
Will attempt to post some pictures later on.
Cheers
Ram
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re: How do you mount/display your collection?
OK, here goes...
United States
Stamps are mounted (black), Harris pages, Harris Liberty Binder, 2 volumes.
Liechtenstein
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are in black mounts, 3-ring binder.
Australia, Canada, Poland
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are hinged, 3-ring binder, each in 2 volumes.
Canal Zone & US PNC
StampAlbum.com pages on acid free paper, stamps are hinged, 3-ring binder each.
Latin America & Scandinavia
Vario pages, 3-ring binder
TOPICALS
US Nondenominated Postage & Louisiana
Self made pages on acid free paper, pages in page protectors & 3-ring binder each
New Mexico, Texas, National Parks, Love, Santa, Chris Calle Engraved Stamps
Free pages from the APS printed on acid free paper, pages in page protectors & 3-ring binder each
US International Treaties & Agreements, US Organizations & Associations, US Weaponry, Native American Culture
A4 Quadrille pages, old Harris 2-post binder
Nudes & Pinups, Ships, Baseball, Basketball, Football
Vario pages, 3-ring binder
American Revolution & Bicentennial
Undecided
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