Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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Any stamps with gum can activate with humidity and get stuck to the pages.
WB
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And that doesn't mean that you can stack them vertically and squeeze them all together as if they were flat. The air needs to be able to circulate through the pages, or else suffer the slings and arrows of a ruined collection as stated by WB.
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Part of the issue is also the cumulative weight of pages pressing on those below when stacked horizontally.
Remember Vinyl LPs from the stone ages when we were kids? (Reminder for younger SoR Members: they were ancient carriers of music, which BTW are making an incredible comeback in recent years). When you stacked them horizontally, inevitably some would warp.
Dave.
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04:03:23am
I still have a number of LPs that got warped because they were stacked horizontally.
For stamps - horizontal stacking is not a good thing for sure. As mentioned above, stamp pages need to be able to "breathe". There must be air circulation - something we all forget sometimes when we put our albums on our shelves. I know I'm guilty of "but there's room for one more album," not taking into consideration the fact that if I put that extra album on the shelf, I'll be squeezing the air circulation out of my albums.
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OK, so if there should be air circulation, does that mean we should not store them in their slip cases?
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I believe that slip cases help albums breathe. They are rigid and hold their own space on your shelf, keeping the album from getting squished. A slip case gives the album the full width of it's spine to open up into.
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So, what about page protectors? Do they allow sufficient air around stamps. Someone please say yes, or I've got a lot of reloading to do.
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10:55:36am
Verticle storage is best, however every once in a while I'll noitice that the downward pull of gravity will make the lower page edges curl so I'll lay several albums flat for a week or so.
Another problem seldom addressed is that if you are not careful, pulling a binder out and down so that the bottom edge of the binder drags over the front edge of the shelf, tends to destroy that edge. I have a Minkus Supreme Global set that I bought in 1973 or '74, used. It had been used previously for easily ten or fifteen years so I'd estimate that the binders are well over fifty years old. So when I spot a couple of decent binders at a show or one of the few remaining stamp stores I grab them and replace the most damaged binders. I try to tip the binder up as soon as there is enough to grab with my lunch hooks hopefully taking the weight off the binder itself.
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I agree that the pages should not be compressed as would happen with vertical stacking or horizontal squeezing of albums on shelves. I also agree that slip cases not only allow room for the pages to not be compressed, but also prevent the problem Charlie described. I don't know about allowing your albums to "breathe". It's more important to maintain a controlled temperature and humidity. Any interior closet or room should do fine. I designed my stamp storage into my new house so I have a return air vent in the storage room. It's not a register that blows hot or cold air, but a return that sucks air from under the door and keeps air circulating through the room to make sure the temperature and humidity remain as constant as possible even if I don't open the door for several weeks.
BTW, it seems you COULD store your albums on their sides if they were in slip cases. I'm not sure WHY you would want to do that, but I would rather take my chances with a collection stored that way in a climate controlled room than a properly stored collection in a garage.
Lars
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I think you may have problems with page slip with the North American standard 3-ring albums.
Fortunately for us in Europe the standard is 4-ring. This means that there is 33% less unsupported weight between rings. Additionally keeping the albums near-full - even if you have to use blank pages means that they are less likely to curl in the downward direction. However if you overfill the albums you could have air circulation problems.
In my experience keeping albums tight on the shelf is not a problem provided that the spines are kept completely level with each other and at 90% to the shelf so that the pages are just a little looses to help the air circulation
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I don't know where this idea of circulating air through your album pages came from, but its not a necessity if your storage environment is appropriate and air circulates in your storage shelf or cupboard. You need good air circulation in your storage room to avoid high humidity, pests, and the collection of unwanted gases etc. (e.g., from oak and other woods), but storing your stamps in a closed environment safe from humidity, mold, insects, chemicals etc. should be fine.
I've never had a problem. I stored stamps, packed in a tightly enclosed box for over thirty years with no damage except those that were either attached to loose leaf paper or those old glassines used in the 70's.
If your environment is bad (high humidity room) or if your pages are already contaminated (damp, mold, pests, acid producing wood/paper) then putting them in a tight enclosure would be bad. Imagine if archival of books required that air circulate between each of the pages. That would be an impossible task, consuming massive storage, just to keep all those pages flapping in the air.
The only references I have seen to exposing your document/album pages directly to air circulation has been a temporary recommendation to remove odors or dry the material.
Other references to air circulation refer to the shelf or cupboard in which you store your books, binders, albums, folders of manuscripts. The shelf/cupboard should receive sufficient air circulation to avoid pockets of humidity and deter pests.
So I think it is safe to pack your Scott Internationals to the hilt, put them in slipcases, and sit them side-by-side, provided other recommendations are followed. For example, be sure they are not sitting on a shelf that gives off bad gases, are not against an exterior wall, have some spacing from the interior wall, and your room environment is good. Of course, you also have to ensure your albums, pages, mounts, hinges, etc. are safe.
I'd be happy to hear counter-arguments though as I only know what I have read in the past.
Here's a helpful PDF on archiving documents from the National Park Service and one from the National Archives.
https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/19-15.pdf
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/archive-principles-and-practice-an-introduction-to-archives-for-non-archivists.pdf
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08:41:41pm
It seems to be a 'rule' that albums MUST be stored vertically. Other than for convenience, why not horizontally?
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re: Album Storage
Any stamps with gum can activate with humidity and get stuck to the pages.
WB
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10:46:40pm
re: Album Storage
And that doesn't mean that you can stack them vertically and squeeze them all together as if they were flat. The air needs to be able to circulate through the pages, or else suffer the slings and arrows of a ruined collection as stated by WB.
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
Part of the issue is also the cumulative weight of pages pressing on those below when stacked horizontally.
Remember Vinyl LPs from the stone ages when we were kids? (Reminder for younger SoR Members: they were ancient carriers of music, which BTW are making an incredible comeback in recent years). When you stacked them horizontally, inevitably some would warp.
Dave.
1 Member
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21 Sep 2016
04:03:23am
re: Album Storage
I still have a number of LPs that got warped because they were stacked horizontally.
For stamps - horizontal stacking is not a good thing for sure. As mentioned above, stamp pages need to be able to "breathe". There must be air circulation - something we all forget sometimes when we put our albums on our shelves. I know I'm guilty of "but there's room for one more album," not taking into consideration the fact that if I put that extra album on the shelf, I'll be squeezing the air circulation out of my albums.
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
OK, so if there should be air circulation, does that mean we should not store them in their slip cases?
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
I believe that slip cases help albums breathe. They are rigid and hold their own space on your shelf, keeping the album from getting squished. A slip case gives the album the full width of it's spine to open up into.
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
So, what about page protectors? Do they allow sufficient air around stamps. Someone please say yes, or I've got a lot of reloading to do.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
21 Sep 2016
10:55:36am
re: Album Storage
Verticle storage is best, however every once in a while I'll noitice that the downward pull of gravity will make the lower page edges curl so I'll lay several albums flat for a week or so.
Another problem seldom addressed is that if you are not careful, pulling a binder out and down so that the bottom edge of the binder drags over the front edge of the shelf, tends to destroy that edge. I have a Minkus Supreme Global set that I bought in 1973 or '74, used. It had been used previously for easily ten or fifteen years so I'd estimate that the binders are well over fifty years old. So when I spot a couple of decent binders at a show or one of the few remaining stamp stores I grab them and replace the most damaged binders. I try to tip the binder up as soon as there is enough to grab with my lunch hooks hopefully taking the weight off the binder itself.
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
I agree that the pages should not be compressed as would happen with vertical stacking or horizontal squeezing of albums on shelves. I also agree that slip cases not only allow room for the pages to not be compressed, but also prevent the problem Charlie described. I don't know about allowing your albums to "breathe". It's more important to maintain a controlled temperature and humidity. Any interior closet or room should do fine. I designed my stamp storage into my new house so I have a return air vent in the storage room. It's not a register that blows hot or cold air, but a return that sucks air from under the door and keeps air circulating through the room to make sure the temperature and humidity remain as constant as possible even if I don't open the door for several weeks.
BTW, it seems you COULD store your albums on their sides if they were in slip cases. I'm not sure WHY you would want to do that, but I would rather take my chances with a collection stored that way in a climate controlled room than a properly stored collection in a garage.
Lars
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this post
05:33:59pm
re: Album Storage
I think you may have problems with page slip with the North American standard 3-ring albums.
Fortunately for us in Europe the standard is 4-ring. This means that there is 33% less unsupported weight between rings. Additionally keeping the albums near-full - even if you have to use blank pages means that they are less likely to curl in the downward direction. However if you overfill the albums you could have air circulation problems.
In my experience keeping albums tight on the shelf is not a problem provided that the spines are kept completely level with each other and at 90% to the shelf so that the pages are just a little looses to help the air circulation
Login to Like
this post
re: Album Storage
I don't know where this idea of circulating air through your album pages came from, but its not a necessity if your storage environment is appropriate and air circulates in your storage shelf or cupboard. You need good air circulation in your storage room to avoid high humidity, pests, and the collection of unwanted gases etc. (e.g., from oak and other woods), but storing your stamps in a closed environment safe from humidity, mold, insects, chemicals etc. should be fine.
I've never had a problem. I stored stamps, packed in a tightly enclosed box for over thirty years with no damage except those that were either attached to loose leaf paper or those old glassines used in the 70's.
If your environment is bad (high humidity room) or if your pages are already contaminated (damp, mold, pests, acid producing wood/paper) then putting them in a tight enclosure would be bad. Imagine if archival of books required that air circulate between each of the pages. That would be an impossible task, consuming massive storage, just to keep all those pages flapping in the air.
The only references I have seen to exposing your document/album pages directly to air circulation has been a temporary recommendation to remove odors or dry the material.
Other references to air circulation refer to the shelf or cupboard in which you store your books, binders, albums, folders of manuscripts. The shelf/cupboard should receive sufficient air circulation to avoid pockets of humidity and deter pests.
So I think it is safe to pack your Scott Internationals to the hilt, put them in slipcases, and sit them side-by-side, provided other recommendations are followed. For example, be sure they are not sitting on a shelf that gives off bad gases, are not against an exterior wall, have some spacing from the interior wall, and your room environment is good. Of course, you also have to ensure your albums, pages, mounts, hinges, etc. are safe.
I'd be happy to hear counter-arguments though as I only know what I have read in the past.
Here's a helpful PDF on archiving documents from the National Park Service and one from the National Archives.
https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/19-15.pdf
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/archive-principles-and-practice-an-introduction-to-archives-for-non-archivists.pdf
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