I've never had any problems doing it. I don't know about others.
Kelly
Do it all the time myself, but then I drink lots of red wine and eat lots of meat, too. I'm still running and I've never seen any ill effects to my covers (stamps are stored in glassines).
Lisa,
It all really depends on what you are planning to do with the stamps.
My Uncle was a stamp collector and a bit of a hoarder when it came to stamps. He died of a heart attack in the late 1970's well before he was 60 years old. My Aunt who is still alive and in her 90's sold his collection before 1982 for $12,000. This happened to be the peak of the stamp market. As I said, he was a bit of a hoarder and she would find envelopes full of stamps that he had tucked away in various places around the house. She gave all of those stamps that she found to me.
I have a shoe box with covers from the twenties to forties, a cardboard tray of glassine envelopes with individual stamps sorted by stamp, and manila envelopes with stamps from Germany, France, etc. The only issue that I have seen is that storing stamps in manila envelopes tends to promote creasing.
Given that stamps, envelopes, and other paper products tend to give off acid as they age, you should be wary of truly long term storage i.e. any thing over several years. The stamps will eventually deteriorate even in glassine. However applying truly sophisticated archival methods to stamp worth less than a dollar is not very cost effective.
If you have a really valuable stamp, you should mount it properly in an album not store it in a manila envelope. The plastic bins at Walmart and other chains make a convenient place to store used stamps for eventual assessment and mounting in your albums. You should look to finding the best example possible in forming your collection.
I don't think it is a good idea to store mint stamps in an envelope and if you do you should store the envelope in an upright position. I was going through a collection I bought on eBay. In it were some Official overprinted Canal Zone airmails that were unusual, and sold in mint only condition to collectors after they were discontinued. Unfortunately, the collector had stored them in an envelope in stacks where they were stuck together. In attempting to separate them with super safe stamp lift, I wound up destroying most of the value. I store mint stamps in G&K collection cards. The stamp is up right and there is little pressure on the gum. When I buy an album to break down, I make sure to store in in an upright position to avoid the chance of the stamp sticking to the mounting.
Just my thoughts from my personal experiences.
Hi Lisa, I use regular gold manila envelopes. I suppose the safest way to go is glassines, since I believe even some white paper has some acidic content.
I keep my place air conditioned. Humid climates can be a problem, esp. for mint stamps. I do have some albums with stamps mounted on white album pages that I have used for 30 years and the stamps seem okay.
I will keep using my manila envelopes. Most of the material in them in low catalog value anyway, so I am not going to worry.
Is it safe to store stamps in plain old Manila envelopes? The envelopes would not be sealed and the stamps would be in them for a couple weeks to a year. The room environment is 68 degrees F, low humidity and there is no sunlight in this area.
Thank you in advance for your help!
re: Should I store my stamps in manila envelopes
I've never had any problems doing it. I don't know about others.
Kelly
re: Should I store my stamps in manila envelopes
Do it all the time myself, but then I drink lots of red wine and eat lots of meat, too. I'm still running and I've never seen any ill effects to my covers (stamps are stored in glassines).
re: Should I store my stamps in manila envelopes
Lisa,
It all really depends on what you are planning to do with the stamps.
My Uncle was a stamp collector and a bit of a hoarder when it came to stamps. He died of a heart attack in the late 1970's well before he was 60 years old. My Aunt who is still alive and in her 90's sold his collection before 1982 for $12,000. This happened to be the peak of the stamp market. As I said, he was a bit of a hoarder and she would find envelopes full of stamps that he had tucked away in various places around the house. She gave all of those stamps that she found to me.
I have a shoe box with covers from the twenties to forties, a cardboard tray of glassine envelopes with individual stamps sorted by stamp, and manila envelopes with stamps from Germany, France, etc. The only issue that I have seen is that storing stamps in manila envelopes tends to promote creasing.
Given that stamps, envelopes, and other paper products tend to give off acid as they age, you should be wary of truly long term storage i.e. any thing over several years. The stamps will eventually deteriorate even in glassine. However applying truly sophisticated archival methods to stamp worth less than a dollar is not very cost effective.
If you have a really valuable stamp, you should mount it properly in an album not store it in a manila envelope. The plastic bins at Walmart and other chains make a convenient place to store used stamps for eventual assessment and mounting in your albums. You should look to finding the best example possible in forming your collection.
I don't think it is a good idea to store mint stamps in an envelope and if you do you should store the envelope in an upright position. I was going through a collection I bought on eBay. In it were some Official overprinted Canal Zone airmails that were unusual, and sold in mint only condition to collectors after they were discontinued. Unfortunately, the collector had stored them in an envelope in stacks where they were stuck together. In attempting to separate them with super safe stamp lift, I wound up destroying most of the value. I store mint stamps in G&K collection cards. The stamp is up right and there is little pressure on the gum. When I buy an album to break down, I make sure to store in in an upright position to avoid the chance of the stamp sticking to the mounting.
Just my thoughts from my personal experiences.
re: Should I store my stamps in manila envelopes
Hi Lisa, I use regular gold manila envelopes. I suppose the safest way to go is glassines, since I believe even some white paper has some acidic content.
I keep my place air conditioned. Humid climates can be a problem, esp. for mint stamps. I do have some albums with stamps mounted on white album pages that I have used for 30 years and the stamps seem okay.
I will keep using my manila envelopes. Most of the material in them in low catalog value anyway, so I am not going to worry.