BobbyBarnhart

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

Looks like you are doing just fine, Stan. Just take it slow and when it gets tiring, do something else for awhile. If it becomes work, and not fun, box it up and put it in your closet until you feel the urge to take it out and fiddle with them some more. Its a hobby, not a job.

 
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philatelia

26 Dec 2014
02:30:27pm

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

Bobby has it right - make sure it is fun first and foremost. I love sifting through a big mixed pile - I treat it like a treasure hunt. You never know what you'll find . That is a real hoot so enjoy yourself. And you've got an old batch - even better.

One thing I do when sorting a big mountain of material like that is sort into broad categories first - USA, British Commonwealth, Europe, Asia, Africa etc. It seems to simplify the whole process.

Also - I skim all the really super common and faulty right off the top and toss those in an envelope for the holocaust project or other charity.

 
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philb

26 Dec 2014
02:55:15pm

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

My wife says i "cherrypick" and leave the rest !

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TuskenRaider

26 Dec 2014
04:13:31pm

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

Hi Everyone;

@ Stan;

I see you are putting stamps in boxes as you sort. Thanks for providing a photo of your sorting area, it helps me
get an idea of what you are doing wrong. Your boxes are eating up valuable sorting space. Also if you sort thru
the 'mountain' for a few large countries, and set the rest aside for later, your actually sorting the same stamps
twice. For a while I did it that way, until I realized I was doing everything two or three times.

Here is the way I sorted 68,000 stamps and never got bored or tired of doing so. By the way, all of those 68,000
were off-paper, and just to give you an idea they weighed 25 pounds! I was determined not to waste time, but do the
thing efficiently. Here is the recipe I used.

1) Go to Office Max, and buy a box or two of (500) 3½ x 6" envelopes. Use your ink jet printer to label them with
the country names you want. They are a good investment, because you will probably be sorting stamps for the rest
of your life just like your grand father did. Buy good quality heavy weight ones, 24lb instead of 18lb. You will
reuse them for many years over-and-over.

2) Take some 1½" x 1½" pieces or cardstock and write the names of those same countries on them. If you print
them on your ink jet first and then cut them out they will be faster than hand-printing and easy to read.

3) Place the ones for large countries like Germany, France, and Great Britain in a semi-circle at the very front
of your sorting space. Make a larger semi-circle behind the first one, with smaller countries. Keep adding more
semi-circles until all the countries are in place with the back semi-circle the smallest countries. Your semi-circles
should be about 2-3 inches apart.

4) Begin sorting and keeping the stamps in very small piles, but stack them on top of each other. For a large country
like Germany I usually have three stamps long by two stamps wide. As they pile up and start go look like they will
fall over, remove some from the top and place into your envelopes. Leave a few on the desk to make it faster to
identify the Country for that pile.

5) If you need to use your sorting space for something, get all stamps into envelopes, and pick up cardstock pieces.

You would be amazed at how fast I was able to sort 68,000 stamps. By sorting this way, then later I could go thru
each country at a nice leisurely pace and enjoy all the different stamps from each country, checking watermarks
or perforations and finding lots of interesting cancels too.

There is no wrong way to do a hobby, however there is an easy way and then there is the other way. I used to say
"there is the right way and there is the wrong way....and then there is my way" (the easy way). I'm sure you will
probably find a way to improve on this recipe as you get busy sorting.

Keep on Sortin'
TuskenRaider

 
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TuskenRaider

26 Dec 2014
04:57:54pm

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

Hi Everyone;

@ Stan;

I can't tell for sure what I'm looking at, looks like a folder sorting thingy or something, I just put the envelopes
in boxes. Actually they are mailer boxes from an office supply store, and are 4½" high, 14" wide, and 10" deep.
With a nice hinged lid that can be closed to keep the dust out. Because they are 14" wide, I can store two
rows of envelopes in them with a cardboard separator to keep them apart, I generally can get 20,00 to 30,000
stamps per box, and each one weighs 4-6lbs.

Just now I have six of those with about 150,000 stamps total and having a hell of a lot of fun sorting each
country one-at-a-time!

Keep on sortin'
TuskenRaider

 
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cdj1122

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

I am frequently sorting similar groups of stamps, Stan. I get several pounds from a local dealer on approval and once I have picked out what I want we meet at the end of my driveway to exchange a new kilo or two for returns, and payment, of course.

Sorting goes like this.
First, over time whenever a bill or solicitation arrives in the mail I try to carefully open it by slitting along the top edge of the envelope. The opened envelopes are set aside.
I have one bundle that by now consists of one each for just about every major country or in some cases area; eg; Arabian countries, Eastern Europe, Caribbean Islands etc.
Going through the bag of stamps, the stamps that I think I can use either, to add to my collections or to improve the condition of some that I have are spread out quite similar to the stamps you show in your photo of your desk, except my group are on paper.
Then using the envelopes that from years of use, already have a country name, I choose the more prolific pile and pick out the best cancels or often almost no cancel examples, eliminating any duplication.
Finally, once all the stamps are in the set of envelopes, I start by using my albums as a guide. I go through each envelope to see what will fill a space or be a better example. The winners go in a cleaning (soaking) tray and what I do not want because there already is an example in an album, go in the return bag to swap with the dealer the next time he passes by en route to the local club meeting. (Usually the first and third Tuesdays.)
The stamps that I have chosen, often as many as 500-600 are cleaned and dried over a night or two, sometimes longer, depending on how many need soaking.
Then I begin resorting what I am keeping and put them in a second set of envelopes that have been in use by country for some time, to go in the albums.
This way I can stop at several points if my arm starts to ache again or I get groggy and need sleep. (Damm medications !!!)
Finally while I wait for the chance to make a new exchange with my friendly dealer I can work on one country at a time, bringing different albums up to date. The popular ones, (to me) get done frequently and some just sit there till there are enough to bring that country up to date.
I've been doing this for years. It soothes my shattered brain at night when I can't sleep.Also, if I see something in the auction that I want, those can also be put in the appropriate country's envelope unless I decide to mount certain new arrivals right away, which is done for Machins, other UK, Canada, Eire, Norway, Australia Japan and often the Channel Islands, (Including IOM.) Some nations albums are not at the top of the TBMN list very often. (To Be Mounted Now !)
After my little buying spree while traveling this summer the stamps awaiting their turn now fill three shoe boxes in the appropriate envelopes.
The important thing is I have a system that works for me and can be adapted by anyone.
Sometimes the recycled envelopes get a bit ratty and so a new one can be prepared and marked with a magic marker. Or some country may get a second envelope such as the UK and the Machin series.

Since I often get large bags of Machins a second file system is used but marked by color value instead of country name. Norway, Sweden and Denmark and a few European nations get two envelopes one marked with the country (modern) and the other with the country (classic).
Eventually every envelope's contents get compared and mounted, but since this is an ongoing system, by the time I get to Argentina and that envelope is empty and could be tossed, stamps have been building up in the other envelopes so the "Argentina" just goes back into the shoe-boxes with the rest of South America to await the next sort.

I hope no one was expecting a short answer.

 
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TuskenRaider

27 Dec 2014
11:34:51pm

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

Hi Everyone;

@ Stan;

When I sort by country I place all stamps in plain paper envelopes. However when I break a country
down to keepers/duplicates I place them in glassines. Then I can better see what I have. If it is
a large country like Great Britain, (I had over 600 to mount) I place them in envelopes with all
the stamps for one page in one envelope. Yes that is a lot of envelopes. All my pages to my Scott
specialty albums I have written page numbers in very small pencil marks on the back of the pages.

To avoid wasting so many glassines, I never mark on them, but on slips of paper inside of the
envelopes. After the stamps are all mounted I toss the slips away, and re-use the glassines. The
paper is fan-fold paper from old pin-printers. My sister wanted to toss the paper after she bought
her sheet-fed ink-jet printer, so I use that instead of buying paper.

I also store all duplicates intended for approvals in glassines also. When I buy glassines I always
buy in boxes of 1,000 to save money. They don't cost me anything as they were purchased from the
money I got from stamp sales.

TuskenRaider

 
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re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

I purchase and use the bead sorter boxes available at craft stores. I have also used screw and fastener sorter boxes.

 
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philatelia

03 Jan 2015
09:13:10am

re: How would you handle an unsorted accumulation of foreign stamps?

My solution to sorting involves saving all the containers from Chinese takeout - they are rectangular black tubs. The containers from Lean Cuisine are smaller, shallow and also work.

I set them on a tray and sort into them. Because they are rectangular with shallow sides, it is easy to use the tongs with the contents. And - they are STACKABLE. No fussing with envelopes and they are very sturdy.

 
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