Keeping a worldwide stamp collection in order
What makes one way to keep a stamp collection in order better than other? IMHO absolutely nothing… I’ve seen collections ordered by shape of stamp, size of stamp, by colors etc. And against all the “official recommendation” odds, they do work and make their owner happy. That said, this post is about how I keep my worldwide collection in order. I know I’ve covered this topic briefly several times, but let’s digg a bit further this time.
Keeping the geographical order
First, I do keep my stamps organized by country and area in separate stockbooks on cabinet shelves. Some countries spawn on multiple stockbooks, while some stockbooks are filled with tens of countries that I have only some stamps.
A rough layout to give a visual guideline on my how collections are stored in cabinets.
This arrangement is quite simple and flexible; and above all it has worked quite well for me a long time.
What I’m not happy (and will intend to fix sometime) is the row of mixed colored stock book backs in my archival closets. I know, it’s a silly issue, but even outer visual aesthetics of a collection are important to me… What I have in mind is placing European stamps in red stockbooks, American stamps in green stockbooks etc. I acknowledge it is a huge task, thus I’ve reserved years of time for it.
Finding a specific country
How do I find a specific country from a sea of stockbooks?
First I have set unique classification identifiers on stockbooks. On the back of each stockbook I have put a small (Avery) sticker having inscription like “EU14a” or “AF3” – the first letters of course indicate the continent, the rest is just a running alphanumeric identifier.
The other part of the equation is my “collection index”. It’s a long Excel-based list of (over 1,000) entities that have issued stamps. And yes, each entity has a reference to stock book(s) the specific country/area is stored. For example I can quite easily check what stock books hold the Soviet stamps.
Collection index - an important asset on how I manage my collection.
And yes, I have the list printed on paper for quick access. It’s “only” 16 pages.
Keeping stamps in order and expanding a collection
As many regular readers know, I use mainly Michel catalogues as my information source. Thus my stamps are ordered in chronological order based on Michel catalogue identification numbers.
I have laid stamps on each other row of stock book leaving room for future additions. This is IMO quite useful practice as it decreases the need to shift stamps around when the collection expands a little. For example if a page has 50 stamps, I can quite easily fit 20-40 new stamps to it before doing any further actions. But of course the practice has limits.
My stamp collection: Early Luxemburg in stockbook page
When the empty rows in a stock book are more or less filled, I need to divide the contents to new stock book. And so the cycle begins anew (until I have a complete country collection).
One pitfall I’ve been trapped on this area was using thick 64 page stock books. Though they are very cost efficient, they are also one pain when it comes to dividing and re-organizing collections. It’s much simpler and more fun when using light (8, 16 or 32 page) stock books.
Closing words
I’d very much like to read how other collectors (like You) are keeping their collections in order. So please, do share your opinions and practices by leaving a reply/comment.
As a novice stamp collector I have a rather simplified manner for collecting. Firstly, I only collect U.S. stamps, used.
My main collection is stored in a Mystic Heirloom Album (three volumes altogether.) I would like to know what other albums collectors use. The Heirloom was suggested by an internet friend. I am pleased with it but I’m interested in other suggestions. My duplicates are stored in Vario stock sheets.
I joined the APS, American Philatelic Society, but cancelled my membership after a short time because of reasons too long to describe here. Write me and I’ll explain, but according to Google there are over 22 Million (twenty two million) stamp collectors in the U.S. and only 44 thousand (forty four thousand) members in the APS.
Hi William,
and thanks for opening up the conversation. Hopefully others will join in
I have no indepth experience about various US stamp albums, but I do like the fact that Mystic Herloom contains background information about the stamps. It makes the pages very nice to look at and learn. And I think they are made from archive safe material too.
As for keeping duplicates… Vario is IMO an expensive choise – especially for keeping duplicates. The price per storage page is at least 4-5x compared to regular stock book.
I do agree with your point about philatelic societies. They do have a serious problems that many societies (and philatelists) try to avoid. In a way it’s very sad… I have sent you email.
You have opened a Pandora’s box, Keijo, and it has taken me several days to compose a thoughtful reply. I like what you said in a past article about stamps having similar care needs to spices. They can also be compared to children, who, no matter how “safe” their environment is, can get out of hand if unattended. Another saying can also be applied to a stamp collection that is not properly cared for: use it or lose it. So how do I organize/care for/play with mine?
Like collecting anything, the presentation/storage method can be more costly than the item. There are also travel/shipping costs to consider in the acquisition of stamps and supplies, not to mention time. While I do not underestimate the value, joy and beauty of archival storage materials, I am challenged to prioritize what I want, and then budget my limited resources.
In the U.S., businesses who do bulk mailings may use No. 10 envelopes. These are packaged in quantities of 500 in cardboard boxes. Corrugated boxes are the best. I acquire these clean, discarded, empty boxes at no cost.
I use No. 10 envelopes salvaged from my junk mail, labeling the upper left corner of the back of the envelope with a topic, e.g., automobiles, boats, Christmas…winter, women. I stuff the stamps I acquire into these, and arrange the envelopes in alphabetical order, but not too tightly, within the corrugated cardboard boxes. I use the same system for countries. I put Post-Its on one side and on the lid of each box to identify the contents. It is a surprisingly neat, flexible and no-cost filing system but not very aesthetic.
An earlier system I tried, and still use with some topics in my collection, consists of second-hand stock pages (purchased at philatelic shows and estate sales) in three-ring binders. Its advantage is that I can see individual stamps more quickly. Its disadvantage is that I cannot rearrange them as easily.
I design my own exhibition pages on acid-free paper, inserting my exhibition stamps in Showgard or Scott mounts on the pages. I slide two pages, back-to-back, into a single Avery Heavyweight acid-free sheet protector and file them in three-ring binders. As long as the atmosphere in the room (where my collection is kept) is controlled, and high-acid newspaper clippings are not combined with the stamps, I have noticed very little deterioration over the decades.
I have made a list of stamp topics I have collected and a list of stamps I want. I am in the process of making lists of stamps I have. All are in a constant state of flux. When I go to a show and look for used stamps, I bring my “have” lists (however woefully incomplete) to help me avoid duplication.
I do not invest in catalogs and rarely refer to them. My “have” lists have become my catalogs. They are more useful than my “want” list for staying within budget, because they encourage me to be more open to discovery and less likely to have a pre-conceived notion of what I will find. I am able to search through less expensive unsorted material at shows and make some sense of it. Ultimately, my “have” lists will be a big help when it comes time for me or my heirs to liquidate what I have collected.
Hi Carol,
Very good remarks from You as always.
I agree with You about the “envelope storage system”. I use a similar method for my “incoming stamps” and it works like a dream.
Use of want/havelists is interesting topic… I like the fact that You find havelists more usefull than wantlists… Personally I rely very heavily on my visual memory instead of lists when acquiring new items. I admit that it aint 100% bulletproof method (and I buy random duplicates), but more than anything I like the freedom I get in return. Instead of list (or catalogue) I can focus entirely on what my eyes see (and what my brains remember) – IMHO it’s very delightful.
interesting post, I keep my stamps in selfmade album pages. For most countries their have just the country name, and the years they span through. I place the pages in binders, and the bindes in shelves, like your stockbooks. I’ve got less stamps, so it is 4 binders for Argentina, 1 for Spain, 1 for remaining America, 2 for remaining Europe, 1 for Asia, 1 for Africa, Oceanía and Antarctica, and one last for the cinderellas and tax stamps.
I keep apart the uncatalogued stamps (too new or too weird)
I’ve got one question, how many shelves (like those of the photo does your collection use?
Thanks,
Pablo.
Hi Pablo,
Right now the collection takes about 4 (shelf) meters when lined up neatly. That’s two full cabinets such as on the picture, and some more on third.
I too keep cinderella/BOB issues separately from the main collection. Plenty of variety there – airmail labels, exhibition souveniers, charity seals, tax stamps. etc. That said, I must confess that I’m still thinking what to do with them on the long run; it’s very possible I will give up with some of them at some point.
Thanks for the great article and to the responders. I especially appreciate how others organize their incoming and duplicate stamps. My mounted WW collection is highly organized but to get the stamps from an auction lot to that point is a huge undertaking that I have put very little thought into. With your article and the responses I now have fresh resolve to come up with some sort of system.
I collect world wide classic era to 1940 or 1952 for GB and British Commonwealth. Why Classic era? Many reasons. The beauty and fine craftmanship of the engraved stamps of 1920s-40s. Most are affordable, many common. Some of the valuable stamps can be a good investment. Neglecting the innumerable and growing modern issues allows for the illusion of an attainable goal (only if I become super rich, ha, ha, ha!). Completion is definitely not the point, but 95% complete would be great. Also, limiting to this period means I only need one catalogue, the Scott Specialized Catalogue of Classic WW stamps. Buying a used one every 2-3 years will save a lot of money and space over my lifetime.
Since I am young in my career (still a graduate student) my income level will rise in the future and so I did not want to organize my collection in a way that would require upgrade in the future when I may afford a better album.
Presentation is also a key factor since I often crack open my albums just to enjoy the stamps. Housing my someday valuable collection in the best album that money can buy was my goal at the start. Not that money was no object, I just did not want to be constrained too much by it. Of course this means that I cannot buy all the albums at the start, but that of course is just the point – I expect this pursuit to last a lifetime.
Since presentation is important I chose a loose album page format so that I could have the freedom of building the collection as I go along and organize the countries in anyway I like, not just alphabetically.
To choose the albums I considered Davo, Palo, Scott Specialty, Kabe, Senator, Elbe, Schaubek and Lighthouse.
Requirements were; archive quality white pages, binder with dustcase for added protection, spring back or 2-post (loose pages), hingeless if possible, places for all stamps for the time period. None of the albums met all of these requirements, but I was able to narrow it down to Davo or Kabe. Unfortunately, neither company makes pages for all countries.
Somewhere along the way I discovered stampalbums.com. This is a great resource. A few dedicated individuals have made all the pages for every country in all time periods and all you have to do is pay $20 to download whatever you need for a year. If I could print the missing pages then I would only need blank binders. I chose Davo albums/binders because they are less expensive than Kabe, more available in the US and they have a larger page capacity.
Of course, I would need the right quality and proper size pages. My cheap home printer wasn’t going to do the job. After trying without success to make the pages at Kinkos, I called a local printer. I emailed the pdfs for about 6700 pages. They printed Davo quality (acid free, 60lb white, same size as Davo) pages and they even hole punched them correctly. At a cost of 15c per page, it was a real bargain compared to retail prices of brand name album pages. I also had title pages printed to go with each country.
All along the way I rely heavily on spreadsheets to stay organized. The pages must be properly grouped within numerous binders. Besides the single country albums and binders I purchased or plan to purchase, it will require over 40 blank binders to house all printed pages (I had to build two large bookcases to hold the eventual library).
Organizing the countries by region or continent seemed straight forward enough, but I soon discovered that there are a lot of gray lines. Is Egypt part of the Middle East or Africa? Should I split up Africa by North and sub-Sahara or by Colonial powers? British Guiana is more culturally related to the Caribbean than to South America. Considering culture again, in which region does St. Pierre and Miquelon belong to? Do I need an Indian Ocean binder for the Maldives and Madagascar area? Would Ceylon (Sri Lanka) belong in to this region? I have had countless history lessons along the way and I probably enjoyed more time with Wikipedia and resource links than with the stamps of a particular country. It really does not matter all that much how it is organized in the end, with spreadsheets and loose pages I can always resort countries later as I learn more.
There are only two constraints I try to keep, (1) keep the binders as full as possible to keep the number down, and (2) don’t be ethnocentric or traditional in grouping countries together, however, do consider the time period. The second constraint is a learning process that has caused a lot of regrouping. Thank goodness I chose the loose page format! And, thank goodness I still have most of the empty pages organized alphabetically in boxes so I can regroup in the spreadsheet at will without requiring any physical work.
I organize my stamps in glassines or cards until I have enough to warrant mounting on pages. When completion for any country reaches significantly over 50%, I start the process of mounting. I use hinges or clear backed top loading mounts depending on the condition or value of the stamp. At this point, I am not recording which individual stamps are missing, but rather, which time period or type of stamps are significantly lacking.
Although the end product is highly organized and well thought out, the receiving and organizing of loose stamps and duplicates is a huge mess. I have every kind of storage system so I really have no system. I have loose stamps in envelopes, glassines, cards, Vario pages, stockbooks, second hand stock pages and more. I also have thousands of stamps hinged on various loose album pages and in old bound albums. Stamps from any particular country may be in four different boxes and in seven old albums. Choosing the right copy of a particular stamp and consolidating the stamps for one country is no easy task. This is all due to the types of collections and lots I purchase.
At the start I was buying 1940s era world wide albums and removing the stamps I needed. You can get thousands of different old stamps for pennies each! Although sorting through these albums is enjoyable, I quickly learned this is time consuming and the usual suspects are in every collection. Trying to decide which of the copies of a common stamp to remove that is in all seven albums is a bit of a problem as it is difficult to view them all at once. I now buy single country lots that are loose or hinged on pages. I also bought a huge worldwide collection from a local collector who stored and catalogued
every stamp in glassines.
Being flexible in what you buy is perhaps cost efficient, but I really need to think about efficiency of time.
So, back to the spreadsheet for now. But, please keep this topic alive so I can learn from the widsom and experience of others and as always, keep up the great work.
Great response dkclark!
It gave me a lot of food for thought. I’m definitely going to digg in further with this (and related) topics at future posts.
best,
-keijo-
Enjoyed reading comments from other stamp collectors about their collections and systems developed for organizing their stamps!
I began collecting stamps in the 1960’s and had an older friend that mentored me. We both had a Scott American album and seemed to work OK except that I remember it being somewhat of a hassle to update with the annual supplements.
I have recently retired and have ‘dug out’ the stamp collection after having stored it for about 35 years. During that time I continued to save stamps, so have been soaking many stamps off of the envelopes!
I’m trying to decide on a method to create my own personal album. I have done a minimal amount of research and am thinking I will continue to use the Scott numbers.
A question that I do have is regarding stamps that are used and still connected to each other. These are not ‘plate blocks’ but simply 2 or more which have been cancelled and are still in tact. Is there any additional ‘value’ to leaving them connected? It would be much easier to store them if I could carefully cut them apart – but don’t really want to proceed to do that and then in the future discover it would have been better to leave them connected! Again, I’m not referencing plate blocks with the numbers printed in the margin!
Would also enjoy getting together with other stamp collectors in my area and at this point am not sure how to proceed with this.
Thanks again for your informative site!
Hello David,
I’ve heard that a lot of “baby boomers” are coming back to stamp collecting, so you are definitely going to be alone. For US collectors I think that visit at APS website (or more specifically at local club directory listing (http://www.stamps.org/directories/dir_localclubs.htm) is the best way to get connected. And online world is always your friend – a lot of collectors (and information) can be found on places like StampBoards, StampCommunity, Virtual Stamp Club and MyPhilately (not to mention tens of others you can easily find by googling).
As for pairs (and larger groups)… I admit that I have separated a large number of items from each other in the past. Especially for mountable stamp albums single stamps are the easiest option to handle. But… These days I prefer keeping them intact. As a whole (pair or group) they have more potential than single stamps. (the sad and undeniable truth is that pairs and groups are getting scarcer day by day)… But in the end it’s your call.
Anyway, I do hope you enjoy Your return with stamp collecting and philately.
Best,
-keijo-
I am from the USA and am a member of a local stamp club. I attend shows in various cities in my state where I primarily purchase used stamps. I have not found connected pairs and groups of stamps to be more valuable than singles, if, as you say, they are not plate blocks. I have not been inspired to mount or display connected groups and prefer to deal with singles.
I would add that the consensus is to fold and tear at perforations. Most collectors do not like to see perforations cut by scissors. This would likely devalue the stamps.
Thanks again for your response to my email. And thanks to Carol for the advice on not using a scissors to separate the groups! I would have assumed the opposite – so it’s good to know it’s best to fold and tear at the perforations. I will also check the internet to locate possible stamp collector groups in the State of Iowa.
Like yourself, I’m a general world-wide collector, although some countries are of more interest to me than others. After a long break from the hobby, I’ve accumulated 1000s of stamps since rebitten by the collection bug a few years ago, and am now gradually sifting through it all. I’ve always used stockbooks and that’s the route I’ve continued.
Since my stock has grown very rapidly, I’m now utilizing a very simple alphabetized approach, using 8, 16, 32 and 64 page stockbooks. Larger countries –or those that I have a stronger interest in—have their own albums, either 32 or 64 pages to begin. I’ve already added smaller books for some countries for BOB, plate blocks, multiples, or single stamp variations and yes, even a few small scale hoards. In short, for anything I decide to keep.
I have a full set of Scott catalogs which I use as a guide for most countries, although I use Michel for most of Europe, Gibbons for GBR and Dallay for France. (I hope to get my hands on a Netherlands specialized catalog before reaching the ‘N’ countries.)
The main problem with Stockbooks is the eventual need to move things around. I’m hoping to avoid that by simply going through everything A-Z and planning accordingly. In the process I’ve been able to familiarize myself more closely with each country, and in turn narrowing my interests for certain countries and setting year limits for certain countries. (Or choosing to not collect some altogether.) I then just leave ample space in the albums for those countries before proceeding to the next. For those countries that I have more material from (500 or more), I follow catalog numbers and leave spaces. For others, that detailed of an approach simply isn’t necessary yet.
I stock up on stockbooks at an annual local stamp show each spring, and after next month’s edition, I should be ok for quite some time.
For other items –whole sheets, mini-sheets, etc—I use vario pages of various sizes.
Like you, I also have a spreadsheet listing all stamp-issuing entities where I make note of where certain things are located.
And one more thing: I’m trying to abide by a self-imposed moratorium on purchasing/acquiring any more larger collections or hoards until this alphabetizing process is completed. (Mixed results on that, by the way.)
By the way, I found my way here via stampboards and really enjoy the blog. Keep it up!
Cheers,
Bob
And just to reply to David’s question/comment above:
“A question that I do have is regarding stamps that are used and still connected to each other. These are not ‘plate blocks’ but simply 2 or more which have been cancelled and are still in tact. Is there any additional ‘value’ to leaving them connected?”
My rule –and that of many others– is to never separate them, even if they are quite common. Two or more together, regardless of how common they are, will always be more rare and potentially more valuable. I keep them all. If nothing else, I think they’re visually more appealing as well.
Great story Bob,
and it’s sure nice to see fellow StampBoards members here
I’ve thought a lot about leaving spaces for items I don’t have, and I’m definitely having mixed feelings (which is why I love to hear first hand experiences from those who do so). I’m still using the “leave every another row blanc for additions, and when full move stuff to new stoc kbook” method. And it works… But I’m quite sure that somewhere around 50-60% completion level there is a breakpoint where “placeholders” for missing stamps will start enhancing the practical workflow. And about 70-80% completion level placeholders will become “a must” method (as shifting everything just because you added few stamps would be totally insane)… But this is something I wish to experiment as some of my country collections hopefully reach those limits this/next year.
I know what you mean with “keeping limits” with purchases / acquisitions. I think it’s same thing as with diets – finding the proper balance. Denying everything is never good, nor is total allowance. Like they say – an stamp a day keeps the doctor away
While planning out how to leave space, I’ve attempted to think rationally, or, realistically.
In some cases, I’ve managed to come to terms with the fact that there are indeed stamps that I’ll never have. It was a harsh realization, but I’m a better man now having accepted that. 
Using catalogs as a guide, it’s fairly easy to gauge approximately how much space is or will be needed. The result of course is LOTS of blank pages for now, but that’s ok. I prefer that over moving hundreds of stamps later on. I’ll be picking up a 2-3 more cases of stockbooks (at just over wholesale price) next month, so stamp storage won’t be an issue. A bigger issue will be storage of the actual albums!
“A stamp a day keeps the doctor away.” I may want to use this quote someday and give credit to its author. Did you coin it, Keijo, or did someone else?
I doubt this was not the first time in universe somebody wrote these lines as they are nothing more than adaption of the very common saying I think everyone here knows…. So let’s just give credit to the “unknown stamp collector”