First Album

Hello All,

I'm a brand new stamp collector and am trying to skip as much trial-and-error money wasting as possible. I'm buying my first album and am curious if anyone has any recommendations?

I am sticking to USA stamps only, as I don't want to be overwhelmed at the beginning. I have looked at a stockbooks, but figured I would need to move to an album eventually, so why not skip the stockbook altogether. I have been looking at the Liberty Album. Is this a decent album? I know it requires hinges, which can harm the stamp, but don't know what other options there are. If you have any words of wisdom please let me know. Much appreciated and thanks in advance!

-Sarah

Hello Sarah, welcome!

Are you going to collect used (cancelled) stamps or mint (post office fresh) ones?

If used then hinges are OK as you can soak them off in water and still be OK. If mint then hinges will devalue a stamp for resale, if you are concerned about that?

Keep in mind that most US stamps after 1950 or so will not keep their face value even when selling again. There are so many of them.

But stamp collecting is more about enjoying yourself and following your interests.

Di you have a price range you wanted to keep within for an album or is that not as important as getting a nice album at the satart?

Part of the price for an album, I think, is the cost of the plastic mounts that you need to use so as to avoid hinges. These will keep mint stamps mint and not mint hinged, mostly, depending on what conditions you store the stamps in and how you store them.

First of all, welcome to this web site.

As you have indicated you are a beginner collector, the Liberty album would be a good economical choice. It has spaces for most all issues, except for the extreme rarities, which are probably above most of our budgets anyway.

There are many here who would recommend better stamp albums from other sources, but if you are committed to U.S. stamps, the cost of some of the so-called "better" albums can easily mount up to well above the cost of most of the stamps you place in them, so you have to consider that as well.

Other collectors prefer not to use albums at all, but keep their collection in stock books or hingeless album pages, so as to avoid numerous blank spots for stamps you don't yet have, and to allow easy movement of the stamps from one page to another.

Before you even purchase an album, you may want to check out this link of "free" album pages available on the internet. Of course, it can be expensive to print out all of the pages on quality paper (and laser printers are recommended) but you could try it selectively and see how it works out for you before deciding on one album or another:

https://goscf.com/t/11268

It will be important to remember that if you choose to printout your own album pages from one of these sites, for best results you must choose a quality, acid-free paper and that you keep in mind that use of a laser printer is recommended over an ink jet printer.

As for mounting the stamps, hinges are not typically recommended, unless perhaps for common, used stamps, of minimal value or stamps that have previously been hinged. Most collectors today prefer stamp mounts such as those available from Showgard. They can become a bit costly, though (about $3 or $4 for a package of 40 mounts which comes out to about 10 cents apiece) but on the upside, they allow for easy placement of stamps on an album page, they look attractive, and they allow easy insertion and removal of the stamps for closer study/examination later on.

Hope this is of some help. The bottom line is that there is no right or wrong way to collect stamps; it's an enjoyable hobby so you only need to satisfy yourself in terms of how you wish to collect and mount them.

Thank you both for a quick response. I like older stamps, and because of that, probably cancelled ones, so I do not spend and arm and a leg right off the bat.

I will check out a couple of the free printable pages and see what works best for me. Then I'll decide from there what to purchase. Maybe I will just stick to a stock book at first. until I get a sizable amount of stamps then choose an album. I will also note that hinges are bad. Thanks for that advice. I'll get a pack of mounts instead.

thank you again,

Sarah, Welcome to the forum. It is always nice to see new members here but it is really special when we get new collectors. This is a great place to get advice and answers.
The question on album is difficult to answer. The Harris Liberty is a nice album, the Scott National is very good. For beginning to intermediate collectors I think the best for the dollar is the Mystic Heirloom.
Here is a link to look at
http://www.mysticstamp.com/
Edit Typo correction

Hi Sarah,

Welcome to the group.

My preference for an inexpensive US album would be either the Scott Minuteman

http://www.amosadvantage.com/scotto...category=ALB

or the Washington Press White Ace albums

http://www.washpress.com/white_ace_album_pages.jsp

The Minuteman is fairly traditional and the White Ace are 'colorful'. Both albums have yearly supplements and almost all dealers have these albums in stock.

I used to work part time for a dealer and these two albums were the most popular. A downside of the White Ace was, depending on the supplement, that the White Ace had a place for a block of stamps as well as a space for each individual stamp within the block. I remember for one US set one had to purchase 3 blocks which was pricey. If you decide on the Minuteman make sure you purchase the 'new' green binders and not the older one with the Minuteman on the cover.

Jerry B

Hi, Sarah, and welcome. I have the Mystic Heirloom for my US and have no complaints. It is a very good album and you can't beat the price. Mystic is high on the stamp prices and reasonable on the supplies. (Although not the lowest if you look around. Their service is superb.)

Hi Sarah, welcome to the forum!

Stamp collecting is a fantastic hobby - but don't expect to make money from it, just get enjoyment. Stamps are fascinating things, beautiful and instructive - and this forum is really friendly, lots of people will be only too happy to help with any queries (as you can see from the comments already!). And the USA is a good place to start, lots of beautiful stamps at very affordable prices.

Personally I'd recommend black stock leaves - I think stamps look great on a black background, and as wt1 says above, the big advantage of a stock sheet is that it's very easy to adjust as you get more stamps. Plus hinges are a pig.

Stock leaves are more expensive though. I use Lighhouse Vario double sided (NOT vario plus, which are thicker, more expensive and fewer fit in an album - in the UK Vario are £2.25 or so for 5, they're available in the states for a bit more (there was a thread on this in the "Accessories" forum recently). But I reckon this is well worth while - I've never regretted going down this route when I started collecting again some time ago.

You'll also need some stamp collecting tongs (what we call tweezers in the UK) - they need to have a very soft grip, so household tongs are no good. Also get hold of a recent stamp catalogue (I'd recommend in colour) - best for US is Scott. You may be able to get an older one very cheaply from your local library when they get the latest edition. You can then mark in here the stamps that you have - very handy way of keeping track of your collection.

To get your collection going, you could try looking for packets of used USA on eg ebay.

OR you could ask lots of questions on this forum, get up to 50 posts, and then you can buy or trade with other members.

Whatever you do, have fun!

First US album,Scott Minuteman even an older pre 2000 gently used album can be had for under $20 maybe even $10. The only bad side of any "first" album is when you move up the ladder it can take years to switch over to a new album. Ask me how I know. If you continue collecting US it is only a matter of time before you will be looking at Scott National albums.( I am somewhat biased I have never used a Liberty album)

Hinges are not "bad"!! hinges have there place as well as mounts. Used properly, hinges will not affect the value of a 10 cent stamp any more than a $100 dollar stamp. I collect only used so I hinge all my stamps.

Hello and Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice.

I have ordered tongs, a Lighthouse stock book (with black pages), a stamp catalog and a batch of used old stamps from ebay. I really love the look of the older US stamps and cant wait to get my stock book organized. I will keep looking at the albums you've posted and decide from there which to purchase as my first.

Sarah, I use a Liberty Album for my U.S. stamps..i think its fine for a general U.S. collector...when a collector gets really SERIOUS into better U.S. stamps they can always move on to a more specialized album..but most of us start modestly and spend more with experience...

When it comes to pre-WWII stuff, I would recommend going with a 'type set'.
There is one company making the pages for this set, and I forgot the site.
Sorry. Hopefully someone close by can direct you.

The point of a type set is that you actually have a chance to complete a set
within your lifetime and for a small fortune, rather than the huge fortune that
would be needed to fill pretty much any other ablum out there that uses Scott #s.
You will still collect one of every stamp, just not one of every minute and
insignificant variation of every stamp ever made. Good luck!

Hi again Sarah.

There's a really useful blog (by Keijo, one of the SCF members) at http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/ - there's a large archive of interesting blogs on all sorts of stamp collecting areas. Wel;l worth subscribing to (it's free).

I started out with the Minuteman and eventually moved to the Mystic Heirloom albums. I like the additional information about each stamp on the backside of each page and they also list by Scott number.