Sorting For Beginners

most of you on this site have developed a A+ sorting method that you probably don't even think twice about.

however as a new collector sorting stamps had been a thorn in my side from day one. I have given quite a few methods a go and have had many time consuming failures. however its hard to determine what is a failure with limited practice in this area.

my desk space limits me to pulling out 20-30 different stamps at a time from my stock books

I have tried sorting out of my stock by building, faces, colors, ect..

recently I've had an Epiphany of sorts. pardon the pun!

SORT BY VALUE, duh, I was so engrossed trying to reinvent the wheel I missed the obvious and easiest method and now no longer have to jump around in my catalog and album to check and place them.

so morale of the story is if your new expect to make dumb mistakes, and then post them here! so you hopefully help someone else new avoid a time consuming error. Also you can give the veterans here a good chuckle


to expand on my sorting method now, I pull out 20-30 of one value stamps EX:(3 cent stamps) then pull from the stock books all those and pile them, check my album if I have it then place the extras in a glassine with the scott # in the top left corner and either Used or MNH in top right corner. I used CD sharpie as they dry very quick and I use black for used and red for mnh. (green for PB) I made a custom box that holds about 1,500 glassines and have tabs for the used, new and PB sections. I have one larger cardboard like book mark which I slide into the section I'm working on in the box which allows me to find my place faster and allows me to slide a glassine in quickly without having the flap go over the adjacent envelope.

I'll add pictures tomorrow as I think it may be confusing.

Hi Edwin

I can equate with you here on this topic.

About two summers ago, I soaked close to 25 pounds of stamps and, of course, after that had to sort them once I grouped them by individual countries.

For Canada, as an example, when I had to sort them, I would take them by face value as well and go to the catalogue to get the number so that I can place them in envelopes and ready for future trades. If a particular value temporarily stumps me, then I would try to look either for a hidden date (most Canadian stamps have them and have been dealt with in another thread here in SCF) or, failing that, because I can't find the date, then I will try to look for the cancellation date if possible to give me some kind of a clue.

Some other countries can be a problem because not all of them have a hidden date in the design and they pose a harder problem. However, I usually perservere and luck out <G>.

My two cents worth anyway

Chimo

Bujutsu

Edwin,

I have a similar issue with limited desk space. I found that sorting commemoratives by value made the most sense, especially when it came time to identify the stamps, as the vast majority would be contained within a limited number of pages in the catalog. I sorted the definitives separately and tried to first group them by issue (e.g., Washington-Franklins, Presidential issue, Liberty issue, etc.).

For storage, I bought six plastic shoe boxes from Staples and alot of No. 6-3/4 envelopes which happen to fit perfectly in the shoe boxes. I write the Scott catalog number and identifier on the upper right corner of each envelope in pencil and also the number of used and mint in each envelope. The mint stamps are in glassines and the used, for the most part, are loose in the envelope. Some issues with large quantities occupy multiple envelopes. A 4"X6" index card in each of the boxes serves to mark the place from where I pulled an envelope.

Right now my U.S. duplicates fill four of these boxes:



Steve

I find when dealing with world wide it is best to sort by:
1.Country and/or region
2.Denomination

It makes it much easier to locate them after that in a catalog and album. Of course, you could continue further by splitting commemorative and definite or era pre-1940 and post-1940 or Classic and Modern.

You people are too organized. You take 90% of the fun out of stamp collecting. Some people wallow in self-pity. I like to wallow in stamps -- mountains of them!


k

Steve:

Very impressive!

Can I send you my wish list?

KirkS

Kirk, no problem. But understand that the label on the open box represents my wish list as well -- the first envelope in it is marked 26, the next is 65, and the third is 158!

Hello Steve

Your method is exactly the same way my stamps end up after sorting.

If I keep up with the way I am going though, I will need to look for a mansion - or an arena

Chimo

Bujutsu

Bujutsu, you'll know that you're in trouble when you start trying to fill the holes in your duplicate collection!

Steve that's how mine look except I'm using #4 Glassines and built a box to house them. I forgot to mention that this endeavor is currently USA only, I don't have the space or time to go international with a plan like this.

funny I ended up doing exactly what you said with the commemoratives sadly it took 4 days of sorting to think of it. I was caught up in a blizzard of stamps and didnt think outside the box. I've yet to get to the definitives, I'm still a few days from all that sillyness.

Edwin

Edwin,

I can sympathize with your predicament -- it took me almost two months to finish organizing my U.S. extras (much of that time was spent soaking and drying).

I also agree that this storage method won't work for my worldwide extras due to space constraints. For that I'm using binders and stockpages like this example of Great Britain:



My only advice, for what it is worth, is to take it in manageable increments or it will get the better of you.

Steve

thanks for answering a question I didn't even think about.

how about that? a newbie may actually start off organized (thanks to y'all )

T.J.

Interesting, I find myself organizing my stamps in randomness. I might look into sorting them by value.