Cover Albums?

I've just recently acquired a number of covers, and think it's something I'd like to get into in even more depth. What's a good way to store covers so they are protected, and you can see them without having to handle them - some of the older ones can get fragile.
Is there an album for covers with plastic sleeves?

This is probably one of the best around, however, it can get pricey. They go for well over $50 now and depending on the quality of covers you have, it may or may not be worth it...and they can take up a lot more space than a typical storage box or shoebox:

http://www.washpress.com/showWhiteA...e.jsp?id=172

Of course, on the secondary market you may be able to pick them up much cheaper.

There are alternatives on the market in the way of page protectors, etc., that will provide similar protection at much lower cost.

It all really comes down to how you want to store your collection and how much you're willing to pay to do it.

The ones wt1 has said are very good ones and secondary market are also good shopping. Just be aware a lot of the older binders for covers sometimes came with that black foam spacers and I have seen quite a few of these deteriorated. But after a quick clean up they will be fine.
Personally I use vario pages for cost effectiveness. A two slot clear page is good for showing the backs of envelopes and the black backed pages will hold four covers.

You may also want to consider this as a viable alternative. The Showgard 894 Cover Album has 26 plastic sleeves, holding 4 covers each, for a total of 104 covers per album.

I have one that I've had for at least 20 years and it's still holding up well. The plastic pages also allow for easy insertion/removal of covers.

New ones are less than half the price of the previous one I posted (and now on sale), at this link:

http://www.mdstamp.com/index.php?ma...cts_id=10049

I store covers depending on their value (to me). I save every cover/envelope that hits my mailbox so that their number grows daily. Normal, everyday covers I store in a cheap ($7.00 / 200) polythene sleeves that fit into a 3/4 ring binder. I also use photo albums (NOT the sticky ones) that have clear pockets, these are good for most PC covers.

More valuable covers I keep in x2 Hagner/Vario/Kanga holders.

A lot of the older style albums for covers were made with vinyl (PVC) pockets and these can be quite harmful to paper.

Also a lot of my covers are of different sizes ranging from post-card size to huge fulls-cap envelopes, so I use different ways to store the different sizes. This would be a problem, I would imagine, with both links given above.

:)

Vinyl page protectors and a good 3 ring binder have been working well for years for me.
Acetate free Vinyl pages.

James, the question is how do you want to present or display your covers. The cover albums are nice and are very popular. The big disadvantage is that it is difficult to present documentation with it in an attractive manner. Here is an example of how I handle covers from my exposition cancel collection.

I just saw an ad for cover albums from Subway. They have an album for different sizes and the prices seem to me to be reasonable. I have several #10 covers and it is difficult to store them without a page specifically made for that size. Also the European size covers need different treatment from the usual size of US covers.

Every once and awhile when visiting a Dollar Store, I come up with some oversized "photo albums" that were designed for those panoramic photos that were in vogue for a short time with that "advanced photo system" film" ... before digital cameras became the norm.

Anyway, these surplus photo albums work great for storing currency or even #10 envelopes, and at $1 or $2 you can't beat the price.

Back to storing conventional covers, I would also suggest this as a viable alternative. These "Art Profolio" albums by ITOYA are great for handling most any kind of stamps or sheets or covers. The one shown is 5x7 (which works great for regular issue sheets from the US and for standard covers as shown) ... they have them in sizes from 4x6 all the way up to 14x17 and beyond.

The larger ones can go for $20 or $30; the smaller ones $5 to $10. Availability is usually in craft stores such as Michael's, AC Moore, etc., and most of those stores offer a 25% to 50% discount on an item if you shop their flyers/coupons/on-line sales, etc., which brings the price down even further. The albums are also "Acid Free, PVC Free, Lignin Free, Archival Safe" which gives me some peace of mind to know my material is in an appropriately protected album.

wt1,
I'll have to look for those next time I'm at Michaels.

A lot of great ideas, thanks. I'll check out Michaels here in Canada, but may not have the same merchandise. Was looking at FDC books at the post office earlier today $15+ but will only work for smaller cover. Nitro has also offered book which looks like it might work for larger pieces.
Was not too worried about documentation, though your pages Russ look very impressive.
I have lots to ruminate over. Thanks everyone.