Phils Stamp Room

Did I detect a coin book in the mix ???

Yup. I use it as a weight to press my soaked stamps.
(Sorry, coin fellas)

Here's some of my worldwide collection pictured this morning:



Very likely the stockbooks are worth more than the stamps inside, LOL.

Mmm nice,
I can see the shelves bending iunder the weight.
A "lighthouse" man.

I place a little envelope of napthalene flakes
at the bottom of my cupboard, in an envelope.
Don't want any of them nasty silverfish critters
eyeing my collection.

And just imagine...most of us started out with one album or perhaps a cigar box of stamps..or stamps mounted in a writing tablet !!

LANDOQUAKES -----Those binders are well on their way to being completed ,your always welcome if your in the Chicago area to stop by .Forty years of buying at public stamp auctions will quarantee you a surprise .
JOE----The gray binders at the lower level are Harris Standard albums from my high school days .
PHILB-----I started with the dime packets at the local five-n-dime store ,I just never quit ,like most collectors .Then as my income increased I purchase extra because times may be rough and the the future uncertain.So I purchased extra lots each year ,but that was 40 years ago and times got better and so I used that excuse with my wife and now she ain't buying that logic anymore .

ROD-----Nice reference library ,that what I got to do is built a library like yours .

floortrader I have been absolved of guilt...my wife outspends me on the stamp auctions...i try to catch up..its great that you stayed with the hobby...interesting how it works..now that we are older and the kids on their own..WE HAVE PLAY MONEY !!

floortrader, I might have to take you up on that offer someday! I do envy scb with his stockbooks. That is a very efficent way to store stamps and he doesn't have to mess with mounts and hinges. I need the help of photos for stamps so I went with the scott internationals. I'm paranoid about bugs too, I wound up lining my closet with cedar paneling.

Floortrader, you probably know already
usually, the best reference Library is at your local stamp club,
ours in Perth, is a doozy, Stanley Gibbons and others
going back to the year dot.
One can get lost in there for days.
I won't consider mine any good till I have a full set of Billigs,
but that's a dream, unless I win lotto.
Tony has Robson Lowe, I'd like those too

Question for the Scott International owners...how do you deal with the incomplete sets or missing high values ? I have 9 of them up to 1969..its frustrating when I buy a set of stamps by year..say 1966 and then I find no space for them in the books..i also hate mounting stamps too close to either end of the page..there is no perfect solution..when I use plastic stock sheets the stamp can flip flop around when picking up and opening the book..thats life !!

Landoquakes -----sure stop by ,I live near the McDonald H.Q. ,just west of Chicago .
ROD-- I perfer to purchase my reference books and I purchase a new set of Scotts every other year . The books I need are at the APS philatelic library which I hope to visit next week in Pennsylvania.
Philb -----I mount the complete set across the whole page or on the faceing page ,also if needed I'll add a new blank page .The big problem is that as Scott catalouges expand there coverage to more perfs,color varities,and watermarks ,how does a collector mount everything if they use the INTERNATIONAL 'S so im using the Steiners pages and making my own albums and I love the flexiblity that is now possible .

to all new collectors -----I don't want to be too negative about the Blue Scott INTERNATIONALS ,they are a great tool to use . It helps beginner collectors and intermediate collector and most experience advance collectors have a set around the house .I know Janet K.past PRESIDENT of the American Philatelic Society and the greatest collector alive BILL G. with his tens of millions of dollars has a set at his home or office which he enjoys . So your in good company if you start off or use the International .Its better to buy them used and much cheaper and expand as you like .

floortrader. I've got Janet K's book Guide to Stamp Collecting. Excellent book for beginners, and even for someone long in the tooth like me, a good quick reference.

...I agree with you 200 percent, however...you need to work "hand and hand " with the Scott Catalogs.

I recently printed the Steiner pages for Spain.. Just regular issues, no airmails or semi-postal, and to my surprise, I found three complete sets missing from the Steiner pages, all around 1975-1977.

I emailed the Steiner folks, with hopes of a correction