Stamp Storage

Hi all,

This is Ian from the coin forum and I have a question about stamps. I have a moderate sized stamp collection just sitting around and I'd like to come up with a storage solution that is both affordable and easy. I thought about a photo album, but I don't know if that's best for the stamps. I just really don't want to get into stamp albums and mounts and all that. What do you all think?

Thank you,
Ian

Hi 44cent

Whatever you get. It should be of Archival quality. Acid free etc. I don't what the cost of stockbooks is out your way but they work well.

I make up my own albums using archival paper and binders. I use hinges to place them on the pages.

Hope this helps
Dianne

Diane's advice is excellent. A stock book is most convenient, I find. It is a book or binder containing pages with rows of slots on them to hold stamps securely, but also in a way so that they can be seen. A cheaper option is to get manilla stock pages, these are similar to the pages of a stock book except made of a light cardboard stock and are one-sided. You can pick these pages up for around 50-75¢ ea.

I was in a similar position and have bought a 4-ring binder style album. (although a normal binder would have been cheaper and would have done as well). You can choose different types of pages for it, these are easily available on the internet from specialist suppliers and are archive-grade (i.e. acid free). I have so far used ready-made blank pages which are black with (typically) 6 or 7 rows of clear plastic which you can just slip the stamps in behind. No need to use hinges, and they can be easily moved around and reorganised as you go along. Alternatively you could use plain paper, stamp hinges, (for extra protection,put each page in a clear plastic holder)and fill a binder that way. This would probably be cheapest of all, but would take longer.
PLEASE don't use a photo album with the sticky pages!

I will second the part about not using a photo album with the sticky pages. I bought a small collection from someone and it had a small album with these types of pages and it was pretty old. The stamps were stuck to it like glue. Lucky they were all low value stamps.

Hinges?

Really?

I would have such a hard time putting a hinge on even the cheapest stamp, knowing that it is damaging the stamp, that the glue on the hinge will probably dry up, wear out, lose its sticky magic properties, and the stamp will eventually fall off the page and wind up somewhere down between the couch cushions. Binders with rings annoy me (too many memories from medical school of pages getting hung up in the rings, maybe) and I just don't like the look and feel of binders. Stamp mounts seem like a pain, given how many different sizes of stamps are out there and the cost of the mounts, while once the stamp is in the mount, the question remains: where to put it?

Lighthouse stockbooks are very well made and not ridiculously expensive for housing a small to moderate size collection. For the massive collector/hoarder, probably not a very affordable option. Getting the stamps in the album takes minimal effort (I use a butter knife to hold up the protective sleeve, while inserting the stamp under it with blunt tongs). Once in place, the stamps seem secure from damage and though they slide around a little, they don't wander far...

If anyone has experience with stockbooks from companies other than Lighthouse, or a similar but more affordable option, please share...

44cent, another thing to think about is that what is good for coins is not necessarily good for stamps. I'm not one of those chemist guys, but I know that for coins you really want dry, dry, dry conditions.

These dry conditions are not good for stamps (or so I understand).

44cents - just a heads up - I can't give you definitive advice, but from what i've read, what you may be comfortable with coins may not be the best thing for your stamps.

Just keep that in mind. Thanks

Hummm I always thought hinges we made stamps. I guess I should have specified that I collect used stamps. I have now proudly hinged over 20,000 stamps and not one has fallen off the page or disintegrated into dust. Just my opinion.

By the way here is one of my pages




dianne

I would support you Dianne,
I hinge the majority of mine.

"To hinge or not to Hinge" - as a newbie I am learning about the pros and cons as I go along. I love your page, Dianne, I think its a style I would ultimately aspire to. However, in the meantime, I am just trying to organise a jumble of inherited albums into some kind of sense. So I am using the slip-in pages as a flexible way of doing this until I have a more definite ideas on presentation. To get back to the question, 44cent is asking for affordable and easy storage solutions, and ultimately slip-in pages have got to be quicker and easier than hinging for that purpose. Have our discussions helped you, 44cent?!

Very nice job on centering, Dianne. Great look!

Looks really nice Dianne.

I use Mystic Heirloom Albums and black stamp mounts for all my stamps. I know several collectors that have used hinges for many, many years and have never had a single problem with them.

If you are unsure than the stockbook is the way to go. Another option for buying is www.subway.com




Butch

Dianne: That page looks great. I'm probably being overly cautious about putting hinges on used stamps. My stockbooks are filling up rapidly and I will probably have to find some other method of displaying stamps in the future.

Here is the National Parks Set, hinged, displayed on an album page, which I recently won on ebay. (Lousy quality on the upload -- not sure why...) Looks nice on the refrigerator!