USPS Commemorative Panels

I finally took a look at an 1995-6 USPS Commemorative Album (blocks, not FDC) my mom gave me years ago and actually appreciated the panels. Broke down and bought more from eBay at around face value.

Dumb questions:

The ones I got from my mom in original packaging, 1995-6, were 8.5x11 but all other years I got (70s-00s) and the ASPPP indicates they should be 8.5x11.25. What?

The original 3-ring binders and "photo album" pages were cheap and don't show well, so how do collectors store these pages? Thinking of getting rid of the original packaging but they don't fit in sheet protectors as they are 1/4" too tall. The cost of small mint sheet albums is overkill for such cheaply acquired material. Trimming them down is possible as I don't think there's any resale loss here :-)

Collectors want items as they were issued. If you trim the pages they basically become worthless

I concur, do not trim.
I would look for used albums that hold full pages and were marketed originally by 3rd party companies (i.e. Postal Commemorative Society).
Don

Maybe something here?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/683/i.html...ative+panels

Thank you for the replies. Here's my take.

The original USPS pages are 9.5x11.5 acetate pages that do NOT have a bottom seal and remind me of shiny photo album pages that I would never keep. You can still buy these from the USPS for $1/page.

A cheap solution is to purchase a 9x12 art folio (cheap bound pages in flimsy binder for $10-$16) holding 24-40 pages. Not bad but sucks to store vertically. You can also purchase 9x12 pages but having 9x12 binders is still a storage and cost issue.

What I did for now: find slightly oversized letter sized sheet protectors that fit in 3-ring binders. The Avery sheet protectors fail to cover 3/16" and are 11.25" long. Charles Leonard sheet protectors 48341 are supposed to be 11.5" long. We'll see.

For those who wondered about the 8.5x11 USPS commemorative pages, some dum**ss actually trimmed them and forgot that he did it (me). Yes, I feel badly.

I think these are the USPS multi-ring binders you are talking about. These can often be found relatively cheaply at stamp shows or in group lots on eBay. However, with more than 600 panels between 1982 and 2000, you will rapidly fill up a large bookshelf with these albums. Also, I can personally vouch that the binder springs don't hold up well over the years and it is annoying to have the pages open at the top and bottom. But I do think they are relatively attractive.

Maybe the answer is just to orient them so that the panels don't slip down -- either stack them flat or side by side with the spine facing the ceiling.







Also, there was no variation in the size of the panels over the years -- they were all 11.25 x 8.5. If you have any that are smaller than this they have been trimmed.

Thanks, GregAlex.

I do have a bunch of those USPS small binders and they are actually decent quality but as you stated, they are kind of useless for large quantities but really hated the look and feel of the "photo album" pages.

I couldn't find a decent sheet protector to fit 8.5" x 11.25" so I ran with standard sheet protectors with Lighthouse Vario-G binders that had a higher height margin.

Lighthouse and others make albums/leaves to accommodate these. See page 29 of the attached catalogue for an example

https://www.michaelkay.co.uk/brochu...brochure.pdf

Mint sheet albums / art folios are too cost prohibitive for these really cheap USPS pages.

I did not realize the Commemorative Panels were larger than US Letter size (8½x11). I collect the Souvenir pages and they fit nicely in protective sleeves.

Just wondering if anyone removes the stamps off the panel and puts them in your album?

Zman and all, sorry for wasting everyone's time with my inane question.

I am sure it has been done but usually easier to just get the stamps through more typical methods as they are all common.

I've seen dealers and collectors pull the stamps for postage and toss the panels. A market for these panels exists but is very thin compared to the postage market. Dealers who have stocked these, and there are a few, may have that stock sit for years and only keep a bare minimum intact.

How does one go about removing stamps from these panels? Is there a high probability the mounts the company used for these panels has damaged the stamps?

The stamps are simply in clear mounts. Unless storage problems are a factor, the stamps are easily removed. The mounts are not a problem.