New To Stamp Collecting Need Advice On Storage, Cataloguing And Sleeves

Hi,

Like the title says im new to stamp collecting. I have already accumulated allot of stamps. Since I am attempting to collect at least one of every Canadian stamps including Provinces and b.o.b. there are allot of stamps to be sorted and stored. I want to store them by Scott # in order. Ok now on to the questions.

1. Not all of the stamps im acquiring are singles, some are blocks or strips etc. If for example I use some type of stamp binder pages, how do I keep them in order if the blocks or strips or sheets are too big to fit in the singles slot? Do I insert bigger pages in between the single stamp pages? I want to keep everything in order of Scott Catalogue #.

2. What is the most cost effective clear stamp sleeves for singles strips, sheets or blocks that you would recommend? Like I said a good number of the stamps are blocks or sheets also but I want to keep them protected.

3. Is there a master checklist from the beginning until the present for Canadian Stamps etc. I would like a complete collection over time but I need to know what Im missing. On a side note I think I will start a spreadsheet for the stamps that I have but that doesn't help with what im missing.

Any advice would be great. I want to keep this as organized as possible. But I dont want to spend more on storage and space than what the stamps cost!


Thanks and Regards

Sheldon

Welcome. You can download free checklists for every Canadian regular issue stamp from 1851 to 2011 here https://stampsmarter.org/features/C...adaHome.html

Online Canadian identifier
https://stampsmarter.org/features/H...iersCan.html
Don

Hi Don,

Thanks for the very quick reply. How about the years between 2011 and Present Day or would you suggest working on 1851 - 2011 first maybe?

thanks again!

Hi stampcollector, and welcome. For newer stamps after 2011 you can use any catalog of Canadian stamps. Some are even available on line, like www.stampworld.com .


Peter

I dont see the downloadable checklist. Can anybody show me where it is. I like the site but I didnt see a downloadable list?

Thanks

Navigate to the page
https://stampsmarter.org/features/C...adaHome.html

Then click on the buttons to download the checklist (checklists are PDF files).



Alternatively, you can click the 'Library' in the top menu, then click on the 'Album Pages' button, then click on 'CANADIAN CHECK LIST' launch button.

If you are serious about collecting Canadian stamps then you should probably look at getting something more than a checklist - The Unitrade Canadian stamp Catalogue is probably the most widely used catalogue for Canada. Your local library might have a copy, or else they regularly come up on eBay, you can save a fair amount by seeking out a copy a few years old - but be careful not to overpay, for example, a local Vancouver dealer is offering the brand new 2022 edition for CDN$46.95.

If you are interested in creating, or downloading and printing your own albums, then click on the link in my signature.
Clive

I'd suggest the following:

1) use a Unitrade catalog, not Scott. Unitrade will cover a lot of variants that Scott doesn't recognize. The completist collector for a given country should use the most comprehensive catalog available for that country.
2) start with the low-hanging fruit, namely modern (post-war) issues. Work backwards, or at least in 25 year increments. You'll find there's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you have everything from 1960-2020, or 1940-1945, or whatever.
3) since you'll acquire some issues as singles, others as souvenir sheets, pairs, blocks of four, etc, look seriously into something like Lighthouse's Vario line of pages. These offer a ton of flexibility in organization and preservation. If nothing else, stick with an ordinary stock book until you have a decade or three done, and then mount those in some way.
4) take your time. If you're new to the hobby, your style and interests, even for "just" Canada, will change as the months go by.

Joining a Canada based philatelic society might be very beneficial for you. I currently belong to the British North America Philatelic Society (BNAPS). BNAPS also has study groups devoted to particular aspects of Canadian philately. In the past, I also belonged to the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada.