To Discard Or Not Discard Old International Pages?

Hi all,

I have International pages ranging from 1840 to 1973 plus the 1978 supplement. These are spread across 14 International binders. I have binders that came with the original Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV thru Part VIII right on the spine, with two each of the V, VI, and VII. The rest are blank spines. Only one of the binders is a jumbo. The 1840-1940 pages are from a 1947-ish original Part I. The so-called Part II (1940-1949) pages were actually accumulated over multiple page updates in the 1940s and I think the same could be said for Part III (1949-1955) and those that follow. In other words, I don't think the pages were purchased as "Part" sets. I have some of the cover sheets that show new pages were purchased as supplements year after year. All the pages were merged together over the years and duplicate pages or pages where a stamp appeared on a future page were removed and often reused for extra stamps. I believe some of the pages are likely to be missing, but I have no way of knowing that. I have already removed all stamps from Part I pages and have removed much of the Part II and some Part III and some Part IV.

My question is whether it would be heresy to just discard the pages that are empty and I will never use?

The paper is old and acidic, even up through 1973. And almost all pages up through 1949 are somewhat dirty and torn at the post holes (if not worse).

I have a very similar set of Blues, and have over the years bought lots with additional Int'l pages. I tend to keep the page that has the better layout, or more stamps that are missing from the other set, or the single page that was originally multiple pages (like 3 pages from 3 supplements that have since been combined into one page). Whatever I no longer want/need gets tossed in the recycle bin. I've tossed 1000's of pages over the years. I don't think there is any shortage of Int'l pages (maybe for specific pages or versions of pages) and I don't think there is any resale value.

My only caveat to the 'no resale value' would be for (possibly) complete countries with Like New pages. Even then, I suspect it depends on the particular country, and only at a great discount from actual retail. Their value would be for someone interested in that country, but unwilling to buy the more complete or better laid out Specialty Pages.

I must have binned thousands of old album pages over the years. Unless they're in decent condition by a high quality manufacturer, they aren't worth keeping.

I really like them,
usually in poor condition, fragile.
I scan first, then discard.

The Part 1 pages could be useful for Big Blue collectors, as yours are the 1947 edition; the editors removed a bunch of smaller countries in subsequent editions (1969 and later). Moreover, the 'reprints' of the Internationals currently sold by Scott/Amos are of this newer edition, so there are still missing countries.

Link to list of missing countries here: https://globalstamps.blogspot.com/2...tion-of.html

Might be worth setting aside those pages, if they're in good condition, and packaging them for sale on eBay!

Starting with Part II, I have decided to remove all empty pages (whether it be a whole county / entity or just back of book pages leaving general issues) from the albums. I may not throw them out just yet, but this will at least thin out the albums. For the Part I, I actually have 2 copies of the album (not completely sure they are identical, but I will compare them). One is in really good shape all together in one binder with just few hundred stamps inside, except it is lacking the United States section. I think I removed that section 30+ years ago for some dumb reason (maybe to consolidate into my National album) and I have no idea what I did with the pages. The other one is in very poor shape and although it has the United States section, it is very rough. I don't see any value in the very poor pages other than knowing the layout. I have been considering copying the Part I pages to use as templates to print my own on better 1-sided paper. The Part I binders themselves are in decent shape, but I will be looking to add book binding tape to prevent tears on the spine.

The Scott International pages from the early years are less than adequate as your collection advances. I think my set (first six volumes only through 1968) has almost 50% of the pages replaced with my own prepared blank quadrille pages to accomudate sets with color or perforation variations. Some early countries such as Austria have whole pages dedicated to a single stamp/ portion of set to display the varieties.

Not sure I'd fully agree; there are plenty of people who are strictly 'collecting to the album' and are just trying to fill up a Big Blue. Most of us (myself included) do find ourselves putting in some supplement pages, but some are just trying to fill each space!

Does anyone know how many pages (individual sheets) make up the United States section of a 1947 International Part I? I don't think I have all of the pages, so I am wondering how many are missing and what the content of the pages would be. I do have the General Issues, Air Mail, Special Delivery, Postage Due, and I think one or two other back of book sections. Does anyone know if there are any images of the pages available? Perhaps that would be a copyright violation.