Confusion On Unorganized Stamps Transferring To Album.

Hello All,

This is my first post here.
I am not an avid active stamp collector.
However, I have somewhat big number of stamps which I collected during my childhood.
Its been at least 30 years those stamps are kept untouched.

Off-late I was thinking of putting them to an album so that it get neatly organized.
I obtained a Statesman Deluxe Album in very good condition.
It is 30 plus years old.

I have a read many articles which says that, using glue to affix stamps on the album reduce the stamp value.
And for that very same reason, the stamps with me (30 years untouched now!!) are never organized in a album. All kept in small plastic covers.
Because it was never organized, I never felt like going through the stamps all these years.
Now I would like to organize it, so that at least once in a while I or my kids can browse through the collection.
I don't anticipate, I ever selling these stamps for money or exchange.

What I really want forum members suggestion is,
Considering all I said above, Is it OK to use glue stick style glue and affix the stamps in the album?

Thank you.

Eek! No - that was Victorian practice, but glue and stamps don't mix well. Use stamps hinges (carefully).

No. You only make it difficult, not only on yourself if you ever want to change, but also on whomever gets these after you.
Just use hinges. Another observation. The album needs interleaves if you are putting stamps on both sides!


Peter

How many stamps do you have? A few hundred? More than 1,000?

You might want to think about buying stock pages that have clear strips that hold your stamps. You can do a quick search for "Vario stock page" to see what I'm talking about. There might be another brand that is more available to you, locally.

These pages are generally punched for most any type of binder (3-ring, 4-ring, etc.), again, depending on what is available to you locally. The strong advantage to the pages is that you can move things around to your heart's content, and the stamps are covered by the clear strips and therefore quite protected.

Something to consider. (If you go this route, the album wasn't necessarily a waste of money. It might be a useful guide to arranging your stamps. You'll likely have many that aren't pictured, of course, but it might still be helpful?)

Ugh. If you insist on destroying your stamps, at least give them a little dignity by burning them, instead of gluing them to the pages.

This image was previously posted by SCF member Rod222 in another thread:



You have a nice album to start out with. Purchase a 1,000 count package of stamp hinges, practice until you are comfortable hinging stamps, and off you go. You can worry about interleaves and other supplies later.

John

johnsim03,

Great advice!

Thank you all valuable suggestions.
I understand hinges or stock pages with clear strips are the way to go.
I am more inclined towards hinges as that works more economical for me.
Klebefalze and Leuchtturm Fasto are brands that seems to be available in Amazon.
Any idea which one I should go for?

The Prinz hinges in the above video still are just fine.

Have you actually bought the album pictured? You haven't said how many stamps you have but that is one big album and will hold many thousands, and if you don't have too many stamps it will stay fairly empty. Also you will have stamps facing stamps which will ping each other off as you turn the pages.

I'm not a fan of these albums. One solution, as mentioned, is to buy and fit interleaving, but even so you will end up with a heavy album, difficult to browse through. Unless you have tens of thousands of stamps, which I doubt given your description, I would find an alternative album - either with blank pages (you can organise each country yourself) or pre-printed but on only one side of the page.

Vario-style albums are a flexible option but they are relatively expensive and an album can soon become big and heavy. All depends on the scale of the collection and how much money (and time) you have to spare.

I don't exactly remember how many stamps I have. (As I said it's been years I went through it)
But I remember, once I had attempted a visiting card album which has around 50 pages and try to fit in my collection there and that album wasn't enough.
This album I attached in picture is currently with me (one friend gave it for free)
I don't see my collection is ever going to grow due to no source for stamps (you can also say less interest and lack of time)
So I just wanted an economical solution (both from expense as a well as time perspective)
I was thinking, I will remove the empty pages from the album, also use butter paper (not sure if the right word) as interleaves.

It doesn't much matter. All modern stamp hinges are made by Prinz (the Klebefalze you reference above).

The key with hinges is to lightly moisten them.

Be sure to get some stamp tongs (tweezers made especially for working with stamps) too.

Good luck, and have fun filling that album!

John

Collectors who use two-sided album pages usually use two types of interleaves:

1. Crystal clear acetate (expensive - here in the US, they are $25-$30 USD per 100 sheets).

2. Glassine (less expensive, but still a significant expense).

I have also used translucent paper (tracing paper). Far less expensive per sheet but the visibility factor is not good.

One thing to consider with this particular album. If you use interleaves for the entire album, you are going to need another binder, as the single binder will not hold all the pages AND interleaving.

Who knows, once the bug of space filling grabs you, you might decide to add to it or expand the album. Or, perhaps you will decide that stamp collecting is not for you. That is why I would not worry too much about interleaving at the beginning. You can always do that later.

John