Ww Country Collectors Using Stock Books / Page

Hi All - hope everyone has had a good summer... Starting to tackle things again here a little bit with my Worldwide Collection.

A question for those of you that use Stock Books and/or pages for your worldwide collections.

One of the challenges is easily being able to see where your gaps are / what stamps are missing.

What method(s) do you use to keep track of the "holes" in your collections? - (the stamps you need/want/are missing)

Collectors that mount in albums have a quick/easy way because the pages display the missing stamps.

Or just in general, how do you keep track of your collections?

Thanks,
Eric

I've covered these topics several times on my blog, but here's a short summary...

First, how do I deal with missing items on stock book pages? For countries with high completion percentage, I'm using dummy placeholders (with catalogue number) - for example see http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/...the-mold.php

For long/complex series, I've started using annotations. See this page about South African definitives (of 1926/54) for example photos: http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/...926-1954.php

But primarily, and most of the time I rely on my memory.At the current situation (75,000+ major number items, and life on late 30s) I can still remember quite well what I have/don't have. Not sure what will happen when my collection grows, and those famous little gray cells go older.


I also do keep track with simple Excel spreadhseet, but mostly for countries/series where I have high completion level. Or when the series is diabolically complex (such as the Brazilian vovo-series: http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/...920-1941.php )

Finally, I do have quite extensive photo library of my collection (single page shots in high resolution) in my phone and laptop. The pics travel pretty much anywhere I go, and they are very handy and easy-to-use reference for checking individual items in the flesh.

I keep my 'want lists' on Excel Spreadsheets..one for each country/issuer.

Years accross the top, SG numbers going down for each year. As I am 'cataloguing ' stamps, I strikethrough the number on the spreadsheet. Then when I'm happy, I'll delete the struckthrough numbers leaving just my need lists.

Here's a snapshot of Jersey that I've been working on this week:



Takes a bit of time to list all the numbers (I just go country by country as I intend to work on them), but once it's done it's done and you have a totally comprehensive list of what you're missing.

My system is similar to Maidens, but I use good ole fashioned pen and paper[;)
I do one decade, one year at a time, generally not putting them into a stockpage until the decade is at least half complete or more. I list like Maiden, with the addition of writing in the short catalogue description. It takes a little longer to write, but I find I can then use my list without often having to get the catalogue out again for a visual ID. Then as I put them in the stockpage for display, I put a small placemarker in each gap, usually just a scrap of paper with the number on it.
This makes me sound quite organised, but I only use this system with my two most organised collections, USA and France. The rest of the world mostly resides in boxes etc and occasionally in jumbled up pages of stockbooks
One day.....

Maiden - Thanks for the great idea. Although I am not planning on collecting WW, I have been trying to decide how best to create a want list of what I need for each country I am working on. Never thought of your system, but it looks easy to use.

Eric,

I've like keeping a hand written checklist. When I get a stamp I simply blacken in the box and indicate where, when, and from whom I got the stamp. I really think that I am too OCD when it comes to that but I enjoy doing it. Shown below is a partial portion of a blank checklist (well, most of the actual Greece checklist for those issues is STILL blank...). I've created a checklist for each country that I collect and keep them in a tabbed notebook.

I mutilate stamp catalogues,
I work initially from Stanley Gibbons Simplified
6 years old paid $12
I feel these are "disposable"
I hilight the stamps I have in orange.

As a worlwide collector, this is the only way, I feel.
Until I arrive at about 70% completion
I just buy lots of country stamps
and put the duplicates back through auction.

From 70% onwards you can begin to make "want" lists

Here is my Romania Page for example

It can be a bit tedious punching all the numbers in, but as I said..once it's done it's done.

The main plus of this system for me is that it's totally portable. I have my spreadsheets saved to Dropbox, and backed up on a datapen which means I can access my lists anywhere there is a computer/Ipad/Smartphone etc etc

I do the same as rod with my Stanley Gibbons Simplified Great Britain catalog but in pencil. I also do the same with my Mystic catalog for my USA stamps.

Ray, we have to add, for the faint hearted,
all other catalogues are held in high reverence! :)
and treated as such.

I just use an excel sheet as well with Scott number, small description, denomination, CV for mint and used. The CVs come in handy when I bid for some on ebay or some other place.



Cheers
Ram

Great! - thank you for the ideas.

SCB (Keijo?) - I love your blog - In fact, your blog is what helped me to decide to go with stock pages for my WW Collection. I am also working off of the country list that you so graciously sent to me.

I love the spreadsheet ideas (and the Dropbox idea) - I use Google Docs for my spreadsheets that allows me to access it from anywhere. (I am just simply tracking my counts of unique stamps by country and a rough idea of my duplicate counts)

Ron & StampGal - I also find that using a pen/paper is much quicker, especially when you are knee deep in stamps, stockbooks, and 3 catalog volumes. I think Ron's idea is great, a printed list to check off. Then, later when you have time, or your brain hurts from sorting stamps, a person could easily take that printed list and digitally mark them off in the spreadsheet


RodD - Your post makes me want to buy another set of catalogs, just to do something like you have done. In fact, I would bet you have notes and other scribbles in there as well. Your catalogs will be quite a thing to look back on years from now. (I am one of those with too many books, and I am not usually afraid to write in them - In fact, finding an old book at a book sale with someones name and notes in it is one of my favorite things)


I think maybe the answer to my general question would be "It Depends" - I over-think things usually, but to simplify them, like some of you said - Wait until you hit some amount of completion before you do too much - It doesn't make sense to pain-stakingly catalog/inventory the 6 stamps you have of a country that issued a thousand. Same with putting in the stockbooks - Doesn't make sense to make placeholders for hundreds of stamps.


But, as Keijo writes and demonstrates on his blog, once you are getting a good percentage of a group/set/country, then placeholders in the album make sense...

Thanks for your comments, and for getting me thinking.

Eric

Yep :)




Thanks :)




Good to hear you are putting it into proper use. You might want to check/update the listings for African countries by giving a look at
http://www.stampcollectingblog.com/...arget=africa
(this is a live view for the same data; but there's been quite many minor changes. For example Ethiopia is now split into four minor entities etc.)

So far I've got updated listings for Europe & Africa online, next stop (and my stamp programme for following 3-4 months) is working out the Americas & Caribean area.


-keijo-

Thanks Keijo - I will review the changes.

Also - As a side note, (as I am working through mine) - I did "add/split" Antigua and Barbuda into 2: British Colony (Antigua) - through 1981, then Independent 81-present. (Plus Barbuda you already had in 2 parts..)