World Wide Reference Resource

About 6 months ago I expanded my collecting into World Wide once again. Over the years I had first used the Harris 2 Volume Standard World Stamp Album and then moved to the Scott 2 Volume International Postage Stamp Album (Blue, Parts 1A & 1B). Both frustrate me today because they lack spaces for all of the stamps that were issued.

So, I bought a subscription to StampAlbums.com. Since I want to keep my collecting to a controlled pace, I thought I would work on a country at a time. Putting one stamp on a page of just any country doesn't do it for me. Completing a page does!

So here's the problem that the Steiner (StampAlbums.com) pages present to me. It's really difficult to know what goes where. No Scott or any other numbers and not enough info with regard to watermarks and perforations. I know, I have a set of Scott International Catalogs, but more often than not, they're of little help.

I had hoped that the APS would have a great reference collection on-line. But they're far too limited and quite disappointing. So I've searched and searched. The best that I have found is Dr. Cheng Chang's web site of his world stamp collection, country by country. It's at http://www.worldstampalbum.com.

Is anyone else experiencing the same difficulty and what kind of reference resources have you found?

Hi!
You are further along than me - I'm still working with the Scott's Big Blues (1, 2, 3). I've given the Steiner pages a good look, but I'm just not ready or certain I want to make the jump. Your immediate problem is one of the reasons.

I'm looking forward to other responses and possible solutions.

I would start with this thread and see if it helps. https://goscf.com/t/11268 A lot of pages available, and some reference.

Dr. Cheng Chang has a prety extensive online collection. http://www.worldstampalbum.com/main.aspx?MenuId=1

Also try this one. http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/

Im sure others have more.

PAUL-----Im puzzled by your comment about the Steiner pages are difficult to follow with a Scott catalog. They are easier if you put the catalog numbers in the lower right hand corner of each page after you print it .

This is what I do for my WW classical collection in Steiner pages...



*Obtain a Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue 1840-1940 (-1952 British Commonwealth). This will list all the Scott catalogue numbers for all countries up to 1940 (-1952 British Commonwealth). You do not need a new one unless you wish to have current CV.

* Print out the Stamp Albums Web country you are working on- found in the "Classic" section pages.

* Open the catalogue and number (in pencil) the spaces in the Steiner pages- the good news is Steiner almost always follows sequentially the Scott catalogue for major number spaces. So easy that the Geico Neanderthal can do it.



You can see above the Scott numbers penciled in the for the spaces that do not have stamps. (And if you have question in the future about a Scott number for a stamp you have, just lift the stamp and read the penciled number )

There really is little doubt then, if you consult the Scott catalogue, which stamp goes where. But, if you need visual clues, the Antonius Ra world collection is often helpful.

http://mitch.seymourfamily.com/mwar...apindex.html

I might also humbly suggest consulting my blog when working on a specific country.

http://bigblue1840-1940.blogspot.com/


BTW, you do realize that you will be printing out ~8000 pages of classic Steiner for a WW classical collection?

JKJBLUE,
Forgive my ignorance, but could you explain what "-1952 British Commonwealth" means? I guess the main reason I am confused is that the "Classics" ends in 1940, so what would 1952 have to do with it?

The Scott Classic Specialized catalogue and the "classic" Steiner pages actually cover to 1952, not 1940, for British Commonwealth countries because of the natural break with the end of the George VI era. Many collectors of British Commonwealth end their classic collections with the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II. The other advantage (for Scott) is, for many British Commonwealth countries, not many stamps were actually issued between 1940-52, so not difficult to cover the additional time frame.

Thank you JKJBLUE ! It is always an informative pleasure to read your writings!

Thanks to all for the suggestions, comments, links and digs. I had run across parts of the Antonius Ra collection before but had not found the direct link to the whole online collection. This will be helpful.

JKJBLUE, you have an intense web blog that's a great resource. I don't plan on printing all of Steiner's pages (which I immensely appreciate). At this point I think I'll just keep moving along a country or two at a time. Who knows, I might eventually get tired of all the time it takes to mount stamps and just move to Supersafe stock pages or books.

Thanks again.

Thread Bumped : Dormant 9 years.

My collecting affliction started around 6 years old, I collected Bird's eggs.
Had this little pocket book around that time "The Observers book of Bird's eggs"

This is one of its siblings
The Observers book of Postage Stamps
1967
Library of Congress Catalog Card No 68-10043
Fourth reprint 1977

They're quite handy little books Rod