Hingeless Album Danger?

I have a collection of US stamps that I think most would describe as "very nice." I always wanted a hingeless album and several years ago I purchased a set of Davo albums. The vast majority of my collection is in Volume I and while I like the Davo album it lacks spaces for coils and has no Scott numbers. Scott no longer makes a hingeless album (not sure why) so I decided the best alternative was a Schaubek album. I purchased Volume I for US and when I received was concerned that the mounts were of the "split-back" variety. While I can see this would provide great security for the stamps I'm concerned about the potentiality for damaging stamps in the transfer process. Is my concern warranted, or should I just do it?

Do it. The split backs mounts are the best. Just be careful and not crowd the stamps in the mounts. There should be a border all around the stamp. I like the Black mounts because it makes the stamps pop. It's also easy to see the border on all four sides. If you go with the hingeless album they use clear so you can see the printed image through the mount. The split backs allow you to put the stamps in and take them out easily. For example if you collect used and you get one with a better,less cancel you might want to change the stamp for the better issue. Just don't crowd the stamps in the mounts.

I don't use a commercial album for my main collection - I use unglamorous loose-leaf pages in a nice binder so I have lots of flexibility for shades, varieties etc. So these comments may only partially apply:

I have used split-back mounts for years and prefer them to open-top mounts. You do have to be more careful when placing or removing stamps. I used open-top mounts early on but I've found over the years that I've had more stamps fall out of these mounts - and potentially be damaged - than stamps damaged using split-back mounts. Because I use my own system, I can choose s lightly larger mount if I want to be sure the stamp will fit comfortably (e.g. "jumbos.") Another factor is that you can place the stamp in the mount before you place it on the page (which gives you more room to manoeuvre) - something I assume you can't do with commercial hingeless albums.

I agree. That's been my experience as well. But as with all things stamp-related there are "no rules", so only you can determine what works best for your collection.

This topic is near and dear to my heart. I wasted a lot of money on hingeless albums and was disappointed I wasn't able to find any reviews on them. Because of that, I decided to create a hingeless album review.

Here's the link:

https://goscf.com/t/17127


Brian

Everybody's preference is a little different when it comes to albums and mounting. I use a mix of hinges and clear split-back mounts, but my collection is mostly common stamps. Many stamp experts (e.g. Bill Weiss) and knowledgeable dealers and collectors warn strongly NOT to use split back mounts and only use the open-top mounts, especially on valuable ones. The reason for this is that on mint stamps, a line often forms on the gum right where the split is. When it comes time to certify the stamps because you want to sell them, the certificate comes back as "disturbed gum" and it knocks off half the value. I probably wouldn't worry about it much on lower value stamps or used stamps, but it's something to be aware of if you've got valuable mint stamps, particularly if they're NH.

I did have a whole paragraph typed out but I hit the backspace space to fix a typo and back a whole page losing what I had typed. On to my response.
I do not understand how the split backs cause damage to the gum of new stamps. I have been using them for years and never had a problem with my mint stamps. I only moisten the uppermost top portion of the mount to adhere it to the page so that rules out water damage. Then it would take an enormous amount of jostling to create enough friction to leave scratches.
So what exactly do the experts say causes said damage???

I'm only going off of what I've read and not any firsthand experience, so you can take my word with a grain of salt. Others may come along and clarify. If used carefully - let the gum from the mount dry completely before putting a stamp in it, the danger is less. If there's some lingering moisture that can work its way into the stamp gum, it may soften the gum just enough to leave a line in the gum right where the split is. In a hingeless album, the danger is probably less because any adhesive would have long since dried. I would think stamps stored with any pressure on them (e.g. in an overstuffed binder) may be susceptible to it as well.

Here's a link to a thread on a different board where Bill Weiss talks about it.

http://m.delphiforums.com/n/pfx/for...ps&tid=44325

Bill Weiss is probably one of the most respected men in the modern Philatelic circles. If anybody would know it would be him and he certainly would not lead anybody astray. I too use the split backs and have not experienced any problems that I know of but I don't take my stamps out of the mounts looking for any possible damage either. However back to Bill Weiss he has seen hundreds of stamps and has graded and authenticated hundreds of them.

Now Rileysan the thread you posted "Hingeless Album Review" is much appreciated. It should be put somewhere in the newcomers welcome thread and be a required reading for all new members to SCF. The information is that valuable. Now I have the American Heirloom collection. I have had my set five years so I think I can give it a pretty good review. Mine is about 60% complete so it has really been used a lot. My Three volume set has been expanded to five volumes and I need to add another volume. I can buy the extra binders for $12.00 each. The reason for adding the two extra volumes is because the original three albums got too crowded. This probably why the Hingeless album set comes in eight volumes. I love the set however I have experienced two problems. First the pages are thin and have a problem of tearing out at the rings. The Hingeless set uses the same pages as the rest of the album sets. There is an entire thread here at SCF addressing this issue and a response from Mystic about the thickness of the pages. I don't know where the thread is. I've had to buy a package of page reinforcements and have used several of them to repair the pages. No I don't handle my albums rough but I do use them. Two I just noticed this weekend that the edge where the Green cover is welded outside to inside on one of the albums has started to split out at the weld. Overall I love the Mystic set. It is without doubt the best bang for your buck. Plan to add volumes however and where to divide them is also an issue because of the information on the opposing page which has already mentioned above in this thread. However I think I have a solution. I have some blank pages. I will put a blank page in my Printer/scanner and scan the Information on the back side of the page onto the blank sheet. I will scan something on the front side which will be the first page of the new volume and that will make a new cover page for the new extra album.

Thwo thoughts on the American Hingeless 8 volume set. One is the cost.The Hingeless set is expensive however when you buy the hinges separate you will spend the money anyway except you won't be buying the hinges for stamps you don't have and may never have.
Two The hinges in the Hingless album are clear so you can see the images printed of stamps you don't have and the Scott numbers. I prefer the black backing. It makes the stamps pop, stand out.

Opinions are all over the map on hingeless pages. Personally, I absolutely loathe split-back mounts. More stamps have been ruined by those types of mounts than any other, with the exception of those evil envelope-enclosure mounts from the 1960s-70s, where over the course of time every stamp becomes hermetically sealed in its own little tomb.

But I digress...

For my hingeless albums, I prefer the approach from Lindner and SAFE that use a 2-part page rather than individual mounts attached to the printed page. There's a printed paper sheet, and then there is a separate plastic sheet with rows that match the printed layout. There's frequently extra area on the perhiphery as the rows go across the whole page. This allows extra stamps or oversized items to be placed on the page.

This model also allows you to (1) view the back of the stamp without removing it from the "mount" which is very handy when checking either for expertization marks or NH/LH status, and (2) easily write in pencil on the printed page without disturbing any of the stamps.

Also, you can buy blank hingeless pages in various row height and number configurations to place in your albums for additional varieties.

It makes for a very homogenous presentation.

They're not the cheapest hingeless pages in the world, but I swear by them. The only time I've bought others (Palo, Davo) are when SAFE or Lindner don't offer pages for that country or era.

Note: The plastic used in the sheets is VERY robust, much heavier than normal mounts, so your stamps are much better protected, but also results in very heavy albums.

P.S. With the "mounts" effectively being one large sheet, individual stamps are far less likely to shift or fall out than with the traditional open-top hingeless format where every stamp is in its own individual mount.

Here are some pictures of both preprinted and generic pages (not mine; gleefully stolen from an ebay listing). Some of them show the backs of the stamps and you can see how easy it is to view the backs simply by pulling back the plastic sheet.

I personally prefer the open mounts. I found the split back mounts a nightmare when I had to take a stamp out, but I do have fine motor issues so that was probably the issue.