How Do You Organize Collection For Stamps To Be Upgraded?

I am currently collecting US unhinged original gum stamps, which I am currently putting in a Davo hingeless album. I am fairly new at this. My question is for those who collect NH, OG stamps is how they keep track of which stamps in their collection which need upgrading?

For example, obviously you can see the front of the stamps, so it is easy to see if they are off center. However, you can't see the back, so the back may be no gum, regummed, hinged, gum disturbances, etc, or have other faults that you can't see from the front of the stamp. How do you track this without having to take the stamp out of the mounts all of the time? One thing that I have seen done is to write in pencil beside the stamp in the album, whether it is NH, OG, etc, and list any issues w/ the stamp. However, then you have an album with a bunch of pencil scribbles everywhere, and may not be as nice to look at. You can also use a spreadsheet, which may be better, but if you have duplicates of a stamp, it may become more difficult to determine which stamps had which fault. Just wondering what others have done in this situation. Thanks!

I use my Scott catalogue as a checklist, using standard philatelic abbreviations placed just to the left of the cat number, such as ** for MNH, * for mint hinged, etc. Written lightly in pencil, these are easy to replace when an upgrade occurs. If I have multiple copies of a stamp, slash marks are added (2 copies would get //). This way its easy to tell what I already have and what the back of each looks like. FWIW, there's no way I would be writing anything directly onto an album page as I think it trashes the eye appeal.

Hi glchen,

Welcome to the group. Do you need to note in your album the exact condition alongside every non-MNH stamp? Surely all you need to know is that you want to replace these at some time with MNH stamps. A small inconspicuous pencil dot beside each less than perfect stamp would do, and can be simply erased when the swop is done.

Terry

I don't advise writing anything on album pages, unless noting a specific variety or other specialized info that others may not be aware of (and even then, only do it lightly and in pencil.)

If you don't want to keep the list someplace other than your album (that's how most do it, so they can take it to shows, dealers, etc.) it's somewhat common to put the stamps needing upgrade (for whatever reason - centering, hinging, faults, etc.) upside down in the mount. Similarly, fakes/fillers are often placed face down (that means needs to be replaced.) A quick glance at the page shows what work lies ahead, yet still keeps whatever you have in the spot it would normally fill.

I use a little round stick on label that come in a pack of 500 or 1000 for about $5 each package contains several colors. I stick a label on the mount of each stamp that I think needs replacement so that when you look at a page you can quickly see what needs upgrading. When I find a suitable replacement I peel off the little label.

An example of the label I use is the Avery 5795 1/4 Round Color coding label.

I'm not very sophisticated I use an old Mystic catalog and draw a line through the catalog number of stamps I have and circle the ones that need replacement. If there is no mark, I need it.

Dan

If I were to do this, I'd use a stamp catalog software program. I'll mention EZStamp, only because that's what I use. For any stamp I've catalogued, there is a comment field that this kind of information could be entered into. Also, both front and back of the stamp could be scanned, and an image of the scans can be entered into the program. Other cataloguing programs probably have similar capabilities.

I agree with Danstamps' technique. Small notes in the catalogue are invaluable such as M, MNH, GU, FU, VFU etc. The only problem is when you buy a new edition of the catalogue, and spend months transcribing the notes :-(

I also keep a database on my stamps(OK, this is just a posh phrase for a large Excel spreadsheet) with notes on where I bought the stamp, how much I paid, whether the stamp has an expertising certificate, postmark information (if used) and any other useful information I have gleaned along the way which is not in the catalogue. Personally I prefer to collect postally used wherever possible (i.e. the stamps have done their job).

I think I'll stick with my small pencil dots next to the stamp. Time is precious.

Terry

I do keep a separate spreadsheet/list and give each stamp a percentage condition, with 40% for average, 50-60% for fine, 70% for f/vf (roughly catalogue level, though you can rarely sell even a 70% stamp for full catalogue value), 80% and above for vf. A different column has u/mh/mnh/mhr etc.

When I check my list (kept on a flash drive as well as hard drives on computers at home and office) and see 20 or 30%, I know I want to replace. I might want to replace a 40% or 50% (would replace all 40% for sure if I had unlimited funds, but I don't) but not a 70%.

The problem with a small dot on the album or catalogue page or merely a single mark meaning "replace" is that there's "replace" and then there's "REPLACE" -- if I were to mark "replace" for every stamp I'd like to replace, it'd be less than fully helpful.

But yes, it takes more time to maintain a separate list. The disadvantage of my separate registers is that only about 30% of my accumulated stamps are mounted and registered that way and I make slow progress because of the amount and detail of data I record. For two-thirds of the world's countries I can only depend on my memory or check files of receipts and scans from the point of purchase.

One could write on the album page a tiny "40%" or "20%" or just "40" or "20". Or a single dot for replace, a dot+ for Replace and dot++ for REPLACE. At least the small dot on the album page is next to the stamp and you can glance at the stamp and refigure the 20 or 40 or 50% in your mind. But of course you can't haul the album with you to a show.

Those who mark up an old catalogue can take it along to a stamp show. They might get by by penciling in 40 or 20 or 40% or 20% next to the catalogue number plus a sign for mint or used and use that in lieu of a separate spreadsheet or other register list.

Hi Hieronymous,

Your attention to detail in your referencing is to be admired. And to be honest I had considered, way back, doing something similar. Until I reckoned the time it would take up. I collect stamps for my own interest and pleasure and tend to buy MLH and used with clear cancels. I have no interest in perfect gum, or in paying the premium to obtain it. So the dots work fine for me. If I go to a show or fair I just make a list in a small notebook of those stamps I most want to replace. The length of the list is determined by my pocket. Stamps obtained are crossed off the list, which is added to the next time I go out.

I realise that everyone's interests in and methods of collecting differ, but this works fine for me. And leaves me more time for dancing girls.

Terry

Thanks for the feedback. It's given me a lot to think about. I think I may need some additional condition notes along some stamps that are not MNH, but not all of them. For example, there may be some really expensive stamps that I many not be able to get in MNH, but I may still be able to get unused no gum or something like that. However, if I'm later given an option to upgrade that stamp to something like unused hinged, it may still be worth it if the front condition is the same. Maybe I'm thinking too far ahead.