Storing Large Used World Wide Collections

Jenny: thanks for sharing the link to the Seymour family collection. I've bookmarked it for future reference. I would tend to agree with the comments about the Canada #3. It's very, very uncommon to see that in anyone's collection unless it is an example with "Specimen" overprint, due to the rarity. If it is felt to be real, hopefully the owner has gotten it expertized. I also wonder about the Heligoland since I think reprints outnumber genuine stamps about about 20 to 1 or so.

In general, the collection reminds me of my own world wide collection; heavy in some areas, light in other areas, generally "hit or miss." I was surprised at the number of countries that are not included. Excluding a few of the "fly specks," I don't see Bechuanaland, British East & Central Africas, Falklands, Inhambane, officials of Mexico, St. Vincent, Timor. Maybe I missed them, or the owner plans to add them; especially since I would consider the Falklands, Vincent, Timor as more or less major stamp issuing entities. Steve

Blaamand I will try to get on the scanner this weekend and show the stamps I have from the 1954 Hong Kong Definitives.

As far as adding to the discussion frankly I posted the question to elicit conversation so I could learn from others. I am intrigued by the thought of a large WW used collection, but I currently only have collections of MNH definitives which I mount in Vario pages.

Jenny2U- wow that's an amazing collection. I've only looked at 7 or 8 of the groupings but the collection is loaded in terms of all different stamps.

sjtwxgirl, I feel your pain when looking for a home for stamps. My albums are a mix of Scott International, Minkus, Harris and other misc albums. One thing I really like about Harris over the past 20 years is that the supplements while far from comprehensive, give a good start to build on and the supplements are less than $20. I'm at 91,580 different stamps and counting in 51 albums.

jkjblue and shermae challenged me for some sample photos of my approach for storing a WW collection into stockbooks, so here we go. A few samples of my Sweden collection.


My WW collection is arranged in 160 identical 64 pgs albums like these, labeled with relevant contents. Cheap and efficient.



I am using some pieces of paper to display information, which helps to identify the dedicated space for each series / year etc / officials / wmk / perforation varieties etc.
Using some very small 'tags' to identify varieties, and/or to show 'star' symbol for very-high value items.




'Self-designed' pages easily allow for your custom choice of space for varieties, shades etc. Using stock pages makes it easy to shift the position on the pages slightly if required to give room for even more varieties. Would naturally been even easier on vario stock sheets




I am not a fan of keeping anything as 'BOB', I think it is a shame to 'hide' the old beauties at the end of the album. So the set-up is made chronological, e.g. see the officials on this page.

This page had to be 'compacted' from my original set-up 8 years ago due to my most recent AFA catalog is now listing more varieties than before. Eeerggg.... The same goes for the Scott classical, always listing more and more varieties. This is both interesting and frustrating at the same time I think stock books provide sufficient flexibility to accommodate more stamps, as long as the original set-up was reasonable. I am using both Scott and AFA, to pick up more varieties/shades etc. (Michel I found a little too detailed to span a WW collection. RESPECT to those who dive all the way into the minute details of Michel!)

I keep both a used and mint copy, and if available a 3rd as duplicate. If fortunate to have a nice SOTN cancel I prefer to display them in favor of mint examples, even if the mint is worth much more. E.g. this page is displaying a SOTN copy of no.22 (value $1), the far more valuable mint copy ($200) has been 'stowed' behind the SOTN copy.




Hinges and mounts are not required - puuuh! Still I am using mounts, but solely to protect and highlight any stamps with more than 'zero' value. Clear mounts for low-value items ($2-$10), black mounts for medium-value ($10-$100), black accompanied with a star-symbol for high-value ($100-$1000). Same for very-high value items above $1000, but then the actual cat value is also noted on that little tag. Not so many of those, tough.... I'm quite satisfied how the use of mounts combined with these threshold-values make the better items 'stand out' from the remaining 98% of the stamps of no/minimum-value'.

No need to say, these pages are much more compacted than ordinary album pages normally are. The intention is both to minimize the need for space in the house in general (and thus prevent my spouse for tossing me and/or my collection out on the street) and to reduce cost etc. I still think it looks quite ok, however I absolutely agree that 'normal' albums looks much more classy. But this solution saves both on time and money, and easily facilitate for duplicates etc, so I can live with that.





Do not get amused, the first 3 sample pages are absolutely not typical for my WW collection in general, as I have just invested in several Sweden collections. This page is more 'normal' in terms of completeness, showing the status after this album was first set-up 8 years ago. Plenty gaps to fill! I keep reminding myself the goal is not to fill the spaces, but to enjoy the process of doing so. I am certainly enjoying the process.... Even tough my system do not have the nice pictures etc as normal stamp albums have, the use of paper pieces to dedicate and identify spaces for various items makes it enjoyable.






Unfortunately I am at work offshore right now, so I do not have more albums available with me for giving a broader picture on my approach for storing a WW collection. By chance I found some more samples on my work-place PC (do not tell anyone...)
If anyone is curious for more I will love to share when I come home to Norway.

Happy stamping!
Jon

ps - I would love to see if anyone would post pictures of the much mentioned Steiner pages. Following discussions in this thread and others, I am getting somewhat curious about using these -1940.

Blaamand , put me those Sweden in an album , Scott Int, don't have a single 1855-56 in their album , as you ask , here the Steine page of Sweden, as you see, you will need to make your own page to fit your collection

Jon- really lovely, astounding even.

Your SON specimens are a sight to behold- thanks for sharing!

I can see why you enjoy organizing the collection with stockbooks- you have made it yours with a nice personal touch.

With AlbumGen and EzStamps of Softpro , I did this page in 3 minutes to show you ( scott # are way to big ) , with Steiner you can modify the pages with LibreOffice too.

Jon-

You asked about Steiner pages....



Here is the Sweden 1877-79 Perf 13 page.....

Edit: Arrrrgh, I just noticed the 1rd bister & blue is perf 14, not perf 13. Still a nice stamp, but it needs to be moved.

You guys are getting lazy...haha...Here is one sheet of what I am trying to do, but takes longer..

Area66 - Thanks for the Steiner sample, much appreciated. This really demonstrates what's been stated by several already, that the BB is a bit thin if being serious about it. Nice to see that Steiner even accomodate the high value items. I have read with interest your idea of making self designed pages, which would be a nice contribution to the Steiner pages if required. I do not have the patience at this time, but I am certainly considering it. Seems overwhelming to re-locate 130k + stamps....
Believe this is what you are intending? Love to see samples of the completed product, with the stamps...

Wow, I am too slow for this forum, my last reply was already much too old. I am probably among the youngest in here, but still the slowest. You all impress me with these nice samples! What a fantastic tool you demonstrated area66 with the design tool.

Jim - thank you so much for your praise. My wife certainly do not offer any, so nice to get some from peoples that share the passion!

Robert (?) (wert)
that's awesome! Please let me know when you have completed such beautiful pages for all WW....
If so I will purchase from you, at any price for sure. Even tough I know my wife will finally put me on the streets!

Jim,


Same goes for your own beauties! Shame with the Sc 27, still a fair stamp.


I certainly like the looks of these Steiner pages. Combined with the skills area66 is demonstrating for modifying the pages to suite, it would make a perfect option, even to accomodate special stuff. Seriously need to consider this. Thanks all for sharing.

I use vario pages for my world wide collection. I came back to collecting after a decade away, and have been focusing on French Colonials. This is part of my Senegal collection....