Stamp Catalog Online?

Hi! I have acquired my husband's uncle stamp collection after he passed away. He used the Citation Stamp album. It looks like it was from the 70's. Currently I am transferring the stamps from the album to Prinz Plus stock pages. The Citation Stamp album does not have Scott number so I have to use Scott Catalogue to look for it for each stamp from other countries.

I borrowed the volumes of Scott Catalogue from my public library so I could get the Scott numbers. But sometimes I run into a problem since not all of the stamps show up in there. Normally Scott would pick only one stamp from a series rather than using all of them which is understandable...the volumes are already large! Anyway, I'd have to flip through pages and pages to find a certain stamp or the series that the stamp belongs. It can be time-consuming so I found this website, StampWorld which is helpful because I could search by denomination and color of the stamps.

http://www.stampworld.com/en_US/

It's a really nice website but it does not use Scott number which is kind of disappointing. After I find the particular stamp from StampWorld, I get the year it was printed and use another website, Coln---(Apparently I could not mention it since it is not allowed here on SCF) to try and find the Scott #. Unfortunately they don't show Scott # for every stamp. But I could still use Scott Catalogue by looking up by the year.

Anyway, here's my question...is there a better website that shows every stamp along with Scott # and can be searched by denomination, year, country, color, etc.?

Thanks so much! :)

There are a lot of threads on this board about Online Catalogs.

Bottom line -- those Scott Numbers are the closely guarded intellectual property of Amos Press and they charge a pretty price for the license fee if you want to use them in your catalog, website, etc.

Tammy

If I may ask a silly question, why do you need Scott numbers? All catalogues from around the world broadly list stamps in order of issue (although they sometimes do or do not group together a series that came out over many years). As I understand stampworld, it does much the same. If you can get the stamps in pretty much the right order, why do you need a number from Scott (which most of the world doesn't use anyway) or any other catalogue (Gibbons, Michel, Yvert). Even if you're selling on ebay, dates should suffice.

Regards.

Geoff

Geoff's silly question begets another.

If we are arranging stamps in a stock book - with its ease of free-form arrangement & re-arrrangement - wouldn't grouping them by their series - eg, US-issued Lunar New Year's Stamps - make more sense than arranging them by *any* catalog number?

After all, one could always keep a spreadsheet ...

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Well, I do that with the couple of groups of Swiss issues that appear each year. And others, I think, maintain cross- border Europa collections. Lunar New Year sounds distressingly modern for me.

As a Forum participant, I don't HAVE to use a spreadsheet, do I? I was getting along OK with fountain pen and paper and, at a big technical push, athe odd table in Word.

Regards.

Geoff

Hi! I'm using spreadsheet to catalog my collection and the nerdiness inside me wants to include the scott numbers. I want to include as many details as possible. Also with my slight OCD, I need to have stamps in order when they were printed, ha ha. :)

Tammy

You can somewhat use this website for US stamps which goes by Scott numbers...

http://www.mysticstampcatalog.com/l...g/2014_Vol_1


-IBFS

I use that catalog and Scott Catalogue for US stamps. But don't have the volumes of countries of the world...so expensive. Thanks! :)

I'm afraid that Scott has you over the proverbial barrel. Kirk is right.


-IBFS

Tammy

Well, I shouldn't like to disturb your inner nerd. I think there's no alternative to your working you through the library Scott, then checking any stamps you're uncertain about via stampworld. The number of issues where designs differ significantly within a set is, fortunately, relatively few. As Thelonious Monk told John Coltrane and Coleman Hawkins in another context, the notes are there, you just need to find them.

Just off to give my inner nerd breakfast now.

Geoff

In my view, the legal situation is much more complex than this. Many court decisions have found that numbering systems are not eligible for copyright or trademark protection. There is no legal reason why an online database, even a commercial one, cannot have a column labeled "Cat. No." or "No." and list a stamp identification number that is identical to a Scott catalog number. However, SCOTT is a registered trademark of Amos Press, and commercial use of "Scott" in a way that could connote a source relationship, sponsorship or licensing by Amos probably would engender a response by them. Therefore, most commercial providers opt to display Scott numbers, but use a designation such as "No.," "#", "Sc #" or something similar. You will see this in auction catalogs, dealers' lists, and innumerable other sources with no hint of licensing. Indeed, while the US Government has sovereign immunity from many IP claims, the national stamp collection on display at the Smithsonian includes Scott number designations denoted simply by a dash. For example, next to Scott No. 2, the 1847 10c Washington, appears "- 2". It's important to recognize that the numbering system per se is not protected or subject to liability, but commercial use of the Scott brand may be.

Having said this, because the financial resources of Amos are significant, many commercial providers elect not to reproduce Scott numbers to avoid any hint of a dispute. It is sad that an IP owner can cause a chilling effect of this type. And as others have written, Scott is not the only catalog, so StampWorld may have elected to avoid the debate about which catalog number series should be used (Scott, Stanley Gibbons, Michel, etc.).

Private conduct by individual collectors is subject to different analysis. If I privately prepare and print album pages for my own use with spaces labeled "Scott No. 2" etc., or prepare an inventory spreadsheet with a column labeled "Scott No.", Amos has no claim.


*The preceding is not legal advice. If this message contained legal advice, it would be followed by a bill.*