Best Way To Store/Mount Large Volumes

I'm considering the (probably crazy) prospect of starting to collect all the wallpaper stamps of the Trucial States (plus Yemen). Just hypothetically, does anyone have any thoughts on how to store what would be a pretty voluminous collection. I think there are more than 10,000 different stamps, plus mini-sheets etc.

My maths tell me that if I manage to get 16 (generally large) stamps on a page, that makes at least 625 pages in total - 10 albums or so. What are the best albums/leaves to use, in terms of minimising shelf space - I guess double-sided with interleaving will almost halve it. Are there any particular brands or systems which are more compact than others?

Peg-fitting albums (eg Devons, Schaubeks, or, probably biggest of all, old Minkus) have the highest capacity, but not necessarily the largest ready-made pages. But for these stamps you could guillotine ordinary paper to size, punch holes and use the peg-fitting albums.

You're a brave person to be willing to take on that task. I think if I were to attempt this I'd use a binder for each country. In alphabetical order on a shelf it would provide easy access if you needed to look for one.

One binder per 'country' sounds like a good idea.

I've never used peg-fitting albums, but it sounds like something worth looking into. Ready-made pages are not an issue, and I doubt any exist. I'll just add pages as I go - if I do go for it!

Ringo

Should you decide to opt for larger, peg-fitting albums, I have three that you're welcome to if you cover the postage/Hermes:

an empty Minkus Glibal Supreme
two Scott "Big Blue"s (these have foreign pages to the mid-40s).

These are all 4"+ thick, and will take a LOT of pages and stamps.

Regards.

Geoff

I store my Trucial States (and all kinds of dubious issues) in a three ring binder. I have about 2,000 of them in a 3 inch binder on all sorts of pages. Whenever I pick some up I make them fit. Vario pages, homemade, Harris, Minkus etc. You have to trim and and repunch the pages. Minkus has the best coverage, Harris does too if you find one of the larger albums. Scott International ignores them all. Best bet is to put them in order by "country". They are fun and cheap.

You can fit thousands of stamps in a 64-page stockbook. Then you also don't have to worry about hinges or mounts or a separate binder.

Hi Geoff - they sound fantastic! They'd give me a great start - peg fitting albums sound like a good path to go down. I'll PM you...

Many thanks!

I must say that I love seeing someone else drawn to trucials. I get so much sneering and rolling eyes when I mention liking them. But as I figure it I spend plenty of time trying to research,learn and Tracy down classics and legit issues that I deserve some time with philately's whispered about cousins that no one likes to talk to.

Agree with BettyAnn (and others). The stamps of Trucial states are lots of fun if you give them a chance. And you can always dig deeper with postal history of the area if seeking for something more serious.


Re, the estimate of 10K stamps... Actually it's way low. There's approx. 16,000 face different items to collect (and at least 5-10K additional variations) for the 'sand dunes'. And if you step into 'bogus' side of Dhufar, State of Oman etc. you can add another 2-3,000 items at least.

My collection for 'sand dunes' is currently at about 2,200 face different items (+ bunch of forgeries, varieties, variations etc), and I've got another similar bunch waiting to get sorted during the summer vacation. Everything is housed in couple of large sized Lighthouse stock books based on Michel-numbers.

Like in most areas of collecting some stamps/items are far more common / easier to acquire than others.

-k-

Scb, I don't know why the attitude against the dunes. You'd think that as many of us love flyspecking and variations based on the most frustrating details we'd have more interested in dunes.

Granted,I hate that the most common seem to dominate worldwide packets and kilkware sometimes but still great to get more of an audience in to collecting given the wide subject appeal.

Is there a comprehensive catalogie anywhere? I've seen a CD catalogue advertised, but there's no way of knowing how complete/reliable it is. There are some online catalogues which cover them too, but again, of unknown completeness.

True. But it's a long and complex story (I've written some bits about it on my blog, but it would easily deserve a lifetime/book or two to presented in proper manner). In short it's got a whole lot to do what some specific parties consider the 'righteous way to collect stamps'. Fortunately the times they are-a-changing...


-k-

It really depends on how you define 'comprehensive'.

Michel Gulf States catalog (available straight from the publisher, most stamp dealers, and for example on Amazon) is the 'standard' what most collectors use. But even it is has shortcomings, and it is simplified on many parts (especially the wild years of 1971-73). But each edition is getting better and better.

The digital (CD/DVD and online catalogs) usually base on Michel, and try to compliment it.

There is no single genuinely comprehensive resource (so far) as this is on large parts unexplored territory (to quote Star Trek) 'where no man has gone before'.

-k-

I think Bill Steiner's site has downloadable pages for most if not all the trucial States. The OP is in the UK and Bill's site is set up with standard American 3 ring pages in mind but he might find it useful, they can be downloaded and copied onto whatever pages you decide to use.

Ringo, does this new aspiration of yours relate to the stamps you showed us in the thread about collecting as kids?