What's Best British Commonwealth Album & Catalog Approach?

Steve
Not quite clear why it matters. Most UK purchasers would discount SG by between 70% and 90% for most stamps, depending on the material. I presume that U.S. Purchasers of Commonwealth material would discount Scott by around 50% and 70% for the same material because it doesn't price as high as SG. One can take the differences into account. And I don't quite see why that affects an album choice.
Geoff

Climber Steve,

You make a point that I have no experience with. Fact that the Stanley Gibbons stamp pricing structure is significantly higher than the Scott pricing for the same identical material is certainly important to understand. Especially if one's own experience has been limited to use of the Scott US books. Thanks for your input!

I have ordered a 2014 SG Catalog via a library sale in order to begin getting familiar with the the Commonwealth issues. I did collect worldwide -- including many of the Commonwealth regions when I was in middle school. But I never studied the earlier, more rare items or the value of different varieties. Much to learn!

I own a set of Gibbons Gorge VI albums- six volumes. I don't have the hingeless version for both financial (too expensive) and practical reasons (most of my material is hinged). I use clear mounts on the better values and hinge lesser values using old peel able hinges, also use glassine interleaving on the hinged pages. It has worked fine for me so far, I enjoy leafing through the albums, they have the look and feel of something from a classic era of collecting. I'd considered getting the New Age re-release now that it is available but right now it's too much for my budget. GeoffHa, keep some of us in mind if you do decide to part with your set!



There is also this option if you care to print your own Commonwealth pages;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRITISH-COM...Z9rNxH6TcpSA

These look very specialized.

Palo also makes comprehensive pages using Gibbons listings in full color. I used these for George VI stamps but bought a Gibbons album because I found the pages too large to work with, but here's a link:

https://paloalbums.com/stamp-albums...layout-pages

Just curious, how can that ebay seller get away with selling his album pages with catalog numbers written on them? Doesn't that violate copyright laws?

Hi Stamps1962,

I have never seen a Gibbons album, but I am familiar with Palo and received their US page sample when I was shopping for a US hingeless. I think Palo makes beautiful hingeless albums. And you can order pages in color or black & white printing. I happen to like my stamps to pop off the B/W pages. Lots of bucks for Palo, but very nice layout, quality and, as you say, the British Commonwealth pages follow the Gibbons catalogue which would be a help since I am not too familiar with the designs and versions. Palo Premium Gibbons layout QV 1840-1901 is a 562 page set. Regular pages $567; Hingeless pages $1696! Plus 5 or 6 albums needed. That price is likely to kill hingeless for me. But I'm in no hurry to invest in albums & pages just now.

If you like the layout of the Palo albums, but find "the pages too large to work with" why not just use Steiner pages, which have the same layout and can be printed on smaller pages with whatever type of paper you want...and for a much much cheaper price!

I don't think the Gibbons format pages are available on Steiner's website/CD. Those seem to be available only from Palo.

While I'm not 100% sure what the "Gibbons format" actually is, it looks to be just grouping the pages together by monarch? Doesn't look like any of the actual page layouts are different. If that is the case, then one could still do this with Steiner pages.

Perhaps the term "Gibbons format" refers to having spaces for stamps based on Gibbons catalog listings. Gibbons lists a lot of stamps not listed by Scott, including:

Shade differences (these are probably the most common differences)
Paper differences (ordinary vs. chalky)
Certain perf differences e.g. perf 14 line for Bermuda, Jamaica, and others, and Swaziland KGVI (unless that has changed), and 1/4 perf differences. In some cases, Scott combines similar perfs into one cat nunmber (for example perf 13.5 and perf 13.25 x 13.75 may be combined in Scott to perf 13.5
Constant plate flaws
Stamps reprinted that Gibbons lists in date order if stamps cross over different reigns (vs. Scott which generally lists reprints as "a and b" numbers). Examples would be Bermuda and British Guiana stamps first issued during the era of KGV. New perf varieties issued during the reign of KGVI are listed with the KGVI set

Chris

I presume that Palo is following the Gibbons Commonwealth catalogue, so it's likely to go beyond Scott and thus Steiner. But just a guess. These look attractive, but pricey. The drawback with Steiner is that the pages are functional, but dull - perhaps better suited to displaying modern issues than early material. But that's just my take!

Geoff

Palo states on the website that their Brit Commonwealth pages follow the Gibbons catalogue.
And being a ring binder design I think makes for a better approach.

While I am only familiar with the Scott catalog numbering system, all the early responders in this thread felt that Gibbons is the benchmark and offers superior catalog coverage and album inclusion than Scott/Amos does. Can someone tell me if the Gibbons pages print the Gibbons catalog numbers for each stamp? This is important to me so I hope they include numbering on album pages. Makes identifying so much easier.

That said, I would not want to use a fastbound album which seems to be the primary past offering from Gibbons. Looks like I'll have to contact Gibbons or its US distributor directly to ask about the previously mentioned ring binder product.

Dan

The Imperial, which is the pre-1936 Gibbons album, is only available fastbound. A ring-bound version is supposed to appear shortly. The album in its present form has images and descriptions on one leaf, with the numbered spaces for stamps on the opposite leaf. I suspect that the numbering may have been in line with past catalogues, but is almost certainly not with current ones. However, as you have the description, you don't need a catalogue number. As far as I know, the GVI and QEII albums don't use catalogue numbers - or mine certainly don't. Again, they aren't really needed.

Regards.

Geoff

Geoff,

I spruce up my Steiner pages so they don't look so "dull"

Chris

Excellent! Interesting how a different font gives a different feel to the oages. I'm not sure that I'd have the patience to do this!

Geoff

GeoffHa: I think you may have missed my earlier point. You're correct in saying that UK purchasers will discount Gibbons prices; and US purchasers expect a Scott discount. My point was the frustration when US sellers use Gibbons for pricing rather than Scott. The average US collector won't be using Gibbons (disclosure: I do have the British East Africa Gibbons catalog, but only as a reference).

The long defunct Greg Manning Auctions in New Jersey was notorious for Gibbons pricing for British material. I did buy a lot of great stuff from Manning over the years, but rarely any British.

Also, I can't see any reason for the US collector just coming into collecting British Commonwealth to use Gibbons albums. I think they'd have to buy a really specialized collection to need Gibbons references at all; which is what I did a couple years ago when I bought a B.E.A. collection; thus the desire to get the Gibbons catalog.

Chris: I've checked out Steiner pages. But they're too small to fit well into my Scott International binders. It would be way too much work to transfer a world wide collection under development since the 1960s into a smaller format (in early '80s, I switched from Harris and Minkus pages into the Internationals (& occasional, trimmed, Scott Specialty pages)--that project seemingly took forever). I've used the International blank quadrille pages for 30+ years for things like mounting souvenir sheets and also as replacements for many of the Part I printed pages lacking spaces for stuff I have.