Did You Ever Downsize Your Collection?

Hi!
I currently collect worldwide (USA is totally separate) from 1840 thru 1960/61. The collection is housed in 8 Scott International albums, utilizing the Scotts pages. I would estimate the collection at about 50k in size, so I guess that is about middle of the road for a WW collection spanning those years.

I'm toying with the idea of cutting the collection back to 1955. As I've mentioned before, the later stamps just don't hold the interest and meaning (to me) as the earlier ones due. In fact, I feel like I'm collecting "stickers" from many countries for those later years.

So I could sell off the post '55 pages/stamps, and concentrate on the earlier years. But my dilemma is the obvious..."would I regret doing this later on?"

I'm 71, and figure I'll be around to enjoy the hobby for at least 10 more years (God willing of course).

If you have downsized your collection, what was the result?

Thank you for sharing!

Well, you'd be losing relatively few stamps. And many of them will be far more attractive than those issued in, say, 1935, or, for that matter, 1855. The French area issues of this period - and well into the post-colonial issues of the 1960s - are often stunning. Keeping them seems to me to outweigh the benefit of clearing out a little dross from, say, Paraguay. But then my collection has only grown, rather than declined!

Yes, I've downsized (or more proper term would be 'narrowed down') on one point. Sold, swapped and gave away all the mint stuff from the world collection.

And yes, there are times when I do 'regret' the decision (as some countries/stamps seem almost impossible to come by other than mint). But I do feel/believe that on the long run the end result will be nothing but positive.

-k-

I started with a narrow collection (Israel Tabs, mint). I have added new areas as I reached the end of what my budget would support.

Mobilman ---The answer to your question is NO . I am 66 years old and collected since 7 years old ,every week of every year since . I just keep adding new areas of interest to my collection ,I did not go out and purchase all the modern stuff but it just came along in all the bulk lots that I enjoy breaking down .

Mobilman

What I would say is that you probably won't miss it that much. About 25 years ago, in financial distress, I had to sell my collection of soul, blues and R&B records that I'd been assembling since the '60s. Maybe 8,000 45s and 3,000 LPs. It had always seemed an integral part of what I was, but, once it went out of the door, it didn't hurt anything like as much as I'd expected. Did buy a lot of the stuff again on CD once I had money again, though!

Geoff

I've gone both ways.

Just like adcaplan, my Israel started with mint tabbed, that I could afford. I moved to untabbed used, FDC, some postal history.

Just the opposite was my "newspaper" collection. I started it with newspaper stamps, newspaper tax stamps, newspaper/journalism topicals, some wrappers, railway stamps - just about anything related to newspapers.

Today that collection is far more focused and specialized, with emphasis on newspaper stamps and newspaper rail stamps.

When I downsize it really looks more in the direction of specializing.

Mobilman

I'm thinking of the opposite direction.

I collect WW 1840-1940 and British Commonwealth to 1952.

I'm pretty sure at some point I will get more focused on 1940-1952 for all countries- if nothing else, I already have many of those stamps that came along in collections.

I'm toying with the idea of pushing the limit to 1960.

I only started collecting again about 5.5 years ago, when I sold (poorly) my childhood 'world' collection to focus on Canada and the US (mint and used up to and including 1960). In those 5.5 years since the collection has grown far beyond what I had before. Canada/US/associated provinces and territories/CSA/Vatican/UN/postal history/cinderellas. Then there's my 'Just Because' - stuff I've kept just because I liked it.
It ain't easy to specialize when there's so much to choose from.

Like most others, I decided on a specific area (dead countries), so it is more of a re-focus. Continuing to collect dead countries while selling / trading away the rest.

Michael

I have down-sized my collection too. I collect the Martial Arts on stamps plus 7 countries only. I also collect the Canadian revenue issues as well as the regular postage stamps. Still seems like a lot.

Chimo

Bujutsu

The problem is not the years, but the countries associate to them. For some countries I don't have problem to go a little bit over 1960 . but for many, I like only few of their stamps. My Scott Int is organise by country and years not in albums, but I started now to separate them in half, in the first 2 binders will be the countries I like and in the rest the one I like less. All stay by countries and years.

I understand the appeal of a single cut-off date, but I would hate to part with the excellent large-format engraved stamps that many countries issued past 1955.

Country-by-country cut-off dates can be explained simply enough: "... and after 1955, I only kept the pretty ones."

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Some years ago I sold 95% of my collection.

Made me free to re-focus and start over. Fantastic exp. for me. Like most, I had a lot of material waiting to be handled - to be frank, I would never have found time, and if I did, more interesting things always came up.

Fewer things/stamps = more energy

As to the issue of regrets, I recently de-accessioned hundreds & hundreds of books.

They went to a local charity that re-sells them, and I hope they all find welcome homes.

This is the same outcome as if I had died, and my kids had cleaned-out my apartment.

Only, this way, I did not have to die.

Not a bad deal, really.

Expect no regrets.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

"De-accessioned"? That sounds like something the CIA does, probably ineptly.

I've sorted out several hundred books to go. But I also bear in mind my daughter's comment, some time ago, that "I'll never actually have to buy a book".

She's not very good at throwing things out either.