Israel Albums - Suggestions/Comments

Suggestions as to what to invest in?

Would like to venture out past US only, so looking for suggestions as to what you use/like.

I am in the process of moving my Isral collection from White Ace pages to a Davo Hingeless album.

Worth taking a look at auctions. Israel collections go for relatively low prices these days - you can probably pick up a decent collection in good quality albums for what you'd pay for a couple of empty hingeless Davo albums.

Amos sells the Minkus reprint album pages, both singles and Tabs.

https://www.amosadvantage.com/produ...UM-THRU-1996

You can buy supplements right up to date.

Much appreciated.

Adcaplan; I'm maybe old-school; but what are hingeless albums? (Honestly don't know; just got back in to collecting two years ago after 30 years away and re-purchased a Harris Liberty US album, and then the part 2, and the special section C.) I only collect mint/unused, and mount all my stamps in showgard mounts, but am not familiar with a "hingless album."

GeoffHa; thank you...liked the idea of starting an Israel collection for personal reasons; but apparently "tabs" are a big deal from what littel I've seen. Freely admit I know nothing about them as I've collected only US as an adult, and primarily as a kid. Can you elabotate on tabs, please. (Or if there is a forum that would be helpful, would be glad to browse.) I only budget $1,000-$1,200 per month for stamp purchases; so not sure where buying Israeli collections would fall; but definitely have more fun searching down stamps, finding bargains and enjoying mounting them.

Stamps1962; thank you for the link; will check it out. Much appreciated.

Andyrich74, hingless albums are quite simply put- albums with black or clear "showguard" style mounts already affixed to the pages into which you put your stamps. Then there are other pages, " Lindner brand for example" with a clear vinyl page with pockets into which you put your stamps that overlays the page with the printed image on them.

I see that you mention starting an Israeli collection. As of late I have seen many of these complete collections, including the tabed ones up for sale and auction. The tab is just a part of the selvidge still attached to the stamp itself. You can try looking at stamp auction network for many auction houses which list there. I am sure you will find them and be able to obtain a collection at reasonable prices.

You mentioned invest in stamps. No, I wouldn't, just collect to enjoy. To invest and make a return, invest in stocks.
Mike

Check out this old thread about tabs.

https://goscf.com/t/7867

Andy - good luck. Others will have much more expertise, but, from what I've seen from looking at quite a limited range of auction catalogues over time, one month's $1000 would buy you an extensive Israel collection in printed albums, assuming that there are even more floating around the US market than there are here. Of course, you'd lose some of the fun of the search!

I collect Israel and I can tell you that the market has been down for decades. That should enable you to buy a collection for a very small percent of catalog.

Tabs have descriptive information about the stamp they are attached to. Typically they are printed below the bottom row of stamps in the sheet. A few issues have them printed on the left or right side of the sheet. In the first 10-15 years of production there were 50 or 100 stamps per sheet (depending on stamp size) so only 5 or 10 stamps could have a tab, or 10%. In later years the number of stamps in a sheet was reduced to 20 or 25 ( 4 or 5 rows) so 5 stamps have tabs, or 20-25%. So obviously, the earlier issues have fewer tabbed stamps per sheet.

Early pre-printed albums did not have space for the tab so a lot of collectors removed them . Almost every stamp issued after 1955 without a tab is nearly impossible to sell.

One thing you should be aware of is that some issues have two tabs - the descriptive tab and blank selvage below the tab. You will occasionally see for sale stamps with "short" tabs; those are missing the blank selvage. Their market value is a small fraction of the stamp with a "full" tab.

Once you start collecting Israel you will find yourself collecting British Palestine, Mandate issues and Ottoman Empire too.

If you go into the interesting area of Greater Syria from the Ottoman period to the late-1940s, you WILL need some of your $1000 a month.

I wish I had a $1,000- monthly stamp budget!

Just ask Mrs K - "Of course, dear, why didn't you ask earlier", she'll say.

Stamp budget is all in the communication (or lack thereof). I tell my better half I spend a reasonable amount on stamps every month, and she's fine with that. It does so happen that we might just possibly interpret the term "reasonable" differently in this case...

If I were just starting out and getting back to the hobby today rather than having done that many years ago in order to start collecting and getting what I currently have I would probably need a much bigger stamp budget just to get caught up faster. However, over time I have noticed my stamp budget decrease rather than increase for economic aging reasons.

I've got a pretty decent Israel collection, but I purchased it mostly intact. Meaning I bought albums with stamps already mounted in them. At my age (71), I've done that more and more, partly because I've got a sneaking suspicion I'm not going to have nearly enough time to mount all the stamps I've purchased one-by-one, and I'd like to see some albums completed at times. My albums are White Ace Israel albums, some with pages for stamps with tabs, some without. White Ace went out of business late last year (2018) but recent news says it was purchased and the new owner plans to re-issue their pages. So it may be a viable option for Israel albums.

I like White Ace albums with a few caveats about them. I like the information provided for each stamp. The layouts are common sense and uncrowded. The pages look very appealing to me. I don't like the small 8.5 x 11" page size or the schoolboy (and schoolgirl!) three-ring binders much at all. But they are nice albums. Not at all cheap, though.

Other options for an Israel collection are the usual -- Lighthouse and so on. Check their website. Schaubek might sell an Israel album and so might Davo. They are all very nice albums, but you will pay a LOT of money for them. Often collections in these high-end albums are worth less than the albums they're mounted in. No kidding. My favorite albums for reasonable price and good quality are Scott Specialty albums. I'm sure they have an Israel album that would work just fine - and not be extremely expensive. More money for Stamps! Check the website of "Amos Advantage" which is Scott.

Buying an Israel collection on ebay or at auction would give you the stamps and the albums, and that's always thriftier and a lot easier than the alternative.

As Germania says, Israel stamps can be collected with tabs or without. Stamps with tabs are at least a little more sought after, and more valuable, due to their being less common, appearing to be more "complete," and having the extra info on the tab. To me, that's not a big deal (and I don't read Hebrew, anyway) so I collect both. Israel has a pretty good stamp issuing policy with not too many issues per year and most stamps having some useful purpose, something to consider about any country you plan to collect. There are quite a few countries which over-issue stamps, and it can get tiresome to deal with that.

Good luck -- and have fun.

Some albums are more comprehensive than others. I believe Lighthouse albums have spots for phosphor varieties, and Davo albums have spots for mini sheets as well as singles fro the sheet. So, either you need to be ok with leaving empty spaces, or you need to be willing to collect some varieties if you choose those albums. White Ace albums were a nice middle ground, but they went out of business last year and there were no 2018 supplements. Not sure if the new owner will go back and create those or not.

Thank you all for the replies!

No1Philatelist; agree with you in regards to investing. While it is nice to have something of monetary value; I do get more enjoyment out of having piles of showgard mounts all over the place on my dining room table and carefully trimming and mounting and then finally admiring a beautiful stamp. My use of "investment" was simply a synonym for "purchase.

DrewM, thank you for the education on albums. One reason I like the Harris liberty albums are the descriptions shown for a lot of the commemoratives. Looking back, I learned so much as a young pup just by the little nuggets displayed below each stamp; how many 11 year-olds get exposed to all the names and faces and events that were depicted in all those stamps?

So...looks like I will take a look at a White Ace album; from what you've said, sounds like there are generally some descriptions to learn about what one is adding to an album.

Collecting/learning...and not investing!

Thank you again all, very much appreciate all your replies.