A Few Of My US Stamps - Wrangling My Gifted Collection.

SCF member Angore suggested an archival glu stick if I recall,
use with care.

Cutting mounts, you may wish to try these,
I cut with the stamp in the mount (but also with care!)
Try it out on the commons first.

Wow, it's great to see someone inherit a worthwhile collection and take the initiative to continue it!

Well done, indeed!

Really nice to see how enthusiastic you are about philately; Great stuff!

Thanks all. Adding more as it helps me destress from my hectic world. appreciate you all humoring this newbie. :) - means a lot.

Mrita, you want some unused US stamps, or do you have your hands full?

SCF is the best.

Hi Andy, that is very generous of you - especially as I was having a rough day ( 3 hour conference call (sigh) with way too many egos involved.)... Well, I mean how can I say no to additional stamps to help fill some of my gaps :). sure I will take them - I can pay for shipping...and I wish I had some mint Ecuador I could send in return - but as a newbie, I don't have much to offer you experts. Should I shoot you an email?

Thank you Andy! I appreciate the gesture, you guys are truly the best. Nora.

Filling out my Prexies pages - still have more to go, but not too bad. Not sure if I should break up the three Winslow Homers - I just set them there for now. Cheers all, almost to the weekend.

MRita75,

I'd leave the Winslow Homer set alone unless you have something specific you want to do with them.

Jack Kelley

I can tell my Aunt was most active in the 60s. Question on the block of 4 5cent flag stamp, the top left one is torn :( should I keep it as is or break it up and get rid of the ripped one? Thanks.

Opinion:
Depends on if you collect postage stamps for personal beauty (Pages for eye appeal) or if you prefer as a "Philatelist" and collect for information.

Nothing at all wrong with either, it's your own personal bent.

I find no problem with collecting ripped or torn stamps, I have no problem with blank spaces on my Steiner sheets, but that's just me.
You have to live with your own collection.

I'd be happy with that "plate block" until another better example comes along.

I prefer the mantra to keep all stamps in multiples "as found"
I kinda feel ripping stamps apart, or trashing them is vandalism,
yet I have done both in the past.

What you do, whilst alone in your hobby, will define you
you will know if you are a stamp ripper or not, or if you treat your collection with dignity.

Again nothing wrong with either,
Stamp collecting is the ultimate democracy.

I soaked this example from brown tatty carton paper in late 2008,
I could of ripped one off as an example of a puncture,
I was the feeling that was kinda wrong, so I kept it, as is.

11 years later, it has brought delight from a dedicated perfin collector,
and will make it into the latest catalogue.
It proves the sheet was folded during puncture, and a wonky die.

I felt vindicated, and joyous on the result.

I definitely do not want to be knows as a stamp ripper. ;). So far I have kept all of my partial sheets, pairs, blocks in tact and will continue to do so.

Great! tread your own path,
No doubt it will evolve over time.

Best thing is to begin as a WW collector, then as time evolves,
you'll find yourself gravitating to certain countries, as a specialisation.

Un poco mas. :)
Note: I realize that I might have one or a few misidentified. I also need to straighten my mounts - it's all good though - having fun.

Looks like your having a great time. You have a very good start n the U.S. collection. Thanks for sharing.