Hello From Snowy Michigan

Hi all from snowy Michigan!

New to this due to inheriting a collection and trying to categorize and evaluate. I am new and starting my journey. There is so much to learn from hinges to perfins I am discovering. My main question at this moment is what do what I do with hinged stamps that have come loose from their mountings? One set seems like mountings on old timey photo albums and this other is in book form from 1938. Thanks and I look forward to all the learning.

Any chance you could post a scan or quick close-up photo of what you are grappling with in the two cases you are confronting?

Welcome from a fellow Michigander!

Yes, a few pictures would really help. Many photo albums and some stamp albums are not safe for housing stamps on a long-term basis. A quick look at some pics would help us determine what you're working with and how best to proceed from a conservation standpoint.

Regards,
Greg

Welcome.
Don

Welcome!!

Welcome!

Dale

I'm not certain I know exactly how to upload. I have two books of international stamps (never heard of some of the countries) and one US book but most of the US are saved in envelopes either cellophane of paper (they are all labelled with the Scott #). So should these stay in this condition or should I remove them and re-catalog. There is just so much so I am sure I will have many years of entertainment.

2 cent George Washington Stamps can be quite challenging.

Welcome to the forum! very nice stamps - looking forward to seeing more of your collection.

Nora

Welcome.

Helder.

good morning and welcome

Proper posting of the images is a daunting task, but you are off to a good start. I am challenged with the media and am learning,too.
Welcome to the challenge and enjoy learning about the hobby.

raypie,



Welcome from another Michigander!

You have a nice start to an interesting hobby! The first rule of stamp collecting is that there are no rules. You can collect whatever and however you wish.

I would suggest you get some basic tools though: stamp tongs, magnifier, a perforation gauge and learn how to watermark.

How collectors store and display their collections is all over the place: stock books, vario sheets, commercial albums, Steiner pages or make your own pages. You can use stamp hinges or mounts (clear, black, open top or split back) We all have our favorites.

I would suggest searching some of the topics here. There is a lot of good information and the members are always willing to help.

Enjoy!
Dan

To return to your original question, Raypie, I suspect that the album of black quadrilled pages you show in the photograph is old acid paper. And with some of the stamps coming off their hinges and at risk for damage, I think you would not want to re-hinge them into the same album at this point.

You might want to get yourself some vario pages, if only as a temporary aid for transferring and sorting, first of the stamps in this album, and then later of others. The vario sheets fit in standard 3 ring binders and let you visually appreciate what you've got. You can then make a more informed decision about whether you want to buy an album for one or two countries for which you have deeper accumulations, or which you really like. Or go for a worldwide album.... Or maybe you'll really like the Varios and want to stick with them for a time.

In the end, even if you move into albums, having a binder with say 10 or 20 vario sheets can be very helpful for wrangling duplicates, or as a holding area while sorting, etc.

Enjoy and keep us posted.

Thank you everybody for the information. I'm currently sorting many individual stamps. I am scanning them and creating a spreadsheet to record some pertinent information. Is it ok to store these individual stamps in little plastic baggies or should I use the albums earlier mentioned.

Thanks

Looks like you're off to a very good start!

Keep us posted on your progress.

Regards,
Greg

When using the plastic baggies you mentioned, try to avoid damaging the perforations on the stamps - some of which look quite nice.
Kind of like the Hippocratic oath - do no harm.
Collectors usually use glassine envelopes which are stiffer and tend to prevent slumping and banging.

check back in when you feel the inclination.