Plate Blocks - Album Storage

Advance apologies for a redundant topic.

I could not locate a specific answer.

I have a lot of plate blocks from 1970 and an old Harris Plate Block Album. Most are in mounts but not affixed to the album page.

How does one attach/secure the mounts onto the album page?


*** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. ***

Most mounds have adhesive - if that is missing or old one can use a gluestick

Peter

If the mounts are Showgard, Scott, or Prinz mounts they will have a split back. In this case, you can follow Peter's advice. You only need to apply moisture to several small areas of the mount, taking care to stay away from the cut edges.

If the mounts are sealed on all sides with a black paper backing (PM mounts), then you should remove the stamps from these unsuitable mounts by carefully cutting the edges of two adjacent sides of the mount (taking care to keep away from the perforations), and lifting them out with stamp tongs. In this case, you will need to buy some mounts, if you want to store the stamps in the album.

Moisten the upper part of the back of the mount since it already has adhesive on it. A non-slobbering tongue will work just fine. Less is better. And stay away from the edges of the mounts or moisture will ruin the stamps.

If there's no adhesive there, a glue stick will do just fine to hold mounts to the album page. You might experiment with a few different brands, but I'd look for glue suitable for mounting photos, and so on, as presumably that sort of glue wouldn't hurt the album pages over the years. The stamps are protected by the mounts (or I should hope so) so I wouldn't worry too much about them.

At the risk of being redundant, I use a glue stick - whether the mounts are gummed or not. I find I have better 'aim' with the glue stick than with my tongue, and since the glue stick isn't wet, its glue won't seep in through the sides of the mount and ruin the stamp. BE CAREFUL TO NOT RUN THE GLUE STICK OVER THE SPLIT IN THE MOUNT, THOUGH! THAT will likely cause glue to get inside the mount. Another thing I do is I only glue the TOP split half (For no particular reason, I always have the split go horizontally, so the two halves are a top and bottom half.) so I can still open the mount while it is glued in the album - that allows access to the stamp - I also find that this does NOT cause the stamp to fall out.

mooyrtmutt987: Having the split go horizontal is the default method and works well for most stamps and plate blocks. However, I have found that the really large vertical PBs of 12 and 20 work best with the slit running vertically. Ditto for PBs of 10 of large horizontal commemoratives, like my Louisiana Purchase PBs, which are too large to fit horizontally on a Scott page.

Haha, uboatnut! You are absolutely 100% right with something like what you've shown. What you are showing didn't even enter my mind. I collect up to 1964 (DOD for Gramp, who started the stamp collecting 'craze' in the family, and which I followed up on) since I felt compelled to pick a cutoff point. So... I never had to worry about the greatly oversized PBs starting in the 1970's, and I was never rich enough to get the kind that you are showing. I have a particular fondness for the 1901 Pan-Ams, and I have a few PB's, but none are the full sides of the sheets - just too much coin for me.

That is a beautiful 3c Louisiana Purchase PB you have there! Incredibly large top margin, too! Somehow, I get a big kick out of getting the largest sheet margins possible. Way back then, there was so much variation that it makes for an interesting search. Like I said, it's a beauty! Thank you for sharing.

I don't like split-back mounts. Too many bad experiences with stuck stamps and marks from where the split is, plus hard to load/unload. What are people's preferences for the best top load clear mounts (secure, easy to load). I want ones that hold the stamps well and don't slip around easily. I usually use hingeless SAFE Dual albums, but they don't print albums for several areas I'm interested in pursuing (like deep back of book USA and U.S. Possessions for example), so I need to find a mount I'm comfortable with (and can use). My hands are not stable enough for most of the old-style or split-back mounts.

Are there any hingeless pre-printed U.S. Plate Block Albums out there?

Aren't all mounts pretty much the same these days? I just buy strips of Hawid or "Hawid-style" mounts in bulk and cut them to size. Large lots of mounts often turn up in the "accessories" section of auctions.

It looks like showgard are split-back and are not "hawid" style. Apparently more popular and less expensive. I'll go with hawid if I go that way and start using mounts. Thanks!

Two cautions;
Split back mounts can damage mint stamps/blocks by impressing a line across the gum. This typically occurs when the stamp album is compressed by improper storage (laying the album down instead of standing it up) OR is the album is squeezed in any way (too tight in slipcase or between other albums on shelf).

Glue sticks may or may not outgas, use at your own risk and check the condition of your stamps periodical if you use them.
Don