What Album Format Do I Use?

Hello:

So, I've sorted all my stamps and am now looking at how to store / display. Several questions looking for guidance / suggestions, please. After a lot of research, I've decided that not only can I not afford the +$2000 for the fancy albums with the fancy pages, but they don't seem to have the pages for what I need. Therefore, I'm looking at printing my own pages. I won't mind paying for the right program / downloads.

1. I wanted to list / display my stamps by the year. Seems easy enough except for when I run into variations. One stamp, 4+ variations. Best example is Canada 1951 with King George VI. There are several variations of almost every one. On most album pages, it has just the main stamp. Some aren't from the same year. If I display them by year issued, the set would be spread over several years. If I print off a KG page only, with all the variations, where would it go in the order of the pages? And then the precancels, perfs, etc. of the same stamp. Do I print off a separate Back of Book type section? I can't find pages that have that as option. And, I prefer the little squares to be illustrated, even in colour if possible.

2. When it comes to the stamps themselves, do I hinge them onto these pages or do a mount? Wouldn't the stamps lose some value being hinged? Yes, they're used and soaked, but they're very fine. And should I only mount the regular stamp or the ones with the selvedge still attached. What about where I have a strip of 4 or 5 of the stamp, all still attached? How would I show those? Stock page? Is there any value in the stamps with the selvedge attached, or from a corner, or the strip? And there are some common stamps that I have several dozen copies. I have them in a small glassine and then put them into a pocket from a hockey card page. It has 9 pockets and perfectly holds a small glassine.

Thank you for any help. If I thought I was overwhelmed sorting out all this stuff, I'm even more so by figuring out how to mount / store / display them all. I got a huge collection from my Dad, to add to the little collection I started with him when I was little. It also has corner blocks but I just list them by year into a 4x photo page. Even FDC. I want to sort and organize as I will be retiring soon and want to sell.

Cdnchatter, welcome to the forum.
Just for your information, this forum is full of suggestions for the items you are inquiring. Use the "search" button on every page, close to where you log in.
Having said that, you seem to collect very close to the way I collect. Only my collection is a series of coil stamps from the U.S. with all it's varieties.
But basically it should be close to similar.
So I not only print my own pages, I also design them, and I use a free program called "Album Easy" which you can find here: www.thestampweb.com . I have used it since it"s inception, and it is fairly easy to use.
As far as mounting goes, hinges would be OK for used stamps.


Peter

Take a long look at AlbumEasy.
https://www.thestampweb.com/albumeasy


You can either make your own pages using the FREE AE software, or you can download the FREE album pages that others have made; use them as is or get the AE software and modify them as you wish.
https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free-downloads

Remember, if you use mounts instead of hinges, you'll need larger frame sizes.

Used stamps will lose no value from being hinged, unless you make a real mess of the hinging. I presume we aren't talking about things of real financial value.

Cdnchatter: Welcome to the forum. The nice thing about stamp collecting is there are no rules as far as I am concerned. Design your pages anyway you like. You only have to please yourself. If you don't like the way they look, just redo them. Since your stamps are mostly used, hinging won't affect their value unless you plan on using something like Duck Tape. Good luck and enjoy the hobby.

Sounds like you are making great progress! I agree with what others have said regarding Album Easy. You will find that there are albums posted there for free download ready to print or you can learn to create your own using the samples as templates.

That took me a little while, but after I got the hang of it I can generate pages of my own pretty quickly. I love that freedom and it allows me to put all kinds of information about the stamps that I'm interested in that a pre-defined album won't have.

Of course that take a little more time and depending on your own goals and desires you may prefer just downloading some of the nice ones already posted there.

Be sure to use good quality paper for your pages - there are several good discussions on this forum about that. And I invest in a nice binder for mine -- Vario from Lighthouse.

As for how to mount them, the way I do it is if it is a mint stamp, then I put it in a mount. For those that are used I use hinges unless it is something pre 1900 or so. For any used stamps that may have some value I use mounts for those too. There are a lot of different approaches to that you can find discussed as well.

Good luck!