How To Stop My Stamps In Mounts From Moving Around

My Scott specialty pages 2-post Canal Zone collection has arrived. Formed in the 60's to 80's. Pages and black mounts top loaded are excellent but older type mounts. Soft not stiff. The stamps arrived scattered. I have a Scott specialty binder arriving soon. How best to keep stamps from moving while turning pages and especially when the day comes to sell at auction? I have never used page protectors. Remember reading here about air flow/breathing. Thoughts?

I use page protectors in my 400 albums.
Be cognisant of advice from Don and others.
Mine do not move at all, in the protectors. (all "open top mounts")
excepting Souvenir sheets

I fee they do breathe, but I have the albums opened all the time
updating stamps from my swaps.

No adverse effects so far after 15-20 years
(Not that I can notice)

It is my decision to persist.

Biggest advantage is adding Steiner Pages to albums at will
Just pop in a new sheet.

Eg: Hungary 5 albums, Australia 8 albums, Romania 7 albums.

Protectors are expensive.

My Canal Zone collection has 25 pages.

I use "Heavyweight Premium" circa $23 per 100
Lighter polypropylene are cheapest at $5 / 100
but I find the pages buckle with constant use, of the album
they are very thin.

Perhaps if you decide to use for auction
leave a note explaining the protectors only used to present
the lot, to prevent marks and damage and should be
used with professional advice for long time preservation.

I have used "search" and found some of the threads on the negs of page protectors. Don and others. I would rather not use them to have easy access to the stamps. 2-post binders as I remember from the past are a bit of a pain even with just 25 pages.

Fair enough.
It is the individuals decision,
esp after due research.
Good Luck.

No decision made yet at all. Just some early thoughts and ideas. Listening to all you have to say. The protectors may be the way I would send to auction house to keep stamps from moving. They may appreciate that.

Rather than enclosing the whole page in those sleeves, with all their drawbacks (auction houses and prospective bidders won't thank you for them), would individual mylar sheets over the front of the page work with your album and pages?

Not sure how turning the pages in the binder will turn out yet. The auction house sent the pages rather loosely sandwiched between cardboard. Perhaps a tighter fitting envelope (and cardboard sandwiched in the envelope) ? would keep the stamps from slipping out of the mounts? They did not use an envelope but used a small USPS box.

I have never seen protective sleeves for the Scott Specialty pages? The closest is to put in a mint sheet album since sleeves are over size and open top and side.

Unless the mounts are worn and slightly broken, I think it was just sloppy handling somewhere along the way that caused the stamps to slip. I've seen collections with top loading mounts shipped in perfect shape, I've seen ones with lots of stamps scattered in the packaging. And either of those have been a few album pages in a manila folder in a kraft envelope.

When sending it off, I'd remove the binder, back the pages up with some solid cardboard and wrap tightly. It's out of your control once it leaves your hands. I recall a time when the front door of an auction house slammed shut and on the counter was left a U-shaped package by the UPS guy. It used to be a 1/4"+ thick bronze plaque made from zeppelin fittings, placed by the (idiot) shipping clerk between two flimsy cardboards and wrapped in brown paper. It turned out it got wrapped around some conveyor belt roller. So insure or register, too.

This makes me believe this a "new to you" collection. If the mounts pop loose, that can be related to how the prior owner(s) applied the mounts. If you lick'em enough they will never stick.

As to top loaded mounts, if one turns the album upside down (mount opening down) wait for the leaves to equalize and then gently tap the binder down a few time, or using more force, you should be able to get may stamps to fall from the mounts. Solution, when the stamps are in the mounts properly, keep album upright or flat as in reading a book but do not invert nor tap when inverted. With page protectors, the stamps are more likely to stay safely with the page even is slipped from the mount.

Album should be stored upright in such a manner that the pages are not pressed together due to compaction. This allow good air circulation and reduces pressure on the stamp gum for mint goodies; especially in the humid parts of the world. The pages with stamps should not cause the album covers to extend open wider than the spine. I also recommend 'dust' or 'slip' covers which protects from dust and compaction as well as assists keeping the album upright on a shelf and if stacked flat on a table for a time with weight above.

I use split back mounts most often to prevent the issue.

I want to thank each of you for the giving of your experience and advice. I will learn much when I insert pages into binder and know how to proceed. If not, i'll be back!

Just did some practice page turning sans binder. Stamps held in the mounts.

Shipping packaging problem due to not sandwiching the pages between the cardboard tighter.

Pages to binder next upon arrival.

>>>>>I use split back mounts most often to prevent the issue.<<<<<

Same here. I use Prinz mounts and have very little if any shift


Peter