Storing stamps

Hi,
First, a little about me. I collected stamps about 20 years ago when I was a child. I lost interest eventually and sold my collection a while back on Craigslist. Meanwhile, I really got into coin collecting, and a lot of the coins I buy on eBay came with neat stamps, so I've been putting them aside. Recently I acquired a few larger groups and I decided I wanted to organize them somehow. Back when I had my collection 20 years ago, I had a three ring binder with paper pages that I used hinges to affix the stamps to. I was trying to find something similar, and while I found the hinges, I can't find paper pages. I was looking on Amazon and eBay and don't find a product that looks right. I'd like them to be just blank pages that I can use to organize them however I want. I don't plan to get really serious about stamp collecting and will be more of a casual collector who gets a few stamps off of the mail, so I don't want to spend a lot of money organizing them. I have a lot of U.S. stamps but am more interested in worldwide collections in the long term. I also don't intend to buy more valuable stamps, so I'm not worried about advanced methods of preservation. Can anyone help point me in the right direction?

 

Welcome to the forum HistoryGuy.
Maybe you can try posting on the "looking for" section on online shopping sites.
I use stock books and albums for my collection.

 

Welcome to the forum HG, I too prefer stockbooks

 

What exactly is a stockbook? Remember I'm very new at this.

 

Thanks for the links and the welcome. So do the stamps just sit in little pockets in these books? What keeps them in there? Is it easy to see the whole stamp? Is this what most collectors use?

 

Thanks for the tips. I'll check it out.

 

... I don't plan to get really serious about stamp collecting and will be
more of a casual collector who gets a few stamps off of the mail, so I
don't want to spend a lot of money organizing them. I have a lot of U.S.
stamps but am more interested in worldwide collections in the long
term. I also don't intend to buy more valuable stamps, so I'm not
worried about advanced methods of preservation

Years ago stamp collctors first sorted and put the the stamp in packets/envelopes/or other holder. Then when they selected the best of these stamps they put them in a display album, nowadays called a stock to easily view.
Should the bug really bite you purchase stockbooks or holding pages.

While first sorting you can trott off to the library to dicover the values of your stamps in catalogue and read all about stamps on the first couple of pages of any catalogue and your away.

 

A bunch of the stamps I got recently from a relative are in envelopes, but I'd prefer a system where I can look at them without a lot of effort. I'm the kind of person who has to organize everything, and having something in a pile doesn't work for me.

 

That is exactly right, a pile is of little use.

Sort into Countries while doing that, into mint and used and damaged (as fillers).
The Mint perhaps into Mint Never Hinged others only Mint
The Used you can already grade into clear on the noser cancels or clear corner or part clear cancel.
A better cancel of a stamp may always be found - that is what should go eventually into an album.

In an album you have overview of what you have and with the help of a catalogue you find sets and leave gabs to find later.
while you look into the catalogue you may discover sets, other interesting sets and their values.
Leave poorer stamp examples in the back of a stockbook where you can see what needs to be replaced and viola - you have a little collection to show.

When you have sorted from the start good quality stamps you are way ahead of many collectors.

 

I agree with the majority, stockbooks are so versatile.

 

Another question, unless you think I should start a new thread. Removing stamps from envelopes. I was reading the FAQ section on this board and someone mentions soaking them, but before I do that I want to know the specifics. How exactly do you soak them? Total immersion? Do you leave them sit there? Does the water temperature matter? How do you remove them? Do you need to dry them a certain way? And then what about the modern stamps? It seems like people have trouble removing those.

 

Self adhesives are a nightmare :angry: You only need to soak stamps off if they are still on paper. Warm to hot water is best as it softens the adhesive and the stamps should just float free. Do be careful when taking them out of the water as they will be very wet and liable to tear or stretch, also try not to put any in that are on colored paper as the dye might run and contaminate other stamps.
Have a test run with some low value stuff until you get the hang of it

Once the stamps are off paper (do this as you are going along) place them on kitchen roll or a clean cloth (Not wool or any that fibers come off) let them dry naturally, you will notice that some will curl but that is not a problem.
Once dry you can press them flat between heavy books
Hope that this helps

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Hi and Wleome, HistoryGuy.

You're fine to keep posting in this thread if you like. We tend to be relaxed about such things

Here's a detailed instruction I posted in the How0-to thread about soaking stamps, to add to the advice already given to you:

http://www.stamp-shop.com/dummies/soaking-stamps.html

 

Bang on, could not have put it better.

 

When are we going to see a nice colour avatar from you History?

 

Thanks Sarah, and tu7k, if I end up posting more often I'll get around to it. Right now I'm just dipping my toe in the water.

 

Dipping your toe :huh: :huh: DIVE right on in the sharks are friendly LOL