Documenting Your Collection - Part 2

Last week I talked about the various reference sources that I used to document my stamps. They all have their ups and downs, their strengths and weaknesses. Today’s topic is about the actual documentation of your stamps and how I do it. Of course I’d like to state again that this is my method, you might want to use it or not, but it’s the easiest for me to do so. Let’s get to it then.

The first question arises of what method you’d like to use to document the stamps, whether on the Computer or on paper. My preference is on paper however, there are merits to doing it on the computer. It might be easier to place your reference books on the computer desk with your stamps and type them up as you find them plus the entertainment value as you can watch shows or movies while doing your stamps makes the appeal better. If you use a laptop then you can leisurely do so anywhere in the house and are not stuck in one place. However, I still prefer the good ole paper and pen method. Not only does it ensure protection from sudden crashes and unsaved work but also give you a sense of accomplishment as fill page upon page of your stamps.

I use a register that I bought on one of my many trips to Pakistan for my documentation. The brand of the register is “Vogue Special Register”. You can certainly find other brands in dollar stores here, made in China, but I still prefer the feel and look of registers from Pakistan. The amount of pages in them, which is not available here, is through the roof. I myself have an 800 page one which is 2/3’s full and has Africa, Middle East, Central Asia and now Asia stamps documented in it. By the time I reach the end of the register, I could very well have finished Asia and Oceania/Australia and be starting on Europe. It’s excellent in my opinion for this purpose. 

The tool most commonly used on the computer is Excel. It is a spreadsheet program with a finite number of columns and rows which can be modified to fit all sorts of information. In short it’s the electronic method of the way I do it and it certainly is a fine way to do so. I plan to use it after my register is completed and I am awaiting the next one to arrive. Not only is having different versions a good idea, for insurance purposes or for the purposes in regards to a will, but it also helps you in searching for one specific type of stamp from your thousands of different stamp. This however, does not mean I am advocating solely for the use of Excel, but I am giving options of how a person could use these tools combined with each other to perform this task.

Getting into the documentation itself is not that hard once you get into it. On one of my pages of the register I draw five lines which will eventually contain a specific piece of information about that stamp. In order they are “Scott #”, “Series”, “Number” and finally “Value”. You may notice (from the picture) that there is one column which is not titled. This isn’t an oversight but rather its purpose is to write the second Scott number that is given with the stamp. This number will be explained lower down in this article.

After titling the columns I get into the actual documenting of the stamp itself. The process for that depends on various factors, the country evolved, the stamp and its variations, if the year is written on the stamp or not and finally how easy it is to find that stamp. For example, People’s Republic of China’s stamps did not have dates added until fairly recently (80’s I remember but I might be wrong), which makes finding the stamps from 1949 to 1979 fairly hard to do due to the amount of stamps that it released. This takes patience and as the saying going patience is a virtue. Some countries, like the US for example, have dates on the majority of their stamps which makes it a breeze to search and find them.

There are a variety of things which I found quite useful in the search of stamps in catalogues if the date is not present. The first is to try and date the stamp yourself. This, for me, is a relatively easy thing to do since it requires that you look at the stamp and then suggest an age for that stamp. History also plays a huge role too in deciding where a stamp belongs.  Does it look old? Does it have the coloring of the 1960’s and 1970’s? Does it look modern? Viewing the stamp makes it much easier to tell the approximate age of the same.  Of course guessing is not the only way you can find what era they came from, as there are various indicators which point the way.

The first indicator is the post mark. If it has seen postal usage then most likely it would have the date on the cancellation. This is your easiest indicator to tell about what year it came from. However, if it says for example “1985”, this does not necessarily mean that the stamp was issued in 1985. You should look one or two years back or even three to find the stamp. If there is no cancellation on the stamp, then it’s a combination of guessing and detective work t find the right version of the stamp. Just remember to look carefully and not to rush. It’s more vital you get it right the first time than have to come around and change it over and over again.

Back on to the documentation itself. Once you have found the stamp, as an example, I used the Mount Fuji stamp record since I’m currently documenting Japan and I have various versions of this stamp, you can see that it was issued from 1930 to 1937. Under the Mount Fuji stamp picture you can see it has been given a marking of A49. This is the first value that is written under the column “Scott #” in the register. The second value “Series” is either the title of the stamp, in this case “Mount Fuji” or in other cases at the bottom of the columns of values in a stamp. So far we have filled out 2 of our 5 columns with valuable information which will help you find the stamp as you might have duplicates.

Then underneath you can see 6 columns of information pertaining to that stamp. You can see that the Scott # in the second column is there indicating that it is only for that stamp not for other stamps.  The first value is the second Scott # which is the blank space in my register. I could have titled it “Scott #” again, but I just left it blank because it more helpful for me. You might title it as “Cat. #” or anything that fits your fancy at that point.

 The third column contains the face value of the stamp that is what the stamp was bought for. In this case it ranges from “4s” all the way to “20s”. These are vital to know what value your stamp has. The fourth stamp is the color of the stamp. The fifth and sixth columns contain information about the value of the stamp itself, not the face value, but the market value. The 5^th column is the price for mint or never used stamps while the 6^th is for used stamps unless they are otherwise stated. In most cases unless the stamp is a rare one the values do not go above a $1.00. This information is entered in the “Value” field of the register.

The last column “Number” is the amount of that particular stamp that you have. It can be 0 (if you’re making a want list) or it can be any amount of the same version of the stamp you have. As an example, I’ve taken a picture of the stamp I’m currently searching. Having found it I can see it entitled “Rice Harvest” and is number “A83”. Once I’ve written it down, I search for more information I can see the other Scott # is 258 and that the value and color “1s” and “crimson” match that stamp that I have. Then I see the used value of only $0.20. Having this information I’ve then write it down and then move on to the next. The record I’ve written down is shown in the picture.

This is hard work, but very rewarding. Organizing your stamps and having good catalogue only makes your job much easier and more rewarding. In another post I’ll finish up talking about all the extra stuff I’ve missed about finding the stamp, such as “Perfs” as well as the tools that one should use when handling and writing about stamps. See you next time!

(Sorry about the pictures.)

Organizing your Stamp Collection - Part 1

The idea for this topic came to my mind recently and while thinking about it, I thought I might as well discuss the organizing of stamps as a basis before documenting begins. It is highly important to organize your collection so that you certainly enjoy and is easier for documenting when the time comes. Having stamps just in a stockbook at random will be extremely hard if you have more than 3 stockbooks worth of stamps. A well organized stamp collection not only makes your life much easier but looks better as well. Of course I’m going to discuss collections within stockbooks not albums as that is what I have. 

My method of organization, I feel, is much easier for the new beginners than for veterans although they can certainly still use this method. Feel free to tell me about how you organize your own collection!

For the first aspect I divide stamps by Continents. For those not in the know, there are 7 continents, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Europe and yes Antarctica as well. This makes sorting countries easier if you know the countries well enough or have a general idea of where they might be located. One of the biggest help, if your old school, is an atlas or if you prefer new technology Google “world map” and you should get a version of a map which would help you locate those mysterious countries that you are not familiar with.

Once you have sorted them into this larger structure, it is time to subdivide them into regions. This is a hard part, especially if you’re not familiar with the divisions within each continent. As an example, all of Asia is too large as a whole collection titled “ASIA” and finding a specific country will not be easy in this sort of collection. To make it easier for documentation and finding, subdivisions are necessary.  The question certainly arises on how this subdivision should take place. Below is my recommendation of how I do it and it is of course open to changes if they do not suit your needs or you find them weird.

Asia is a subdivided it into 5 divisions:

East Asia – Includes China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.                                                      

Southeast Asia – Includes Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

The Subcontinent – Includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.

Middle East – Includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine Territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Central Asia – Includes Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.

By subdividing like I’ve shown it is easier to add into the collection when you get a kiloware lot as well as making it easier to document as you can go region by region which puts less pressure on you and makes it seem less of a monumental task. These subdivisions also help you in figuring out where historical regions go; especially ones which do not exist anymore like the Indian states or French Indochina, into their proper places.

Using this organizational structure it is easier not only for documentation but will save you space and time when you get new stamps or when you want to show off your collection. It is a handy way to do it but I have to remind everyone that this is just my version of it, yours might be totally different or the same! I’ll continue this same topic this week, focusing on another area which is confusing, Africa! I’ll see you real soon!

Documenting Stamps - Part 1

Stamp collectors know the fun or sorting through new acquisitions to see what treasures they hold for their collection. However, the downside to this is the documentation of those same stamps which might take longer than the sorting itself! 

This topic is a 3 part series on how I document my stamps.  If there is a rule on how to document stamps, I have not seen anything of the sort. This method is my method, it may or may not work for you but I would recommend it to anyone who is interested. It requires a few basics to start the documentation so let’s get to it.

The first thing, besides stamps that is, is a good reference source. This comes in many different flavors so which ever works for you is the best. I personally use Scott’s Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, the 2008 edition, as well as Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 10 Russia, Part 16 Central Asia and Part 19 Middle East. There are also two other books that I use as reference guides, Unitrade’s Stamp Collector’s Handbook and Linn’s World Stamp Almanac Millennium Edition. These form the basis for my documentation needs.

There needs to be said a few words about the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogues however. I mainly collect Central Asia and the Middle East, while also collecting worldwide stamps, so these catalogues are vital to documentation if you collect this area. Part 19, Middle East, is superior to Scott’s for a couple of reasons. Firstly it lists many of the stamps from countries not listed by Scott or not accurately documented enough. This includes stamps from Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaima, Sharjah and its dependences, Aden and its two dependences, The Kathiri State of Seiyun and the Qu’aiti State in Hadhramaut, Ajman and Manama, Fujeira, South Arabia, the Trucial States, Umm Al Qiwain and finally Yemen of all flavors.

This not only allowed me to accurately find which weren’t actually stamps (also called Cinderella’s) and which were and furthered allowed me to fine tune my collection. If you collect the Middle East, I highly recommend that you buy this catalogue as a supplement or as a standalone to your documentation. I’ll list the ISBN numbers at the end of this post so that you can go to Amazon or your favorite bookseller and find it.

However, as much as I appreciate these catalogues, I high don’t recommend that you buy Part 16 Central Asia unless you collect the Middle East. It has a huge error which has duped me into buying it. The title “Central Asia” is incorrect. Instead of documenting what is accepted as Central Asia, it documents Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan which are not part of Central Asia at all. This shocked me as I was expecting to get all 5 Central Asian states (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) but instead got the three countries. The only silver lining is that if you collect Afghanistan then it lists many of the stamps which are not found in Scott’s once again. It’s a high useful tool, but if you’re looking for Central Asia exclusively do not get it.  The binding on the book is weak as well, and within a few buys of me buying it, the section starting with the table of contents till page 4 have separated from the binding and I don’t open it very far in the fear that more pages will become unstuck. Use with caution would be my advice.

If you are looking for Central Asia then you’ll have to get Part 10 Russia. Not only does it list Russia but it also lists former territories of the USSR as well. This is where you’ll find Central Asia. It also, like before, lists the stamps that Scott doesn’t list as well. It also lists Mongolia which is a bonus as well. If you collect this area, I highly recommend this book. Unlike Part 16, the binding seems to be better so there is no fear of it falling apart.

Finally we get to the Scott Catalogues. My edition is 2008 which is fairly old by now. I don’t expect to see a great change with the numbers of the newest editions and the only thing I would say might change is the values. They might rise and fall but as I’ve not done a comparison as of yet I don’t know what changes I can expect. Scott Catalogues are expensive so I was lucky that I acquired the complete collection of EBay in CD form. These I would say are a must have to document accurately. The listing are fairly well done and I do not have a hard time searching for many stamps however, a few odd ones still stump me.  

Lastly you do not have to buy the catalogues yourself, you might only need one volume if you collect a single country or do not have enough to buy the whole set in one go. There is another source where you can acquire it for free, that is your local library! They might have either the older ones or the newest ones in their system so you might get it for a couple of weeks to try it out. That’s what I did for some time. They also might sell the older sets so ask around your library when the newer editions are released.

The last two books the Unitrade’s Stamp Collector’s Handbook and the Linn’s World Stamp Almanac are reference guide that I use. They might or might not be helpful to you. Not only does it generally have  a list of identifiers which are vital is you get  a stamp entitled “SPIDAM FRAMCAOS”  and want to know what in the world it is (it’s actually French Sudan). I would not classify this as vital, since there are many forums for stamps where helpful people will identify stamps for you, but if you get tired of scanning and posting pictures, it is an easier way to go. A last note about the Linn’s World Stamp Almanac, my edition is the Millennium Edition meaning 2000, there might be a new version or there might be not. I haven’t checked. I feel that while I don’t really need the newest edition for the stamp identifiers or much of the information, such as postal history, if you feel there is some vital information that is out of date, then by all means buy a new edition. I only recommend this because of its vital identifiers which should not, in my opinion, be updated or different from newer editions, but I may be incorrect so look and see for yourself!

That’s all for this edition of Documenting your stamps. Next week the discussion will be about how to actually document stamps and what method should you use. See you next week!

Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogues

Part 10: Russia ISBN #: 978085259624

Part 16: Central Asia (Turkey, Iran, And Afghanistan) ISBN#: 9780852596234

Part 19: Middle East ISBN#: 9780852587194

Unitrade Stamp Collector’s Handbook ISBN#: 9781895909609

Linn’s World Stamp Almanac ISB N#: 09404043854