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 5th column is the price for
mint or never used stamps while the 6th 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.)
