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Post by exwhyzed on Dec 18, 2022 0:01:23 GMT
Hi All, I sometimes come across cheap vintage stamp albums on ebay, but it looks like the spaces for the stamps are too close together to use stamp mounts. Does anyone have an example they can show where they've added stamp mounts to one of these old albums? I've downloaded free stamp album pages from thestampweb and the spaces are much more spaced out to allow for mounts. Here's a picture of the album is was looking at online, with the too close together spaces. The only reason i'm considering this album is i like the border, and the "aged paper" look, since the paper is in fact old.  |
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tomiseksj
Moderator 
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,385 
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Dec 18, 2022 0:16:21 GMT
exwhyzed, Consider using clear, open top mount strips cut to the size of the row (I do that with mint stamps I place in my Scott International albums).
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Post by exwhyzed on Dec 18, 2022 0:52:00 GMT
exwhyzed , Consider using clear, open top mount strips cut to the size of the row (I do that with mint stamps I place in my Scott International albums). Thanks tomiseksj! So just to confirm, are you 1. Cutting 1 long strip across the row, or 2. Cutting the height of the strip to match the row, and then cutting individual pieces for each stamp? |
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banknoteguy
Member 
Posts: 324
What I collect: 19th Century US, High denomination US (> $1), 19th century covers US, Indian Feudatory States and most recently I acquired a BigBlue [with about 5,000 stamps] and pristine pages.
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Post by banknoteguy on Dec 18, 2022 2:23:56 GMT
I have tried one long (row sized) clear mount. It works OK for thinnish albums, not so good for a BigBlue.
What I have found works best is to cut clear mounts to size for each stamp [well the ones I want to mount rather than hinge]. Sometimes I will cut the mount slightly undersize widthwise and slightly longer height wise. I mix hinges with mounts. In my BigBlue, I only mount stamps worth more than $5.
This is an example in an old Scotts American where I keep my W/Fs [for now]:
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hdm1950
Member
Posts: 1,889
What I collect: I collect world wide up to 1965 with several specialty albums added due to volume of material I have acquired. At this point I am focused on Canada and British America. I am always on the lookout for stamps and covers with postmarks from communities in Queens County, Nova Scotia. I do list various goods including stamps occasionally on eBay as hdm50
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Post by hdm1950 on Dec 18, 2022 3:37:36 GMT
This is always a dilemma. Much like banknoteguy I use a combination of hinges and mounts in my old Scott albums. When I see the lovely pages being created now by collectors I realize mine are a chaotic mess sometimes. I am more concerned with protecting the better used and anything that is MNH then I am about presentation. In the end you really have to do what suites you. |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,700
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Dec 18, 2022 11:16:21 GMT
Obviously the original designers assumed everyone was using hinges. These layouts do not look well with black mounts unless you use the strip approach.
The album page shown has wrinkles so it is aged. You can take pages on thestampweb when source is provided and change the border to something more ornate with a few simple syntax changes.
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tomiseksj
Moderator
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,385
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Dec 18, 2022 13:00:34 GMT
Thanks tomiseksj! So just to confirm, are you 1. Cutting 1 long strip across the row, or 2. Cutting the height of the strip to match the row, and then cutting individual pieces for each stamp? I'll always cut the height to match the row. I'm not always consistent with the width. For shorter rows, I'll cut to the length. For longer rows, I'll cut in 2 or more segments (to allow for curvature of the pages) and abut the segments. If I only have a single stamp for a row, I'll just cut the mount for that stamp. |
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DrewM
**Member** 
Posts: 32
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Post by DrewM on Apr 16, 2024 2:00:30 GMT
Older albums like that Scott International album were designed to be used with hinges long before stamp mounts were ever even imagined. So the spaces are tight, much narrower than you'll need if you use mounts.
You can use mounts if you cut them very narrowly -- the width of the stamp plus a tiny bit more -- but . . . that means if you cut mounts with the stamp in them, you'll be cutting the mounts close to the edges of each stamp. Give that some thought. It's a bit risky to say the least. I wouldn't do it. Or cut the mounts without stamps inside them and just hope you have the size correct. Alternately, you can cut one long strip for each line of stamps, but frankly, I find that look pretty bad (for some reason) as if the collector was too lazy to cut individual mounts. And strips like that stiffen the page up awkwardly which is especially noticeable when you turn the pages. Cover a page with strips of mounts and try to turn it. It's going to be pretty stiff. If you do use mounts, individual mounts look like you took more time, so they look better, and the pages stay a little more flexible as you turn them.
If you end up using mounts in that album, I'd use clear mounts, not black. Black mounts emphasize a great deal any unevenness of mounts. It's more noticeable than with clear mounts. I've seen so many older albums filled with unevenly mounted black mounts that make the presentation look bad that it's not funny.
Finally, any modern mounts on older pages like that (which aren't heavy stock paper) without a lot of breathing room between stamps are not just going to both weigh down the page and cramp up the stamp arrangement, but the album may also bulge a lot. In a sewn-binding album, as many older albums used to be, even lots of stamps on hinges make the pages bulge a little so they're much thicker at the open end than at the spine. Adding mounts will make the pages bulge out even more badly. It's one of the main drawbacks of sewn albums that led collectors to move to loose-leaf albums where you can remove some pages to account for the growing thickness. If you add even more thickness from all those mounts, you can imagine the enormous amount of bulging that binder is going to end up with. Not pretty I'd say. I never use mounts in my Scott International album. Years ago, I decided to do use only hinges in them, and I'm glad I did. I do have a lot of Scott Specialty albums for my better stamps for a lot of countries, and with them I put stamps in mounts. But stamps from all the other countries I don't focus on, and for my duplicate stamps, all go into the International album on hinges, not mounts. On hinges, they fit on the pages just fine (if a little tight) since that's what they were designed for. Plus my Internationals are all loose-leaf two-post albums which helps keep any bulging problem under control by my not filling them with too many pages.
And it's also a lot cheaper with hinges instead of mounts. A hinge costs a fraction of a cent. Mounts costs 5-7c per mount. Times a few thousand, that adds up. |
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scub
Member
Posts: 202
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
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Post by scub on Apr 16, 2024 7:07:26 GMT
I usually use homemade pages and attach the stamps with hinges. I have an old "Speaking Berenz" album that I use. Unfortunately there are foxings, so I use mounts here to protect the stamps. Judge for yourself whether it looks nice.  Everything said above is true. The sides bulge and become stiff. Every solution is a compromise. |
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marbles
Member
Posts: 101
What I collect: Nothing too expensive for commonwealth
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Post by marbles on Apr 16, 2024 9:39:43 GMT
I have been taking the stamps off the pages when badly foxed as the stamps look okay and put them on the black things but they are costing a fortune. I personally don’t want the fixing near the good stamps as I am not sure if they will come into contact with the stamps. Being a newbie I am not sure if I am doing the right thing. Some stamps are worth money, I am just waiting for the next batch to arrive to change over.
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scub
Member
Posts: 202
What I collect: WW (without restrictions)
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Post by scub on Apr 16, 2024 10:08:05 GMT
You won't know whether you're doing the right thing with the stamps until after 50 or 100 years. There were hinges that left oil stains, there were stock albums that changed the color of the stamps, etc. The change often only becomes apparent after decades. I read that the paper on which the stamps are printed decomposes itself in 200-300 years. Let's enjoy our treasures while they still exist.  |
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,700
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Apr 18, 2024 10:31:30 GMT
I would use the strip concept rather than individual mounts.
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