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Post by worldwideward on Jan 30, 2023 18:21:09 GMT
I collect worldwide used stamps, and I'd like to sort large mixtures by country. I could use ice-cube trays, but they're only a dozen countries each. I'd like a couple of hundred compartments, ideally. I've searched Amazon, but the compartments in their trays are larger than necessary, and, again, too few.
How do you other worldwiders sort your mixtures by country?
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stainlessb
Member 
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,639
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Jan 30, 2023 19:03:57 GMT
There are parts tray/drawers made commercially that would be large enough (Vidmar), but I would imagine these might be too large and a bit expensive Something like this might be affordable, and I'm sure you could get more dividers I almost think this might be something you would need to make? Some basic woodworking skills, wood glue and an afternoon! I would think 1" or 1-1/2" strips (most big box hardware stores sell quater and hlaf sheets of 1/2" (or maybe even 1/8" ply and will cut , somethimes for a small additional fee). a 24" square 'flat" with ~1-1/2 x 1-1/2" compartments would give you roughly a 15 x 15 (225) good luck in your quest! |
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Post by uppercanadian on Jan 30, 2023 19:13:42 GMT
Hello WorldWideWard, I have a fairly larger desk known as a "tanker". It usually allows me the room to sort through worldwide mixtures. I sort them in small piles alphabetically. My next sortation level is by country. I have some clear plastic boxes which fits legal-sized envelopes quite nicely. Each envelope has a country name on it, sorted alphabetically. When the piles get too big, I stop sorting and begin placing the piles into the respective country's envelope. Of course, a big table can work as well as a desk. Moving on, I eventually get to sorting each country. You may notice in the top left corner of the picture on my desk, I have a large paper sorting chart taped to my desk. I have years placed in each box. So first line begins 1940 to 1949; the next row of boxes is 1950 to 1959; etc. up to 2019. So when I am sorting at the country level, if I can see a date on the stamp, I place it in the corresponding "year box". That make cataloguing easier. I then catalogue the stamps, putting them into glassine envelopes, which are then placed into long red boxes. From those red boxes, the stamps either sit, for years sometimes decades, until I start putting that country in its it own album. Below picture is my desk where I am sorting out a pre-soaked world lot.  |
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philatelia
Member
Captain Jack - my best kiloware find ever!
Posts: 3,404
What I collect: Ireland, Japan, Scandy, USA, Venezuela, Vatican, Bermuda, Austria
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Post by philatelia on Jan 30, 2023 19:48:54 GMT
I’ve always found that I can sort MUCH faster if I PRESORT into categories. For a worldwide mix I might sort British Commonwealth, West Europe, East Europe, Africa, Asia… etc. then go back and sort those into countries. If there are too many piles the sorting takes a lot longer because you have to hunt for the correct pile.
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Post by uppercanadian on Jan 30, 2023 20:25:05 GMT
I’ve always found that I can sort MUCH faster if I PRESORT into categories. For a worldwide mix I might sort British Commonwealth, West Europe, East Europe, Africa, Asia… etc. then go back and sort those into countries. If there are too many piles the sorting takes a lot longer because you have to hunt for the correct pile. You are absolutely right Philatelia. I get some huge lots, like a garbage bag full of stamps. Most of them are still on piece, but a lot is not. So I will do a pre-sort as you say. For me, living in Canada, it seems that half of the worldwide lot I pick up is Canada, and another 20% is the USA. So I sort out those two first as a PRESORT. |
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eggdog
Member
I want a new Harley!
Posts: 464
What I collect: It's complicated....
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Post by eggdog on Jan 30, 2023 21:21:29 GMT
Pretty much the same here. By continent, then into large glassine envelopes (6" x 9" or 6½" x 10" or whatever they are; I bought 1,000 of them years ago and haven't looked at the label since). Then, one continent at a time (Atlantic/Caribbean and Pacific islands count as "continents" here), and then those piles go into glassine envelopes of an appropriate size or else into some 9" x 13" storage boxes reserved for the places I'm most interested in. My large surfaces tend to get covered by random objects without my knowledge  , but the system works pretty well for me. |
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Post by worldwideward on Jan 31, 2023 19:55:57 GMT
Thanks so much for all your ideas! The presorting sounds essential; I hadn't thought of that. I think I'll go with the Colnect continents first: Africa, Asia, Europe, Americas, and Oceania. Then I'll sort each of those into countries alphabetically (only 26 compartments needed), then sort the contents of each compartment by country. The initial sort would just be 5 piles, and the others could be done using some trays like these. I can now proceed fearlessly, thanks to your suggestions. |
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373 
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on Jan 31, 2023 20:03:00 GMT
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, but the system works pretty well for me.