crisger
Member 
Artist and Digital Creations
Posts: 102 
What I collect: Japan 1890s -2012
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Post by crisger on Apr 9, 2022 21:46:53 GMT
I am reviving my Japanese Stamp Collection after some 40 years of absence. My original album was a handsome specialty one in a very attractive paper cover i got for Christmas back in the 1960s. I now have had to dig into auctions to find the same type of two square pillar original Scott Albums, which has had some advantages as they came with good stamps in them, but many had been culled before re-sale... but I also have the issue of getting the supplements for the newer years since my two cover only up until around the 1990s.
I found they ARE available, and I purchased one set to see how they are. Fortunately, they have holes for both binding systems, the new three-ring binders which I do not like at all, and the original 2 square holed ones. So that is ok, but I noticed that the paper they are printed on now, is about a thickness thinner and less good quality paper. I was in book publishing for some years as work and know about such things and notice. them. I guess I can try to find older sets that are unused or salvage from auctions... but it is a bit worrying. I wonder if other Scott Album users have noticed the same? I am hopeful the paper is archival and acid free but will for now use what I can from the two books I have and then add from the new ones which are not cheap, but I am glad they are still in print.
Chris
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,334
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Apr 10, 2022 11:16:19 GMT
I had not heard that Scott had changed their paper as of late. You can email them your observations and see what they say. Many of their pages are now print on demand.
The whole acid free archival paper discussion is endless and in my opinion should not be a top worry. The focus should be on storage conditions and mounting. If you use mounts, the stamps do not even touch the paper. But then people do not mount properly - too much moisture. If you uses hinges, hinges cause immediate damage and again too much moisture is another issue.. If the argument is that the stamp is not expensive enough for a mount, I would not be worrying about expensive paper.
I have a pH testing pen so I can check material. Glassine can degree over time and I see a lot of the manila stock pages testing as acidic.
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crisger
Member
Artist and Digital Creations
Posts: 102
What I collect: Japan 1890s -2012
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Post by crisger on Apr 16, 2022 15:19:29 GMT
Well it will be time soon to order Suppliment Scott packs for Japan from around 1990 to 2012. I found them at NOLA, and have managed to open my 2 older Scott Square Post Books i was able to purchase on Auction and start re arrainging the pages, I have a new Scott Suppliment 2 square post binder for the overflow which i expect to be considerable for these pages add up fast as Japan has been making more and more stamps each year as the years go by. so step by step ...and when time allows. Getting the pages is a big step, but the collection of stamps i have found and obtained from some of the good sources and dealers is adding up.
I am glad Scott is still in business it must be a huge job to keep up with issues i wonder how they do that? i am wondering if the Philatelic departmetns of the various countries sends Scott, and Minkus and others regular digital images and data on new issues. Regardless, I am glad we have that resource to keep our albums up to date or to whatever date we collect to.
Chris
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angore
Member
Posts: 5,334
What I collect: WW, focus on British Empire
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Post by angore on Apr 17, 2022 10:25:37 GMT
Scott had an article in Linn's recently on stamp acquisition. They have standing orders from many countries and use third party companies for others. They have had challenges getting stamps from various countries. COVID has been one issue_ Scott does not list something unless they have a copy of the stamp in hand.
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Cephus
Member
Posts: 161
What I collect: U.S. 1847-1993, Australia, China, New Zealand
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Post by Cephus on Apr 17, 2022 18:22:21 GMT
My wife just ran into this in the past week or so. Her Japan album, with pages printed in the early 90s, identifies all prefecture stamps in-line with the rest, instead of with the new Z-prefix that they've moved to and now she's trying to translate which stamps don't belong anymore and are now part of the prefecture (furosato) pages. It's kind of a pain.
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Philatarium
Member
Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 1,032
What I collect: Primarily focused on Japan, but lots of other material catches my eye as well ...
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Post by Philatarium on Apr 18, 2022 2:02:40 GMT
My wife just ran into this in the past week or so. Her Japan album, with pages printed in the early 90s, identifies all prefecture stamps in-line with the rest, instead of with the new Z-prefix that they've moved to and now she's trying to translate which stamps don't belong anymore and are now part of the prefecture (furosato) pages. It's kind of a pain. : The style of the font of the prefectural stamps is different from the style of the font used for most/all other Japan stamps. It is unique to prefectural issues, so once you or she develop a little bit of an eye for it, it becomes not too hard to spot. Scott helpfully provides an example at the very beginning of the "Prefecture Issues" section of the catalog. You can tell that the style is kind of cursive (well, a bit anyway). It's rounder and not as angular. See if this can help. And feel free to ask if you're having difficulty with any of them.  |
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Cephus
Member
Posts: 161
What I collect: U.S. 1847-1993, Australia, China, New Zealand
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Post by Cephus on Apr 18, 2022 23:15:03 GMT
The style of the font of the prefectural stamps is different from the style of the font used for most/all other Japan stamps. It is unique to prefectural issues, so once you or she develop a little bit of an eye for it, it becomes not too hard to spot. Scott helpfully provides an example at the very beginning of the "Prefecture Issues" section of the catalog. You can tell that the style is kind of cursive (well, a bit anyway). It's rounder and not as angular. See if this can help. And feel free to ask if you're having difficulty with any of them. It's not a matter of identifying them, just in finding where they belong in the album. She eventually found a block of 10 pages that will have to be removed as they were all "misnumbered" Furosato stamps that are now found in a different place in new pages. No big deal. |
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crisger
Member
Artist and Digital Creations
Posts: 102
What I collect: Japan 1890s -2012
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Post by crisger on May 14, 2022 13:16:59 GMT
this was very helpful as i am just starting to add in many stamps for my Japan collection that i have purchased. I like the Prefecture series a lot but was at first confused by the Sakura Catalog which does not list stamps chronologically but by type. The Scott Catalog is a lot easier to use. Now my challenges is to find the right mounts for them all  but this was very interesting about the changes to the orgqanizing system. thanks for the posts Cephus and Philatarium. It is also nice to know of other Japanese Stamp collectors. Chris |
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Cephus
Member
Posts: 161
What I collect: U.S. 1847-1993, Australia, China, New Zealand
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Post by Cephus on May 15, 2022 17:49:56 GMT
this was very helpful as i am just starting to add in many stamps for my Japan collection that i have purchased. I like the Prefecture series a lot but was at first confused by the Sakura Catalog which does not list stamps chronologically but by type. The Scott Catalog is a lot easier to use. Now my challenges is to find the right mounts for them all  but this was very interesting about the changes to the orgqanizing system. thanks for the posts Cephus and Philatarium . It is also nice to know of other Japanese Stamp collectors. Chris No, Sakura is a mess. It's one of those things you have to figure out the eccentricities for before it becomes at all useful. |
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crisger
Member
Artist and Digital Creations
Posts: 102
What I collect: Japan 1890s -2012
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Post by crisger on May 15, 2022 20:06:41 GMT
Cephus Thanks for that. I kind of figured it was idiosyncratic so was very glad that the Scott Catalog which I purchased was organized in a rational manner. It helps a lot when looking for things. I am also glad that the Scott Catalog i got has colour pictures of the stamps that also helps. I will still have a long learning curve to become familiar with all of the various annual types, special types, and so forth, and to learn to recognize forgeries, reprints, etc. Step by Step. I have finally been able to start putting stamps in to the albums and that is a nice feeling. Chris
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but this was very interesting about the changes to the orgqanizing system. thanks for the posts 
but this was very interesting about the changes to the orgqanizing system. thanks for the posts