We Close Our Eyes & Still See Stamps.

If it was not for my wife and daughters help I would be sorting for 3 to 4 years I can not thank them enough! It has been very interesting watching them understand Australian decimal stamps. Now they tell me when they find a hard to get stamp! It is a great family time. Something to remember!

Sorting kilo ware is an interesting science. It looks like to me the more an experienced stamping eye we have the slower we are. The eye looks at the total stamp the perfs,corners,postmark,staining and creases as well as the type of stamp it is, generally slowing down the sorting of the raw kilo ware into denominations. My wife does not see the stamps this way, her eyes go for colour and design matching and very quickly has a handful of stamps placed into the piles while I am sorting her piles of stamps on another table with quality control in mind but she can still sort 3 stamps to my 1, all my stamps are face up, hers are not. I keep trying to improve on my sorting speed but I can not, while her sorting speed increases the more she can remember the colour and design of the stamps, while mine stays the same. An experienced eye may not always have the advantage over a novices eye when it comes to kilo ware!

Watching TV shows on sorting out houses and de-cluttering I remember that they would not let the people touch the things. Just say yes or no or maybe. When you touch something the mind seemingly remembers anything like that before and any memories that have emotion attached are remembered also so you take longer and longer to sort or sell or trash. You want to keep everything.

You seem to be finding out that just the look of a stamp and all the, to a stamp collector, important details are engaging your mind and slowing down your physical reactions. hard not to do on such a large project I would imagine.

Thanks for your insight Puzzler! It is very helpful as my fear of losing my workers in such a project as this is great, it truly is a mammoth ask and task for my family! A little bit of though and reflection can be the difference between success and failure as life has taught me in the past. I am going to open up some of this reflection in relation to a happy worker and work place! It is very important and could help someone in the future and further strengthen our endeavors here!

The amount of times I have bitten my tongue during this project is more than I would like to admit. I believe I am my worst enemy when it comes to a happy work place and I have worked very hard to achieve a healthy attitude.

As stamp collectors we have all worked very hard to set high standards that reflect in the end result of our stamp collection, to this point in time and into the future growth of our collecting we love so much. Most of the time it is a very personal, if not a lonely but rewarding time of self achievement. This position we find ourselves in is our worst enemy when it comes to a shared, group type collecting approach. This high standard in collecting we have sneaks up on us because it is such a personal hobby and the lack of experience in sharing the finite with others is very real and ready to lash out at any time because it is the standard we set for ourselves. With out an understanding of this attitude we have towards collecting we are doomed and will destroy a new persons interest in our hobby. The child is the picture I have in my mind with this thought. It is just to easy to be to hard on others when we are so hard on ourselves, which we all know is needed in the mind set to have a fine collection of stamps. This issue is the first one I have had to come to terms with and still is, I am my worst enemy to having a happy work place. So it begins!

Very well put John. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

The 'winning friends and influencing people' ideas are hard to come to terms with if one was not brought up by an expert in them.

None of us are perfect which is what makes all of us so valuable and irreplaceable.

One aspect of stamp collecting I enjoy is the appreciating of something so small and seemingly unimportant in the vast scheme of things. Appreciation starts with small things and ideas and as one learns more of this refined art one comes to appreciate more and more in one's life.

The hunt or chase for things and people and ideas to appreciate (be thankful for) is such a small thing but at the same time such a large thing.

I think people like to feel they are part of a larger thing; to feel their input is meaningful, complex and to some extent autonomous.

The interesting thing about the above statement is that everyone has their own definitions of meaningful and complex and autonomous.

Yes Puzzler! It is just so random how things work out! I am just so thankful for the blessings I have in this situation. So many things have had to aline to make this project work out! Even if it is only for a little while I will always remember it! It is nice to have a special time, there few and far between in this digital world of ours!

With the news that the 55c letter rate stamp in Australian decimal is coming to an end and Aust post is raising letter rate to 60c, the 55c era is going to be a difficult to find stamp issue period. The 55c era has only lasted about 2 years and in this time span the use of stamps on postage has further lessened with even less high denomination stamps being used to cap it all off as a difficult era for the stamp collector.
In the next couple of years I will be buying kiloware because of the above mentioned reasons. I am finding it very difficult to source Aust dec high denominations from 2007 on and it will only be cto mint to fill these spots in out collections as this trend continues with the non use of postage stamps.
The kiloware that is sold over the next 2 to 3 years will go up in price very quickly. Something to think about if you are keen on bulk buys of Aust dec stamps!

These drying books are worth their weight in gold to the bulk stamp collector. By placing a stamp face up, not dripping wet but wet with no surface water on to the special plastic page the stamps with creases, that are so prominent in bulk lots, can be saved.

I rescue at least 75% of the stamps I put into these books. All high denomination & hard to get letter rate are never discarded until I try to straighten them out in one of these books. I am making it a rule now that all 55c Aust dec stamps are put aside for this treatment as well. The drying book leaves no trace of a shiny back of stamp. Sometimes I repeat the rescuing process 3 or 4 times to win a stamp for the stock book. Once the drying book has the stamps in it & a few heavy books on top I leave it for 4 days &, Presto! Beautiful straight stamps. It is just too easy & even more of a treasure for Aust., KGV stamp rescues.

When sorting bulk Aust. dec. stamps I try to take in the variations information that is on hand in my library. I even use stock catalogues from dealers. They can be very helpful.



Perforation differences in the tourist precincts [Sep., 2008]

1st row: gummed or sheet stamp example of the common perf. There is one other that is rare.

2nd row: roll stamps or coil stamps

3rd row: booklet stamps

edit- 1st row 3rd stamp looks the rarer perf. The difference is on the vertical perfs

KG5
I think you will find there only exists 3 styles of perf

Sraight perfed stamps
and two brands of die-cuts
simply identify each perf style by brand

I cannot recall the first at this moment
but the tight sharp cornered perf style is "Pemara" die cut

Identified by the backing selvage
here is a strip of koala count ones....

For novices who cannot source drying books,
Get 20 odd pages of A4 copy paper
a dozen or so "freezer bags" medium size
and an old heavy book.

Make a sandwich,
a sheet of A4
the a freezer bag on top
place your stamps gum side down after soaking and "patting dry"
on the freezer bag
another a4 sheet on top

lift the sandwich and place in a heavy book

leave for 5 days

Comes out dry and flatter than a halibut.

Guaranteed NEVER to stick to your dring sheet
which can happen with self stick gum and mucilage sometimes.

Actually Rodney, there are 2 different perforations for the Tourist Precincts, for the 4 x 55c, $1.10 and $1.65 sheet issues, being 14 x 14.4 and 14 x 13.7.
David Mallen's Australian Stamp Variations may be an eyeopener to collectors of Australian stamps, and a bit disheartening to those who want to collect every single thing put out by AP.

http://www.asv.net.au/stamp_issues/...issues08.htm

Thanks 22crows! David Mallens book is on my book shelf and I very much enjoy his articles in Australian Stamp News but I must admit that the extent of Australian Decimal variety as a collecting target overwhelms me and I totally respect somebody that does it is a mammoth task but very rewarding I imagine.
Australian KGVs is my choice of in depth collecting and I love it!
For the last 10 years I have collected bulk Aust Dec with the idea of reselling in the future at auction but my family has pushed me willingly to try and put complete sets and packets of Aust Dec together. It has been a big eye opener and I am very glad that KGVs have sharpened the stamping experience I have. It just makes the end result a more professional out come and hopefully a quality product. Onwards we go! John and Family

rod what happens if I cant find any freezer bags?