Pushing 330,000 All Different Worldwide Stamps In One Collection .

KyleB ----- Nice page ,beautiful layout of the page . No matter what you collect or level of collecting ,you stop for a breather when that page is lay out in front of you .

Great pages - I especially love the Gibraltar page you have, floortrader. I only collect used, so for me half the fun/interest is in the cancelation. Especially since some of the series can be somewhat monotonous, I think the postmarks can make a stamp much more interesting.

GVOL21---Thanks for the positive comment .

Being a worldwide collector since 1956 with my 10 cent packets and 25 cent album ,hope I never change . Plan to continue my journey of filling up pages in a W.W. collection .

In the 1990's I read a article in Linn's Stamp News ,but never saved it .The article was a interview with one of the major auction firms ,the firm's expert Lot Describer was talking about the different types of sellers or consignors he dealt with .
He was talking about many subjects ,but the one that stuck me the most was his comment about Worldwide Collectors. He stated most collections he seen mostly having 3 or 5 major countries have been builded up and the rest of the world was just average collections .

I thought about that for a long time and never forgot that . I was determined not have that type of collection but balance out the whole thing .

I belevie that is how Philippe Von Ferrary collected and how Maurice Burrus a generation later build his most impressive W.W. collection and he still stands as making the most expensive Worldwide collection on record . Then another generation later Bill Gross of Pimco spend more money for his material but it wasn't a W.W. collection it was a big ticket accumulation.

There are certain stamps that each worldwide collector would like to add to their collection . We all have a small list of stamps we especially would like . But weather it is cost or they never are aviable at a cost we can handle ,then again many are just hard to find .

This souvenir sheet was the case for me ,just outside of reach until it recently came up for auction ,but I wanted to watch it thinking it will as always just slip away from me at higher bidding . So I put in my bid and surprised not a higher price was bid .
Happy to get it at my price . Still have that mental list of stamps that I hope to have, but, that list got smaller by two items already this year .

floortrader, I would like to see that article from the 90s too. Hopefully someone here will remember that. This is another good one from Linns in 2021. It's been posted before, by inforapenny but in case one hasn't seen it yet. https://sescal.org/3d-flip-book/hol...ing-options/ In that collecting the world thread it said that there was a list of people and their collections, did anyone follow up on that?

LANDOQUAKES ---- Thanks for that link , very interesting read . I believe I read that the first time it was posted but to read again ,especially with all the new readers we have here ,good you posted it again .

That was an interesting article. Also, Many collectors have two WW collections, a main one and one for duplicates.

Greendragon ----I have seen two methods of having two sets of albums ,the first being as you posted .

Many and maybe most of these two set collectors keep their duplicates in a separate extra set of albums ..In my case since my main W.W. collection spans over 50 volumes. It becomes easier to work with a 8 to 12 volume set of Internationals to be handled and moved around the house { I can spread out in front of the TV while watching the News or the football games . } it is this daily handling of the albums that destroys the binders,Scott binders fall apart too fast for me they start needing tape to hold them together after 10 or 15 years . My main set looks brand new after 50 years .because each binder is removed from the bookcase maybe 10 times a year.

The "working set " is matched with the main set after 3 or 5 years and then send to a major auction house for consignment . This way I realise the best price for my duplicates .I done this for the past 15 years and works for me .

Kind of holds up that duplicates will bring the most return if mounted in a organized manor and a new buyer can view what he is buying than a bunch of envelopes full of stamps in a box .

I can't imagine mounting all my duplicates. I probably have 80K to 100K of them. I keep most of them in glassines where I have strips of 3x5 index cards in the glassines with them to identify what is in the glassines. Each glassine has at most 10 unique numbers because that's how many ruled lines are on the index cards. I have them sorted by catalog number as well. I've even started to separate used from MH and MNH duplicates. If I find definite CTOs, I make a note of that as well.

Nick -- Interesting way to keep your duplicates , as more people post I am sure other methods are working successful for them .

Hi Floortrader,

I want to be sure I understand your post above, where you describe your main albums and your 'working set'.

So, you have a main collection of 50 albums which you don't access very often, preserving the binders, etc.

You have a 'working set' of albums that you add to over three to five years, adding in from auction purchases, etc etc.

Every 3-5 years, you merge the working set into your main collection, and sell whatever is left behind.

Then you acquire a new 'working set' of albums and start adding to it, repeating the process.

Is that correct? If so, I have two questions:

- aren't you going over the same basic material every 3-5 years as you build out your working set? Do you feel this is time well spent, or is there a benefit?

- How do you know what's missing from your main collection, so you can buy strategically?

You often post uncommon worldwide material here, so I assume you have a good sense of what purchases will benefit your main collection. I have enough trouble buying the same things over and over again with a single collection -- I fear I would be lost with a 'two collection' setup.

MADBAKER -------You are correct what you posted .

First ,I have a 50 volume Scott International collection .Then over the past 12 years I build a 80-100 volumes of Steiner printed pages collection {these are the pages you see on this site } . I do purchase a lot of stamps and enjoy putting them on album pages .I am retired and have the time to spread out my stamps .


To answer your questions , yes I do work on the same material over the years ,not a problem if my attention is on watching the financial markets ,getting good results in that area . Then three times a week rolling around on a mat with 20-30 years olds in Jiu-Jitsu ,so mounting stamps is a good way to relax.

Stamps are my escape from other crazy things life throws at all of us .

On the subject of buying the same material , it is not a problem ,I do make that mistake every once in a while but have a popular EBAY seller who can sell it for close to my price with a small commission to him .

Well I've put together about 60 Steiner pages so far and unfortunately after going thru all my albums and glassines half or more of the pages end up looking like this with a few missing that I don't have. Question for Floortrader and you other more experienced collectors what is the best most cost effective way to go about acquiring these missing stamps and limiting purchases of duplicates. Thanks!