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All pictures and texts in this web page are the property of nomaallim.com. Any use of any part of those contents without the written consent of nomaallim.com shall be subject to legal procedures as per international and local laws in the concerned country. Using the name "nomaallim" or "nomaallim com" or "nomaallim.com" in the text describing the unauthorized copied content shall not constitute an exception and shall be sanctioned in accordance to the effective laws and proceedings.
DISCLAIMER:
Our pictorials are of informative nature and do illustrate works carried out by ourselves at our own premises for our own use and satisfaction.
Readers who envisage to carry out similar works inspired by the below method shall do this at their own risks and liability.
Our pictorials are of informative nature and do illustrate works carried out by ourselves at our own premises for our own use and satisfaction.
Readers who envisage to carry out similar works inspired by the below method shall do this at their own risks and liability.
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Are stamps collections still worth it?
Searching for an answer on Google would discourage you whether you're an established stamp collector or willing to enter the philately world. This is because the answer you get is about the money value of your stamps "nowadays", while we all know that things could change any time like what happened with classic cars for the last 2 decades.
Also what applies to the United States of America, doesn't apply elsewhere in the world, where stamp collecting interest could be different and still practiced, or else, why would you find so many stamps to buy online?
Moreover, the money value is only one aspect of the stamps collection, which has other purposes:
We're hereby suggesting different ways to group, organize, combine stamps, in a manner that your stamp collection's value would be increased by the way it displays the stamps, regardless of their market or face values and whether they are used or mint.
Also what applies to the United States of America, doesn't apply elsewhere in the world, where stamp collecting interest could be different and still practiced, or else, why would you find so many stamps to buy online?
Moreover, the money value is only one aspect of the stamps collection, which has other purposes:
- Some stamps are commemorative of events, meaning you're collecting history
- Some stamps cover the different species of animals or plants, you're building a guide of biological diversity
- Some stamps promote social values or good practices, you're keeping traces of how our societies are evolving
- Some stamps picture celebrities, you're building a collection of prominent personalities
- Some stamps are about places, monuments, landscapes, in which case you'd be collecting pictures of the wonders of this small world...
We're hereby suggesting different ways to group, organize, combine stamps, in a manner that your stamp collection's value would be increased by the way it displays the stamps, regardless of their market or face values and whether they are used or mint.
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How most people collect and display stamps
Most of us would simply place their stamps in stamp albums, usually grouped by country.
While paperback stamp albums can always be used and do have their own charm, stamp sheets that can be added to a binder provide a precious modularity for later adding more stamps in between others, etc.
But both albums only allow you to exhibit your stamps side by side, and provide equal bands of equal spacing.
This means you have to manage and try accommodating stamps of different sizes and orientations on the same bands, which is not always easy.
While paperback stamp albums can always be used and do have their own charm, stamp sheets that can be added to a binder provide a precious modularity for later adding more stamps in between others, etc.
But both albums only allow you to exhibit your stamps side by side, and provide equal bands of equal spacing.
This means you have to manage and try accommodating stamps of different sizes and orientations on the same bands, which is not always easy.
In this paperback stamp album, with white pages, stamps are grouped by country and displayed side-by-side. This is convenient when having a few stamps or only stamps with no blocks or first day cover (FDC) envelopes to display.
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Grouping stamps by theme or topic like this example of birds stamps, is another way of exhibiting collections.
The disadvantage of having to use transparent bands of the same height and with the same spacing is still there and drastically reduces the charm and attractiveness of the stamps. With these kinds of albums (paperback or spread sheets), one can only chose to display the stamps on white or black background to make the collection look better. 
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PROS and CONS of readily available band postage stamp albums
Topic |
PROS |
CONS |
Availability |
Widely available online and in bookstores |
Expensive |
Modularity |
Good for stamp sheets for binders |
None for paperback albums |
Stamp size |
Excellent holding for small stamps |
Large or narrow stamps will fall out of the bands. |
Stamp blocks |
- |
Not possible to display |
FDC display |
- |
Not possible to display |
Combining stamps, blocks and FDCs |
- |
Not possible |
Combining with other items to display like photos or coins |
- |
Not possible on same page, for binder sheets, it is possible to combine sheets for stamps or coins or photos under the same binder. |
Background color |
Choice between 2 colors black or white |
Only black or white |
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Custom made stamp albums
If you have or find time (...), you can build your own stamp albums out of cardboard and transparent plastic sheets.
Please click on our below link to see how as the purpose of this tutorial is not to show how to build the album, rather how such albums allow for the display of multiple items and stamps of any size or complete blocks or first covers, even photos and coins.
Please click on our below link to see how as the purpose of this tutorial is not to show how to build the album, rather how such albums allow for the display of multiple items and stamps of any size or complete blocks or first covers, even photos and coins.
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In this example, stamps about nature reserves of Lebanon were combined with pictures of the same reserves taken by us.
The stamps are fully protected in large bands that do not let them fall out of the album. The display is thematic and the combination of our own photos with our own stamps adds to the emotional value of the album for the collector. For others, this is a guide to Lebanon's nature reserves. 
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Same here for the roman ruins of Lebanon, which postage stamps are combined with photos taken by us for the same sites.
While stamps are held with plastic bands (again, see how to build your own stamp album sheets), photos are held with self-adhesive transparent corners, that remain almost invisible. Therefore, stamps and photos can be removed or replaced without damaging them or the cardboard. 
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Since you're freely using thick cardboard as a stamp album sheet, the background color can be chosen from a wide range of colors and adapted to the display, like this white background for winter sports stamps and winter landscape pictures:
The concept can be pushed to display absolutely anything with your stamps like this brochure from the traditional soap museum in Saida, Lebanon, combined to a stamp depicting Lebanon's traditional soap production.
The cultural value of the stamp is indeed increased by the historical overview provided by the brochure, as the stamp alone cannot tell that Lebanon's olive oil based soaps are unique, rare and inherited from hundreds of year of tradition.
The cultural value of the stamp is indeed increased by the historical overview provided by the brochure, as the stamp alone cannot tell that Lebanon's olive oil based soaps are unique, rare and inherited from hundreds of year of tradition.
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How to combine postage stamps with stamp blocks with First Day Cover envelopes
Using always the same self-made albums, based on binders, thick cardboard and transparent document protectors, you can combine all formats under the same stamp album.
We're showing here a collection of Algerian mint stamps, combined in the same binder with Algerian FDCs.
We're showing here a collection of Algerian mint stamps, combined in the same binder with Algerian FDCs.
Pictures of Algiers, taken by us, have also been used to decorate the binder and be used as separators.
By the end of the A5 binder, an Algerian postage leaflet containing a series of mint stamps was also added so all our stamps from Algeria are grouped in the same place regardless of the format.
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How to combine stamps and coins
This thematic stamp collection about Christianity in stamps, is using an A4 binder where a combination of worldwide stamps about the theme, Vatican state stamps and coins, are all grouped together.
As usual, we used our own pictures taken at the Vatican Museum to decorate the binder or provide a background for stamps.
As usual, we used our own pictures taken at the Vatican Museum to decorate the binder or provide a background for stamps.
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Vatican coin / stamp cards have been fixed to the thick black cardboard with metal pins in order to display them facing the stamps leaflet:
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A picture of a church in Warsaw (taken by us), is used as a background for displaying Christianity stamps from Eastern Europe:
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Vatican Museum pictures are used to decorate the internal cover of the stamp album. Note how normal stamp sheets have also been used for the stamps of the state of Vatican:
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What to do with duplicate stamps?
If you just sorted your stamps and displayed one of each in a stamp album, you can temporarily keep the duplicates in compartmented plastic boxes. Such boxes protect your stamps from humidity and do not press them against each others, thus the risk of having them sticking to each other is near zero.
Nevertheless, and as soon as you can, you should re-organize your duplicate stamps by series on small banded cardboard sheets, in order to facilitate their exchange or for selling them!
How to keep track of your stamps and build stamps lists
Once your stamps are sorted and displayed, it will be a good idea to use an Excel workbook for listing them all...provided indeed you find the time for doing so!
If you do, make sure your table is complete with enough columns to show the necessary info:
If you do, make sure your table is complete with enough columns to show the necessary info:
- Theme of stamp
- Year issued
- Country
- Condition: MNH, hinged, CTO, canceled
- Face value
- No of teeth
- Picture of the stamp
- Catalog No from a well known reference
- Etc.
You can buy your stamp album here in case you do not wish to build one:
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