Sociable Stamp Society

This is our blog for current stamp news and views of interest to the philatelist and beginner. Daily updates provide items on shows, new issues, events, what's selling, and timely facts.

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007

A Sort of Stamps

Strange but true. Yesterday I was thinking about sorting. What's the most efficient way to separate a pile of stamps into its constituent parts? It's something we all do, and most of us enjoy it because it's somewhat like panning for gold. But there are techniques because no two bags of stamps are the same. It's an art without any hard and fast rules, and like art the time needed for sorting stamps doubles in proportional to the stamp collector's enjoyment.

My way of sorting starts with the basics: a bag of stamps, a cleared table, strong lights, and stamp tools. Then like a surgeon I plan. I sift and examine the clutter before me and consider ways to reduce the mass into smaller and usable parts in the most efficient way. In many ways it's like working out driving directions to take advantage of the scenery.

The basic outline is to start with the most noticeable differences among the stamps and work down to the most obscure. The most noticeable would be something like country, color, condition, etc. The most obscure would be die differences, platings, and all the other fly-specking criteria. In between the two would be categories such as denomination, perforations, mint/used, or centering. The important thing to remember is that the stamps dictate the sorting.

Easy and efficient sorting depends on visual clarity. Good lighting, properly corrected eyesight, and a clear work area are important. And the working surface that the piles of sorted stamps are placed on is very important.

When I sort stamps, I will get a large piece of heavy cardboard, like my kid's old project board from school. (If I have to stop and clear the table I can easily move the board of stamps without rearranging my sorted piles.) Of course for smaller jobs I have used baking sheets, and even shallow cardboard lids and boxes used for retail packaging.

I'll then lay a piece of green felt onto the board. Tongs go under a pile of stamps sitting on felt very easily, and the stamps don't slide about on their own.

After a few minutes of sorting, a pattern emerges. Certain classifications and types of stamps start to show up. It's now time to begin arranging the sorts around the board in some logical pattern so it's easy to see to which pile a stamp belongs. This becomes a matter of columns and rows, or concentric circles if your mass of stamps lends itself to it.

Needless to say, sorting stamps is a homegrown art, but it can be tiring, repetitious, and sometimes dull. On the other hand, if you find yourself sorting thousands of common 1960's definitives, you might begin to see another collection forming before your eyes: postmarks; slogans, SON, towns, dates. (This is how I wound up collecting Finland's 1918 definitives!)

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The poetry of heroism appeals irresitably to those who don't go to a war, and even more so to those whom the war is making enormously wealthy. - Celine.

the lanai guy | 7:25 AM | 0 comments |  

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