I'm really not ignoring stamps...
Several of my friends have accused me of spending too much time with my weblog, and ignoring my stamp collection. They couldn't be more wrong. Yes, I do spend a considerable amount of time here, but I'm also working heavily on postage stamps. I've just found that I've been making a lot of mistakes, and I need to do something about it.
I have a large collection - about 150,000 different postage stamps from virtually every country in the world. I also have about 70,000 duplicate stamps I offer for trade through my Trading Page on my personal website. THERE's where the problems were discovered. I had stamps listed as being in my collection that weren't, and some stamps for trade I didn't have. Honesty is essential in any long-standing relationship, and I was unable to be truly honest with what I wanted, and what I had to offer in return. I'm trying to rectify that, and it's taking a lot of time.
I'm building personal inventory sheets for every "country" that's ever issued postage stamps, using the Scott Standard Postage Stamp catalogues, and their numbering system. These inventory sheets are being built using a spreadsheet template I've designed. There are about 800 different "countries" listed, plus some areas where I have to build incidental inventory listings - for occupation stamps, for different currencies in use in different parts of the same country, and so forth. I'm also making entries for some of the varieties that exist of individual stamps - variations in color, perforation, design, and so forth. I'm also listing some of the errors. It takes anywhere from a few minutes to several days to build each inventory sheet, even using some of the shortcuts I've developed over the last couple of years.
Once the inventory sheet is built, the real fun begins. I have to match the stamps in my collection with the listing in the inventory sheet. I find I frequently have a variety, instead of the major listing. Sometimes I find holes in my collection that match stamps in my duplicate files. It's not until I completely go through my stamps for a particular country, including all the duplicate copies I have (sometimes thousands!) that I can determine what I really need, and what I really have for trade.
It only takes about 20 minutes to build or update a trade want/have list, once I finish the inventory. It's building the inventory, entering the information, and verifying the information is correct, that takes so long. It's easy to keep the inventories updated once they're completed. I've got about 130 inventories built, so it's not something that's going to be finished soon. I make a little progress every day, and I'll get there eventually - just in time for the updates to be out with the new catalogues.
One other thing is slowing up my ability to get everything inventoried. I depend on William E. Steiner's Stamp Albums Web for album pages. He's done a remarkable job building pages for about 80% or more of the countries of the world. I have many, many stamps that would fit on pages he hasn't had the time to build yet. That makes it a bit more difficult to create an accurate inventory, but I do try!
The other major problem I'm up against is a body that won't cooperate. I have a bad back, and right now I'm going through a change in medication and some changes in my physical condition (I have a degenerative problem, so it's always changing - usually slowly, except for the last month or so). That limits the time I can contribute to any one activity. With so many things to do for fun, thought, there's always something to divert me until I feel better - especially the playful activities of three new kittens!
I have a large collection - about 150,000 different postage stamps from virtually every country in the world. I also have about 70,000 duplicate stamps I offer for trade through my Trading Page on my personal website. THERE's where the problems were discovered. I had stamps listed as being in my collection that weren't, and some stamps for trade I didn't have. Honesty is essential in any long-standing relationship, and I was unable to be truly honest with what I wanted, and what I had to offer in return. I'm trying to rectify that, and it's taking a lot of time.
I'm building personal inventory sheets for every "country" that's ever issued postage stamps, using the Scott Standard Postage Stamp catalogues, and their numbering system. These inventory sheets are being built using a spreadsheet template I've designed. There are about 800 different "countries" listed, plus some areas where I have to build incidental inventory listings - for occupation stamps, for different currencies in use in different parts of the same country, and so forth. I'm also making entries for some of the varieties that exist of individual stamps - variations in color, perforation, design, and so forth. I'm also listing some of the errors. It takes anywhere from a few minutes to several days to build each inventory sheet, even using some of the shortcuts I've developed over the last couple of years.
Once the inventory sheet is built, the real fun begins. I have to match the stamps in my collection with the listing in the inventory sheet. I find I frequently have a variety, instead of the major listing. Sometimes I find holes in my collection that match stamps in my duplicate files. It's not until I completely go through my stamps for a particular country, including all the duplicate copies I have (sometimes thousands!) that I can determine what I really need, and what I really have for trade.
It only takes about 20 minutes to build or update a trade want/have list, once I finish the inventory. It's building the inventory, entering the information, and verifying the information is correct, that takes so long. It's easy to keep the inventories updated once they're completed. I've got about 130 inventories built, so it's not something that's going to be finished soon. I make a little progress every day, and I'll get there eventually - just in time for the updates to be out with the new catalogues.
One other thing is slowing up my ability to get everything inventoried. I depend on William E. Steiner's Stamp Albums Web for album pages. He's done a remarkable job building pages for about 80% or more of the countries of the world. I have many, many stamps that would fit on pages he hasn't had the time to build yet. That makes it a bit more difficult to create an accurate inventory, but I do try!
The other major problem I'm up against is a body that won't cooperate. I have a bad back, and right now I'm going through a change in medication and some changes in my physical condition (I have a degenerative problem, so it's always changing - usually slowly, except for the last month or so). That limits the time I can contribute to any one activity. With so many things to do for fun, thought, there's always something to divert me until I feel better - especially the playful activities of three new kittens!
posted by Old Patriot | 10:12 AM
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