Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
08:19:01am
I recently explored the Smithsonian Album based on the Wm. Gross collection of the same name
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/stampgallery/album/Stamp-for-Every-Country.pdf
It's a nice basic "fill in the blanks" layout, but it lacks the historical view that I would like. I also am not a fan of the landscape layout (sideways pages).
Personally, I would like to incorporate more maps, and a few paragraphs of history. That raises the question of designing a layout that allows an understanding of the historical sequence of predecessor countries (and entities).
These are just musings. I know the usual response from many Stamporama members will be "you can do whatever you want". I am trying to avoid "re-inventing the wheel" and looking for inspiration from what others have done.
I'd love to see some examples of what has been done. If you have a similar collection, please post a couple of pages and show it off.
I believe there were previous discussions of this on Stamporama in years past, but I haven't found them. If you find the link, please post it.
Roy
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Terranova Publishing released a Single Stamp Gazetteer album, and I have one. However, their website seems to be dead
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I've thought about this kind of collection off and on over the years, but it never went anywhere. I think because of the "unstructured" nature of it.
Most of these kinds of collections I've seen were in stock books or Vario pages using small labels to ID the stamps. I do really like the 'Single Stamp Gazetteer album' layout and you could think about making up something similar of your own. Maybe just using MS Word or PowerPoint you can easily copy/paste various maps, etc. into?
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Starting anew would be some task. There are 600+ entries in the Gazetteer!
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09:52:17am
I like the maps, I don't like the alphabetical layout. It loses the sweep of historical change. I think the organization of the Smithsonian album, with the addition of maps and short historical text is the direction my thoughts want to go.
It's a long-term undertaking. The pages are easy to produce (my favourite program for album pages is Serif PagePlus 8) but there are a lot of them!
Roy
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Interesting! I think we've all entertained this kind of collection at some point.
The page Dave posted shows countries I never even heard of! So no doubt there are the 600 plus entities he mentioned. (fair to note that my New Jersey postmark listing has over 2400 entries from past to present)
Then comes the question... what constitutes a country? Is it any entity that ever issued it's own stamps? Are stamp issuing states and regions fair game?
And as far as format... the album page shown was alphabetical, would we want it by continent? Or by major country? Such as a section on Germany that starts with the German states, rolls up to country prior to WWII and then West Germany and DDR.. and then back to one country?
So many possibilities!
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Hi all,
As a newbie, my aspirations are not so high, but I do like the idea of collecting from every country and would like to start. I never even thought of such an idea, that is why you all are such an inspiration to me.
Does anyone know of a current "album" that can be purchased or printed to start out with?
If it needs to be printed, I'd be curious as to what paper I should use.
I'd kind of like to get started, as the idea has really hit home with me, so I'm looking forward to some of your advice as well.
@Roy,
Very sorry if my question is "stealing" this thread or taking it in the wrong direction, I am more than happy to ask the question again in the "Newbie" area.
Thank you,
Johnny
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Linn's offers a good list:
https://www.linns.com/insights/stamp-issuing-entities-of-the-world.html
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Hi all,
Regarding the Smithsonian Album that Roy mentioned above.
Why doesn't it include countries like Guatemala?
Maybe it's not completely "all" of the countries?
JR
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The album I have shows the "live" countries with a black name header and the "dead" countries in grey. However, in the ever-changing world, I'm sure it's out of date already!
This is the blurb from the wayback machine links that may be useful for anyone considering the job!:
Even if you've been a collector all your life, you may have never come across a stamp from Alwar, Nabha, Dalmatia or Kionga. This album will expand your knowledge of such long-gone issuing regions and send you searching for a single specimen. To complete the album the collector must find one stamp - any stamp - of every stamp-issuing entity in the world, past and present.
The Single Specimen World Gazetteer Stamp Album contains over 600 entries and includes the formerly issuing regions within India, Malaysia and Colombia. Each entry contains an overview of the country/entity. In the case of dead countries/entities the entry usually indicates when it issued stamps, its colonial affiliation (if any), and why it no longer issues. Entries also give the most common inscriptions found on the stamps of that country/entity and indicate alternate names.
Each page includes five entries, each with a simple locater map showing where that country is or was located and a 2x2in space in which to mount your specimen.
Countries are listed alphabetically with dead countries identified with a grey heading and living ones with black. The Stamp Identifier section provides a convenient list of the most commonly found inscriptions. By using this list the collector can usually identify the country to which any stamp belongs.
Comes in a high quality 3-ring stiched black album with gold imprinting, and pages are acid-free card stock.
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I have decided to collect every stamp from 1970--a lengthy project, but kind of along these same thoughts. Based on a great website one of the stamporama members showed me, that is 217 countries.
I have picked up a few countries.....okay five. That means 212 more to go.
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10:41:30pm
"Regarding the Smithsonian Album that Roy mentioned above.
Why doesn't it include countries like Guatemala?"
It's there, under North America. Do a "Ctrl-F" search for any country that interests you.
Roy
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Hi Roy & Everyone;
@ Roy;
This sounds like a great project for Wikipedia, lots of history info, photos, relevance, and of course maps.
I also agree that alphabetically organized would not be my choice either. I have fantasized of a collection of leaders and rulers, kings, queens, and presidents. And I would organize that also by it's historical significance. Quite a large project but lots of fun.
I'm normally not a huge fan of history, but I sold many Classic and modern English stamps on SOR. I included a few paragraphs of history in my descriptions of the town featured on the CDS, or the older numbered cancels as well.
Wikipedia has colored maps also, and would be great for a color laser printer, project.
Still just sortin'....
TuskenRaider
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"Collecting a Stamp from Every Country"
I guess in a way, I've been trying to achieve this goal since the beginning. But only as it pertains to my 1970 version of the Harris Statesman album(s). Even after 50 years,(off and on) I still haven't achieved that goal and it falls way short of true global coverage.
Best of luck with this endeavor. When finished, it will be quite an accomplishment.
WB
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I have been looking for a copy of the Single Specimen album for reference for my collection (more about that later).
Terra Nova is still in business but focuses on Newfoundland related material. I contacted the owner and he no longer sells it.
https://terranovapub.com/
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I have never been able to find the Terra Nova album either as it went out of print well before I started my interest in a stamp for every country collection after seeing the Smithsonian exhibit quite some time ago. One of its major advantages over the Smithsonian album is the additional details present in the album about the countries and the included maps. The Smithsonian was published for download from the Smithsonian web site which is based on an exhibit of items from, I believe, William H. Gross's stamp collection (or possibly from existing items in the Smithsonian collection) but definitely the stamp gallery and exhibit were provided through Mr. Gross's support.
There are a large number of posts on the Stamporama site detailing a number of current and past members thoughts about one for every country collections and their progress in forming related collections. It was the most fun I have had in stamp collecting to complete the Smithsonian album a few years ago although I did substitute stamp on stamp issues for the Switzerland canons included in the album as genuine stamps are VERY expensive. I did find a Poland #1 stamp for the album which was another expensive issue. Although I did not keep detailed records of my spending on the album I suspect it was on the order of around $4,000 for my mint stamp issues only collection of the required 788 different stamps. I believe that purchases were made from close to 80 different stamp vendors to form the collection over a fifteen month period.
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There is another Stamp from Every Country Album. You can purchase a 530 page hardcopy off Amazon for $25 ( I did) but the author has provided the AlbumEasy source file (what he used to create) at https://www.thestampweb.com/albumeasy/do ...
I have been working off and on my version using some of the AlbumEasy code.
Example page:
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Al, do you have a link to the album? I looked on Amazon and Ebay, but couldn't find it.
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This is the link to it on Amazon.
Simplified Version
https://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Every-Count ...
Moderator: Link was to simplified version so made notation.
(Modified by Moderator on 2023-05-02 05:43:05)
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thank you!
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Comprehensive Version on amazon linl
https://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Every-Count ...
I will add that John, creator, used the amazon book publishing option to print and sell his works.
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Are you supposed to remove the pages? Seems like the book will become very thick and bulky if you hinged actual stamps inside. Not even considering using mounts.
I remember purchasing the National Parks Passport book and placing the various passport stamps inside. Got bulky pretty fast.
Tad
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02:46:25pm
Having been the original poster of this thread (has it really been 5 years?), I am happy to see it return.
I visited the Amazon listing, and was almost tempted. But one thing I noticed was this:
(that's the hardcover, the paperback is only 1.37 inches)
It sure isn't printed on heavyweight paper! In fact, with those dimensions it is likely to be on lightweight paper suitable for paperback books. A 500 page ream of even my 20lb printer paper is 2 inches thick. I wouldn't want to use even 20lb for mounting stamps.
If anyone knows the author, it might be interesting to attempt to get him to publish it as a downloadable digital file, which is how he sends it to Amazon (my son did some Amazon publishing on demand books a few years ago).
Roy
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Roy,
You can download a PDF of the book (slightly different from the printed version) at AlnumEasy web site. As noted, the AlbumEasy soruce code is available too.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/albumea ...
The pages are numbered front and back so the book only had 270+ sheets of paper. Sorry for the confusion. The backside has just a page number and the graphic that runs on every page.
I am told it is 50# cream paper so paper is not thin,
I had done a stamp space count and the album has spaces (box) for over 700+ stamps. For example, for the Indian States there are a lot of spaces for all the states.
Examples of spaces just for India
India India 1947-
India Portguese India 1871-1960
India French India 1892-1952
India Empire 1882-1949
India British Crown Colony 1860-1976
India East India Company 1854-1864 (Scinde)?
India Convention States Chamba 1886-1948
India Convention States Faridkot 1887-1901
India Convention States Gwalior 1885-1948
India Convention States Jind 1885-1943
India Convention States Nabha 1885-1946
India Convention States Patiala 1884-1947
India Feudatory States Alwar 1877-1901
India Feudatory States Bamra 1888-1893
India Feudatory States Barwani 1921-1948
India Feudatory States Bhopal 1876-1908
India Feudatory States Bhor 1879-1901
India Feudatory States Bijawar 1935-1939
India Feudatory States Bundi 1894-1947
India Feudatory States Bussahir 1895-1900
India Feudatory States Charkhari 1894-1943
India Feudatory States Cochin 1892-1949
India Feudatory States Dhar 1897-1900
India Feudatory States Duttia 1893-1920
India Feudatory States Faridkot 1879-1886
India Feudatory States Hyderabad (Deccan) 1869-1949
India Feudatory States Idar 1939-1944
India Feudatory States Indore 1886-1947
India Feudatory States Jaipur 1904-1947
India Feudatory States Jammu and Kashmer 1878-1894, 1866-1867
India Feudatory States Jammu 1867-1877
India Feudatory States Jasdan 1942
India Feudatory States Jhalawar 1887-1890
India Feudatory States Jind 1874-1884
India Feudatory States Junagarh 1862-1868
India Feudatory States Kashmir 1866-1870
India Feudatory States Kishangarh 1899-1947
India Feudatory States Morvi 1931-1948
India Feudatory States Nandgaon 1892-1894
India Feudatory States Nowanuggur 1877-1940
India Feudatory States Orccha 1913-1940
India Feudatory States Poonch 1876-1890
India Feudatory States Rajasthan 1948-1949
India Feudatory States Rajpeepla 1880
India Feudatory States Saurashtra 1921-1949
India Feudatory States Sirmoor 1879-1899
India Feudatory States United State of Saurashtra 1948-1956
India Feudatory States Travancore Anchel 1888-1945
India Feudatory States Travancore Cochin 1949-1950
India Feudatory States Wadhvan 1888
India China Expeditionary Force personnel
India Indian UN Force in Gaza
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"
You can download a PDF of the book (slightly different from the printed version) at the AlbumEasy web site. As noted, the AlbumEasy soruce code is available too.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/albumea ... "
As I will likely host the albums elsewhere in the future, I would prefer it if links were posted to the web page rather than directly to the files to themselves. i.e https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free- ... .
For the ASFEC scroll down to near the bottom of the page to the "Topical, Thematic and Omnibus issues" section.
As Al has noted, the album may be downloaded as a ready to print PDF, or as an AlbumEasy file for easy modification.
Clive
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07:46:27pm
I am thankful for the re-emergence of this topic. I think I have found my project for next winter.
In my original post I said:
"Personally, I would like to incorporate more maps, and a few paragraphs of history. That raises the question of designing a layout that allows an understanding of the historical sequence of predecessor countries (and entities)."
Seeing this album has allowed me to view it from the standpoint of "What would I do differently?". That's much easier than designing from scratch. If anyone is interested, here are some thoughts on how I would do it and changes to the approach of this album.
I am more interested in using stamps to document the fluctuation of borders, rather than collecting all stamp issuing entities. Thus, I am not interested in Indian States that were used (mostly only locally) while India was under the British Empire, nor the issues of the Channel Islands just because they were given postal autonomy, but still part of the UK. However, I am very interested in documenting the changes from Province of Canada + New Brunswick + Nova Scotia >> Dominion of Canada and then the additions of the remaining colonies. Similarly the various Australian States from their independence to joining together as Australia. Also, Africa will be interesting watching the various Colonies change hands, form and reform and eventually rename themselves under independence.
I like the way the ASFEC album treats this with the forerunners, but I would reverse the presentation and start with the earliest units and work towards the current status of the country.
Also, maps will play a larger role in my presentation. The maps will be regional outlines, with the "countries" filled in with colors (the cities in the current maps are superfluous, imo). More historical discussion of the changes will be included.
I like the AlbumEasy version that does not provide boxes for the stamps. The little crosses for positioning would seem to allow much more flexibility in choosing stamps.
That's as far as I have gotten so far. In summary, I see:
- reverse the order of the forerunners
- provide maps as necessary to plot the history
- more historical discussion (even if only a sentence or two)
- focus only on political changes, not postal organization changes
I will enjoy comments and further discussion of the possibilities of this topic.
Roy
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Good thoughts, Roy.
" reverse the order of the forerunners"
I think this is a matter of preference. The book, which I have bought and am waiting for it to arrive, shows the current country, then breaks down the forerunners below. The dates are shown for each. I like it current and then down. Just a preference.
I agree that every single entity, like the Indian States, expeditionary forces, and such may be too much.
I like the idea of the maps to trace history. Color is problematic with the self-published books, however..
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I took John's source and made my own variation but has been in the study phase. I have not decided if I wanted to use the timeline versus the paragraph of text or a little of both. One decision I made was put occupation stamps in the region occupied rather the the country that was occupying.
I took more information from Linn's Almanac and Wikipedia and maps from Wikipedia. I also used information from the First Issues Collectors Club web site the variations in postal administrations to supplement the source. I came up with over a 1000 possible spaces.
Where you stop is a personal decision.
Several variations - all test pages. I wanted to allow more space of additional stamps. One can go in any number of directions. I want to restart this work this summer.
I have a list of all spaces in the AFSEC in a spreadsheet that will share if you send me a PM.
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That's a nice layout, Al!
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I am not sure some have noticed there is a correlation between my stamp for every country and my interest in first issues. My project had a purpose of trying to collecting the first issues using the ASFEC framework,
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It has been a while since I have posted here. Just renewed my membership.
Thanks for the interest in my ASFEC Album.
As a fundamental frame of reference, I believe that "No two people will ever agree on what should, or should not, be included in an album like this - or how it should be presented."
The AlbumEasy versions on the AlbumEasy and StampSmarter web sites allow each collector to edit to taste. No other ASFEC-type album available provides for this.
Please note also that the ASFEC Album (Hardbound/Softbound) available on Amazon comes in two versions - Comprehensive and Simplified. The Simplified version is "greatly" simplified - most people here will want the Comprehensive version, as the Simplified version is probably only suitable for "novice" collectors. The printed books are obviously not editable, but will fit nicely on the bookshelf. The album pages are one-sided, on 50# cream paper.
John
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I bought the hard cover book. I like the cover, and it will look nice in my philatelic bookcase. I should get it next week. I'll add to it now and then from the load of duplicates I have sitting here. I think it'll make a good sideline collection.
I didn't notice any option on complexity of the album. I'll know soon, though, which one I got.
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michael78651:
There are two ways to see which version it is:
1. The front cover states "Comprehensive" or "Simplified."
2. The order page on Amazon clearly states which version it is.
A seasoned collector more than likely will not be happy with the simplified version!
If I were you, I would check which version you bought, and then cancel the order if it is the simplified version.
John
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It's already been shipped. It's OK. I have a grandson who need to learn geography better than he does. He has a small stamp collection. I can get him involved with the album too.
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I reviewed the order, and I did get the simplified version. I tried to order the comprehensive version, figuring I will give the simplified version to my grandson, but Amazon spammed me with a "free trial" of prime, which I don't want, and which I could not remove from the order, so I canceled the order. Customer service was worthless too.
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A simple ASFEC collection ..image found on Internet. This person references dead countries.
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I put together a set of 'A Stamp For Every Country' album pages which can be downloaded for free here
https://stampsmarter.org/learning/FormAF ...
These PDF pages can be customized to your own taste if desired! Additionally and to address the differences in what people consider which countries to include, there are blank customizable pages included. Here is an example of a page
No coding needed, simply open the PDF and make the changes you desire. I put together a short video on how to edit the pages here
A great project can that folks can download today, populate a few pages, and then gift others (kids or adults) for the holidays.
Don
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I'm more of a cover collector so as my New Jersey collection slows down, I've been looking at different fun collections. I haven't done anything formal just yet, other than filling two big boxes with covers, for my "A Cover For Every Country" album!
I will no doubt use the same pages and format at my New Jersey collection. Those are 2 pocket, 2 sided pages. I only print cards for what I own. There are empty spots throughout my albums for expansion, or since it's loose leaf I simply add another page. As the albums fill, it spawns additional binders. The collection is now 10 binders, and I'm about to split the "A-B" album into 2!
I expect my Every Country albums will follow along. I had a fellow ask me why I hadn't printed cards for every variety in my database, I told him I was only at 44% completion and I'd wind up with 25, half empty albums! The way I do it, the albums appear fairly complete to viewers (not that I get many viewers).
Sample Page!
My approach allows me to collect what I want, and ignore things like the aforementioned Indian States if I choose. It's good to be king!
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Here is another example page from a member of the First Issues Collectors Club.
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This thread has been split, moving 1 posts onto a new Thread titled:"Maximphilly"
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
02 Jun 2018
08:19:01am
For a long time I have been intrigued by collections of "A Stamp from Every Country" (and expanded variations thereof, i.e. every "issuer").
I recently explored the Smithsonian Album based on the Wm. Gross collection of the same name
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/stampgallery/album/Stamp-for-Every-Country.pdf
It's a nice basic "fill in the blanks" layout, but it lacks the historical view that I would like. I also am not a fan of the landscape layout (sideways pages).
Personally, I would like to incorporate more maps, and a few paragraphs of history. That raises the question of designing a layout that allows an understanding of the historical sequence of predecessor countries (and entities).
These are just musings. I know the usual response from many Stamporama members will be "you can do whatever you want". I am trying to avoid "re-inventing the wheel" and looking for inspiration from what others have done.
I'd love to see some examples of what has been done. If you have a similar collection, please post a couple of pages and show it off.
I believe there were previous discussions of this on Stamporama in years past, but I haven't found them. If you find the link, please post it.
Roy
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Terranova Publishing released a Single Stamp Gazetteer album, and I have one. However, their website seems to be dead
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I've thought about this kind of collection off and on over the years, but it never went anywhere. I think because of the "unstructured" nature of it.
Most of these kinds of collections I've seen were in stock books or Vario pages using small labels to ID the stamps. I do really like the 'Single Stamp Gazetteer album' layout and you could think about making up something similar of your own. Maybe just using MS Word or PowerPoint you can easily copy/paste various maps, etc. into?
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Starting anew would be some task. There are 600+ entries in the Gazetteer!
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02 Jun 2018
09:52:17am
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I like the maps, I don't like the alphabetical layout. It loses the sweep of historical change. I think the organization of the Smithsonian album, with the addition of maps and short historical text is the direction my thoughts want to go.
It's a long-term undertaking. The pages are easy to produce (my favourite program for album pages is Serif PagePlus 8) but there are a lot of them!
Roy
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Interesting! I think we've all entertained this kind of collection at some point.
The page Dave posted shows countries I never even heard of! So no doubt there are the 600 plus entities he mentioned. (fair to note that my New Jersey postmark listing has over 2400 entries from past to present)
Then comes the question... what constitutes a country? Is it any entity that ever issued it's own stamps? Are stamp issuing states and regions fair game?
And as far as format... the album page shown was alphabetical, would we want it by continent? Or by major country? Such as a section on Germany that starts with the German states, rolls up to country prior to WWII and then West Germany and DDR.. and then back to one country?
So many possibilities!
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Hi all,
As a newbie, my aspirations are not so high, but I do like the idea of collecting from every country and would like to start. I never even thought of such an idea, that is why you all are such an inspiration to me.
Does anyone know of a current "album" that can be purchased or printed to start out with?
If it needs to be printed, I'd be curious as to what paper I should use.
I'd kind of like to get started, as the idea has really hit home with me, so I'm looking forward to some of your advice as well.
@Roy,
Very sorry if my question is "stealing" this thread or taking it in the wrong direction, I am more than happy to ask the question again in the "Newbie" area.
Thank you,
Johnny
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Linn's offers a good list:
https://www.linns.com/insights/stamp-issuing-entities-of-the-world.html
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Hi all,
Regarding the Smithsonian Album that Roy mentioned above.
Why doesn't it include countries like Guatemala?
Maybe it's not completely "all" of the countries?
JR
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
The album I have shows the "live" countries with a black name header and the "dead" countries in grey. However, in the ever-changing world, I'm sure it's out of date already!
This is the blurb from the wayback machine links that may be useful for anyone considering the job!:
Even if you've been a collector all your life, you may have never come across a stamp from Alwar, Nabha, Dalmatia or Kionga. This album will expand your knowledge of such long-gone issuing regions and send you searching for a single specimen. To complete the album the collector must find one stamp - any stamp - of every stamp-issuing entity in the world, past and present.
The Single Specimen World Gazetteer Stamp Album contains over 600 entries and includes the formerly issuing regions within India, Malaysia and Colombia. Each entry contains an overview of the country/entity. In the case of dead countries/entities the entry usually indicates when it issued stamps, its colonial affiliation (if any), and why it no longer issues. Entries also give the most common inscriptions found on the stamps of that country/entity and indicate alternate names.
Each page includes five entries, each with a simple locater map showing where that country is or was located and a 2x2in space in which to mount your specimen.
Countries are listed alphabetically with dead countries identified with a grey heading and living ones with black. The Stamp Identifier section provides a convenient list of the most commonly found inscriptions. By using this list the collector can usually identify the country to which any stamp belongs.
Comes in a high quality 3-ring stiched black album with gold imprinting, and pages are acid-free card stock.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I have decided to collect every stamp from 1970--a lengthy project, but kind of along these same thoughts. Based on a great website one of the stamporama members showed me, that is 217 countries.
I have picked up a few countries.....okay five. That means 212 more to go.
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02 Jun 2018
10:41:30pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
"Regarding the Smithsonian Album that Roy mentioned above.
Why doesn't it include countries like Guatemala?"
It's there, under North America. Do a "Ctrl-F" search for any country that interests you.
Roy
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Hi Roy & Everyone;
@ Roy;
This sounds like a great project for Wikipedia, lots of history info, photos, relevance, and of course maps.
I also agree that alphabetically organized would not be my choice either. I have fantasized of a collection of leaders and rulers, kings, queens, and presidents. And I would organize that also by it's historical significance. Quite a large project but lots of fun.
I'm normally not a huge fan of history, but I sold many Classic and modern English stamps on SOR. I included a few paragraphs of history in my descriptions of the town featured on the CDS, or the older numbered cancels as well.
Wikipedia has colored maps also, and would be great for a color laser printer, project.
Still just sortin'....
TuskenRaider
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
"Collecting a Stamp from Every Country"
I guess in a way, I've been trying to achieve this goal since the beginning. But only as it pertains to my 1970 version of the Harris Statesman album(s). Even after 50 years,(off and on) I still haven't achieved that goal and it falls way short of true global coverage.
Best of luck with this endeavor. When finished, it will be quite an accomplishment.
WB
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I have been looking for a copy of the Single Specimen album for reference for my collection (more about that later).
Terra Nova is still in business but focuses on Newfoundland related material. I contacted the owner and he no longer sells it.
https://terranovapub.com/
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I have never been able to find the Terra Nova album either as it went out of print well before I started my interest in a stamp for every country collection after seeing the Smithsonian exhibit quite some time ago. One of its major advantages over the Smithsonian album is the additional details present in the album about the countries and the included maps. The Smithsonian was published for download from the Smithsonian web site which is based on an exhibit of items from, I believe, William H. Gross's stamp collection (or possibly from existing items in the Smithsonian collection) but definitely the stamp gallery and exhibit were provided through Mr. Gross's support.
There are a large number of posts on the Stamporama site detailing a number of current and past members thoughts about one for every country collections and their progress in forming related collections. It was the most fun I have had in stamp collecting to complete the Smithsonian album a few years ago although I did substitute stamp on stamp issues for the Switzerland canons included in the album as genuine stamps are VERY expensive. I did find a Poland #1 stamp for the album which was another expensive issue. Although I did not keep detailed records of my spending on the album I suspect it was on the order of around $4,000 for my mint stamp issues only collection of the required 788 different stamps. I believe that purchases were made from close to 80 different stamp vendors to form the collection over a fifteen month period.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
There is another Stamp from Every Country Album. You can purchase a 530 page hardcopy off Amazon for $25 ( I did) but the author has provided the AlbumEasy source file (what he used to create) at https://www.thestampweb.com/albumeasy/do ...
I have been working off and on my version using some of the AlbumEasy code.
Example page:
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05:48:55pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Al, do you have a link to the album? I looked on Amazon and Ebay, but couldn't find it.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
This is the link to it on Amazon.
Simplified Version
https://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Every-Count ...
Moderator: Link was to simplified version so made notation.
(Modified by Moderator on 2023-05-02 05:43:05)
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12:08:57am
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
thank you!
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Comprehensive Version on amazon linl
https://www.amazon.com/Stamp-Every-Count ...
I will add that John, creator, used the amazon book publishing option to print and sell his works.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Are you supposed to remove the pages? Seems like the book will become very thick and bulky if you hinged actual stamps inside. Not even considering using mounts.
I remember purchasing the National Parks Passport book and placing the various passport stamps inside. Got bulky pretty fast.
Tad
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
02 May 2023
02:46:25pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Having been the original poster of this thread (has it really been 5 years?), I am happy to see it return.
I visited the Amazon listing, and was almost tempted. But one thing I noticed was this:
(that's the hardcover, the paperback is only 1.37 inches)
It sure isn't printed on heavyweight paper! In fact, with those dimensions it is likely to be on lightweight paper suitable for paperback books. A 500 page ream of even my 20lb printer paper is 2 inches thick. I wouldn't want to use even 20lb for mounting stamps.
If anyone knows the author, it might be interesting to attempt to get him to publish it as a downloadable digital file, which is how he sends it to Amazon (my son did some Amazon publishing on demand books a few years ago).
Roy
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Roy,
You can download a PDF of the book (slightly different from the printed version) at AlnumEasy web site. As noted, the AlbumEasy soruce code is available too.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/albumea ...
The pages are numbered front and back so the book only had 270+ sheets of paper. Sorry for the confusion. The backside has just a page number and the graphic that runs on every page.
I am told it is 50# cream paper so paper is not thin,
I had done a stamp space count and the album has spaces (box) for over 700+ stamps. For example, for the Indian States there are a lot of spaces for all the states.
Examples of spaces just for India
India India 1947-
India Portguese India 1871-1960
India French India 1892-1952
India Empire 1882-1949
India British Crown Colony 1860-1976
India East India Company 1854-1864 (Scinde)?
India Convention States Chamba 1886-1948
India Convention States Faridkot 1887-1901
India Convention States Gwalior 1885-1948
India Convention States Jind 1885-1943
India Convention States Nabha 1885-1946
India Convention States Patiala 1884-1947
India Feudatory States Alwar 1877-1901
India Feudatory States Bamra 1888-1893
India Feudatory States Barwani 1921-1948
India Feudatory States Bhopal 1876-1908
India Feudatory States Bhor 1879-1901
India Feudatory States Bijawar 1935-1939
India Feudatory States Bundi 1894-1947
India Feudatory States Bussahir 1895-1900
India Feudatory States Charkhari 1894-1943
India Feudatory States Cochin 1892-1949
India Feudatory States Dhar 1897-1900
India Feudatory States Duttia 1893-1920
India Feudatory States Faridkot 1879-1886
India Feudatory States Hyderabad (Deccan) 1869-1949
India Feudatory States Idar 1939-1944
India Feudatory States Indore 1886-1947
India Feudatory States Jaipur 1904-1947
India Feudatory States Jammu and Kashmer 1878-1894, 1866-1867
India Feudatory States Jammu 1867-1877
India Feudatory States Jasdan 1942
India Feudatory States Jhalawar 1887-1890
India Feudatory States Jind 1874-1884
India Feudatory States Junagarh 1862-1868
India Feudatory States Kashmir 1866-1870
India Feudatory States Kishangarh 1899-1947
India Feudatory States Morvi 1931-1948
India Feudatory States Nandgaon 1892-1894
India Feudatory States Nowanuggur 1877-1940
India Feudatory States Orccha 1913-1940
India Feudatory States Poonch 1876-1890
India Feudatory States Rajasthan 1948-1949
India Feudatory States Rajpeepla 1880
India Feudatory States Saurashtra 1921-1949
India Feudatory States Sirmoor 1879-1899
India Feudatory States United State of Saurashtra 1948-1956
India Feudatory States Travancore Anchel 1888-1945
India Feudatory States Travancore Cochin 1949-1950
India Feudatory States Wadhvan 1888
India China Expeditionary Force personnel
India Indian UN Force in Gaza
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
"
You can download a PDF of the book (slightly different from the printed version) at the AlbumEasy web site. As noted, the AlbumEasy soruce code is available too.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/albumea ... "
As I will likely host the albums elsewhere in the future, I would prefer it if links were posted to the web page rather than directly to the files to themselves. i.e https://www.thestampweb.com/albums/free- ... .
For the ASFEC scroll down to near the bottom of the page to the "Topical, Thematic and Omnibus issues" section.
As Al has noted, the album may be downloaded as a ready to print PDF, or as an AlbumEasy file for easy modification.
Clive
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BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
02 May 2023
07:46:27pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I am thankful for the re-emergence of this topic. I think I have found my project for next winter.
In my original post I said:
"Personally, I would like to incorporate more maps, and a few paragraphs of history. That raises the question of designing a layout that allows an understanding of the historical sequence of predecessor countries (and entities)."
Seeing this album has allowed me to view it from the standpoint of "What would I do differently?". That's much easier than designing from scratch. If anyone is interested, here are some thoughts on how I would do it and changes to the approach of this album.
I am more interested in using stamps to document the fluctuation of borders, rather than collecting all stamp issuing entities. Thus, I am not interested in Indian States that were used (mostly only locally) while India was under the British Empire, nor the issues of the Channel Islands just because they were given postal autonomy, but still part of the UK. However, I am very interested in documenting the changes from Province of Canada + New Brunswick + Nova Scotia >> Dominion of Canada and then the additions of the remaining colonies. Similarly the various Australian States from their independence to joining together as Australia. Also, Africa will be interesting watching the various Colonies change hands, form and reform and eventually rename themselves under independence.
I like the way the ASFEC album treats this with the forerunners, but I would reverse the presentation and start with the earliest units and work towards the current status of the country.
Also, maps will play a larger role in my presentation. The maps will be regional outlines, with the "countries" filled in with colors (the cities in the current maps are superfluous, imo). More historical discussion of the changes will be included.
I like the AlbumEasy version that does not provide boxes for the stamps. The little crosses for positioning would seem to allow much more flexibility in choosing stamps.
That's as far as I have gotten so far. In summary, I see:
- reverse the order of the forerunners
- provide maps as necessary to plot the history
- more historical discussion (even if only a sentence or two)
- focus only on political changes, not postal organization changes
I will enjoy comments and further discussion of the possibilities of this topic.
Roy
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10:02:37pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Good thoughts, Roy.
" reverse the order of the forerunners"
I think this is a matter of preference. The book, which I have bought and am waiting for it to arrive, shows the current country, then breaks down the forerunners below. The dates are shown for each. I like it current and then down. Just a preference.
I agree that every single entity, like the Indian States, expeditionary forces, and such may be too much.
I like the idea of the maps to trace history. Color is problematic with the self-published books, however..
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I took John's source and made my own variation but has been in the study phase. I have not decided if I wanted to use the timeline versus the paragraph of text or a little of both. One decision I made was put occupation stamps in the region occupied rather the the country that was occupying.
I took more information from Linn's Almanac and Wikipedia and maps from Wikipedia. I also used information from the First Issues Collectors Club web site the variations in postal administrations to supplement the source. I came up with over a 1000 possible spaces.
Where you stop is a personal decision.
Several variations - all test pages. I wanted to allow more space of additional stamps. One can go in any number of directions. I want to restart this work this summer.
I have a list of all spaces in the AFSEC in a spreadsheet that will share if you send me a PM.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
That's a nice layout, Al!
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I am not sure some have noticed there is a correlation between my stamp for every country and my interest in first issues. My project had a purpose of trying to collecting the first issues using the ASFEC framework,
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
It has been a while since I have posted here. Just renewed my membership.
Thanks for the interest in my ASFEC Album.
As a fundamental frame of reference, I believe that "No two people will ever agree on what should, or should not, be included in an album like this - or how it should be presented."
The AlbumEasy versions on the AlbumEasy and StampSmarter web sites allow each collector to edit to taste. No other ASFEC-type album available provides for this.
Please note also that the ASFEC Album (Hardbound/Softbound) available on Amazon comes in two versions - Comprehensive and Simplified. The Simplified version is "greatly" simplified - most people here will want the Comprehensive version, as the Simplified version is probably only suitable for "novice" collectors. The printed books are obviously not editable, but will fit nicely on the bookshelf. The album pages are one-sided, on 50# cream paper.
John
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12:07:46pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I bought the hard cover book. I like the cover, and it will look nice in my philatelic bookcase. I should get it next week. I'll add to it now and then from the load of duplicates I have sitting here. I think it'll make a good sideline collection.
I didn't notice any option on complexity of the album. I'll know soon, though, which one I got.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
michael78651:
There are two ways to see which version it is:
1. The front cover states "Comprehensive" or "Simplified."
2. The order page on Amazon clearly states which version it is.
A seasoned collector more than likely will not be happy with the simplified version!
If I were you, I would check which version you bought, and then cancel the order if it is the simplified version.
John
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08:49:07pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
It's already been shipped. It's OK. I have a grandson who need to learn geography better than he does. He has a small stamp collection. I can get him involved with the album too.
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04:29:07pm
re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I reviewed the order, and I did get the simplified version. I tried to order the comprehensive version, figuring I will give the simplified version to my grandson, but Amazon spammed me with a "free trial" of prime, which I don't want, and which I could not remove from the order, so I canceled the order. Customer service was worthless too.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
A simple ASFEC collection ..image found on Internet. This person references dead countries.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I put together a set of 'A Stamp For Every Country' album pages which can be downloaded for free here
https://stampsmarter.org/learning/FormAF ...
These PDF pages can be customized to your own taste if desired! Additionally and to address the differences in what people consider which countries to include, there are blank customizable pages included. Here is an example of a page
No coding needed, simply open the PDF and make the changes you desire. I put together a short video on how to edit the pages here
A great project can that folks can download today, populate a few pages, and then gift others (kids or adults) for the holidays.
Don
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
I'm more of a cover collector so as my New Jersey collection slows down, I've been looking at different fun collections. I haven't done anything formal just yet, other than filling two big boxes with covers, for my "A Cover For Every Country" album!
I will no doubt use the same pages and format at my New Jersey collection. Those are 2 pocket, 2 sided pages. I only print cards for what I own. There are empty spots throughout my albums for expansion, or since it's loose leaf I simply add another page. As the albums fill, it spawns additional binders. The collection is now 10 binders, and I'm about to split the "A-B" album into 2!
I expect my Every Country albums will follow along. I had a fellow ask me why I hadn't printed cards for every variety in my database, I told him I was only at 44% completion and I'd wind up with 25, half empty albums! The way I do it, the albums appear fairly complete to viewers (not that I get many viewers).
Sample Page!
My approach allows me to collect what I want, and ignore things like the aforementioned Indian States if I choose. It's good to be king!
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
Here is another example page from a member of the First Issues Collectors Club.
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re: Collecting a Stamp from Every Country - any collectors here?
This thread has been split, moving 1 posts onto a new Thread titled:"Maximphilly"
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