Stockbooks are storage books used by stamp collectors for storage of

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s placed in pockets, on pages, for easy viewing. Other

philatelic Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...

items, such as

plate block A plate block is a block of stamps from the edge of the sheet which shows the ''plate'' or ''cylinder'' from which the stamps were printed. Background The numbering of printing plates has long been a part of quality control in the printing proc ...

miniature sheet A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is a postage stamp or a small group of postage stamps still attached to the sheet on which they were printed. They may be either regular issues that just happen to be printed in small groups (typical of many ea ...

s, covers,

lettersheet In philatelic terminology a letter sheet, often written lettersheet, is a sheet of paper that can be folded, usually sealed (most often with sealing wax in the 18th and 19th centuries), and mailed without the use of an envelope, or it can also ...

s, etc., can be stored in stockbooks.

Construction

Stockbooks consist of a number of stiff pages, made up with horizontal pockets of manilla paper, glassine paper or clear film, into which stamps are placed. Collectors can insert stamps side by side in a row or can overlap stamps when individual viewing is not necessary. The pages, usually double-sided, are bound into book form. The most popular sizes comprise between 4 and 32 double-sided pages with each page interleaved with a

glassine Glassine is a smooth and glossy paper that is air, water, and grease resistant. It is usually available in densities between . It is translucent unless dyes are added to color it or make it opaque. It is manufactured by supercalendering: after ...

, or clear, sheet to prevent stamps on adjacent pages from touching. As with most stationery, most manufacturers refer to the number of sides in a stockbook and not to the number of pages, so stockbook advertised as a ''"16-page stockbook"'' contains 8 double-sided cardboard pages.

Stock pages

Some collectors require more flexibility than a bound stockbook allows, because moving individual stamps from page to page can be time consuming and may cause damage. Several manufacturers produce individual stock pages that can be inserted into loose-leaf folders. Stock pages are usually sold in packages of multiple sheets of 5 or 10 to a packet. Stock pages are made from plastic or thick card. In either case they have clear pockets on one or both sides. These pockets are attached on three sides with the top side being open to insert the stamps. On some sheets the pockets are attached to the page on one side only, that is the bottom side. The sides are left unattached so that the pocket can be lifted open to place a stamp or a philatelic item. This arrangement reduces the chance of damage, since unlike in a three-side-attached stock page the stamps are not inserted or pushed into a pocket.

Advantages and disadvantages

* As more stamps are acquired they can easily be rearranged. * There is no need to use stamp hinges. * Large gaps need not exist, as may happen with a stamp album that has fixed spaces for each particular stamp. * There is no space for writing notes - some collectors do their write-up on a piece of paper and insert it behind a stamp or in an adjacent row. * Stamps are not affixed so they can fall out, or become dislodged, if dropped or bumped hard.StampoRama: ''What are the advantages of stock pages?''
(retrieved 10 June 2007) * Stockbooks are less suitable for display since the stamps can fall out or be mishandled.

Manufacturers

Manufacturers of stockbooks and stock pages include

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

, Lighthouse, Lindner, Prinz, Safe, Supersafe, G & K, Davo, Schaubek, Vera Trinder, Multi Master, UNI-safe, Climax, Compass, Importa, Rapide and Hagner. Image:My stamp collection book opened.jpg, Stockbook without interleaving between pages Image:Stamp stockbook 2545276.JPG, Traditional stockbook with glassine interleaving containing mint

s. Image:Stamp album folder 254105226.jpg, Ring-binder of loose-leaf stock pages storing stamp booklets and booklet panes. Image:Stamp stockbook 2545278.JPG, Stockbook with mint minisheets.

References

External links