Stockbooks are storage books used by stamp collectors

Stamp collecting

Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is one of the world's most popular hobbies, with the number of collectors in the United States alone estimated to be over 20 million.- Collecting :...

 for storage of postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

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

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 items, such as plate block

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 process...

s, miniature sheet

Miniature sheet

A souvenir sheet or miniature sheet is 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 , or special issues often commemorating some event, such as a national anniversary,...

s, covers

Cover (philately)

In philately, the term cover pertains to the outside of an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled and is a term generally used among stamp and postal history collectors. The term does not include the contents of the letter or package, although...

, lettersheets, 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

Glassine is a very thin and smooth paper that is air and water resistant. It is translucent unless dyes are added to color it or make it opaque...

, 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.
• Large gaps need not exist, as may happen with a stamp album
  Stamp album
  A stamp album is a book, often loose-leafed , in which a collection of postage stamps may be stored and displayed.- Overview :...
  
   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.
• 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

Stanley Gibbons Ltd

The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange and which specialises in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in Jersey but with offices in London, Ringwood in Hampshire and...

, Lighthouse, Lindner, Prinz, Safe, Supersafe, G & K, Davo, Schaubek, Vera Trinder, Multi Master, UNI-safe, Climax, Compass, Importa, Rapide and Hagner.

External links

• Tools - Stockbooks, Stockpages and Stockcards Junior Philatelists on the Internet