... leads me to wonder what people do with their stamp-festooned covers.
Mine mostly end-up being shelved, well, end-up on a shelf.
I've considered buying a shallow shadow box so I could at least mount one on the wall and, when I have drawn my enjoyment from looking at it, replace it with another.
Q/ Do you just remove the stamps, and go on with your life, sans cover?
Q/ Do you buy pockect pages, insert these covers, and store them in a binder?
Q/ Do you buy photo mounting corners, and mount these on album pages, and insert them ... where?
Q/ Do you, also, just shelve them?
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
re: What do YOU do with your stamp-festooned covers?
I've got a collection going of one cover addressed to me from each of the 50 states. The ones that don't make the cut are sitting in a shoe box. Also got a collection going from individual countries.
re: What do YOU do with your stamp-festooned covers?
I gather up an ounce worth of trimmed stamps at a time and mail them to a friend in Australia who gives them to his daughter and 3 of her young friends to help spark an interest in collecting worldwide. I often get covers from Canada and Europe, so I include even single stamps from there. From the US, mostly commemoratives and an occasional definitive.
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
re: What do YOU do with your stamp-festooned covers?
I buy a lot of cheap stuff on eBay so I get mail from fellow collectors on a regular basis. I am a cover collector, but most of these are philatellicaly uninteresting. There is an array of stamps spanning many years, well out of their era. Half of them come through uncancelled. They are obviously created by a stamp collector to use up old postage. They don't represent regular or commercial usage.
Since most US stamps of these eras are virtually worth nothing, even mint, that's the very reason why these stamps are on this cover. I already have everything in mint condition, so I don't need these stamps in any way for my collection. I have no reason to go on a soaking spree since they aren't worth anything as trading stock.
So I have a copier paper box under my desk. I toss all of these covers in there. Maybe future generations of collectors will find them interesting.