The following is a litany of little ideas picked up over the years from many people on organizing various functions of collecting to save time and so that you don't have to relearn the same thing over and over again. Each topic is titled for a specific area of collecting, but many of the techniques used are applicable to many other areas. Because of this, I suggest that it might be useful for collectors to read this page and consider modifying any of these ideas to any of their own needs. As usual, saving money is in the background for many of these topics.

Perfins

Perfins are stamps that have the initials of various firms and government bodies perforated into the stamp. In this country (US), they are referred to as either US or foreign perfins. They are generally saved in some sort of alphabetical format even though many collectors also save them by industry, such as collecting railroad perfins. Perfins are often acquired by the envelope full, and the first job facing the collector is sorting them alphabetically. You could, of course, just sort them on the kitchen table, but what do you do with them when it is time to eat? A simple solution to this and other sorting problems is egg cartons, especially the two dozen size. You can leave the tops on, but when I do this, I have the tendency to knock them over so I cut the tops off. It is easy to label each little egg hole with a piece of self-adhesive label and you are in business. The advantage to leaving the lids on is that you can close the lid and store your work when you have to quit. An advantage to cutting the lids off is that as you make more of these sorting boxes, they occupy less space when you stack them when not in use. Another solution to sorting is to make a 4 x 7 matrix out of wood or cardboard that has no bottom. I have one of these I made out of 1/4-inch wood. I just sort my stamps into it. Lift it off the floor and I have 28 neat little piles to play with. If you are going to work on these piles and not transfer them right away to envelopes, then it is a good idea to process the small piles first so that when you have to stop there is less filing to do.

British Colony watermarks

British Colony watermarks and key plate types are another area where you can save a lot of time by taking a little time to organize. In every volume of the Scott catalog there is a page entitled "Dies of British Colony Stamps Referred to...." The top of the page shows die types for some of the key plate stamps and below are pictured the basic watermarks used for the British Colonial stamps. If you collect British Colonies or worldwide, you will constantly need to reference this page. An alternative to memorizing the material on it is to get a ruler and a razor blade and gently cut it out of the catalog. If you do not want to cut up a new catalog, cut it out of an old one. In old catalogs this page is found in the back of the British Colony volumes. In the newer worldwide catalogs, it is found in the front of the catalog. After you have cut it out, get a piece of poster board, or better yet matte board, and tape this page to the board. You can now put this handy little reference within reach, and you will save untold wear and tear on your catalogs and on yourself. Framing shops will often give away left over pieces of matte board if you ask them. Size the board such that it is just slightly larger than the page. The one I made with poster board is in good shape after 20 years of use. It is a shame that Scott hasn't seen fit to print this material on a piece of quality board to include with their catalogs.

Depending on what you are interested in, you can make all kinds of these sorting aids. Never throw away an old catalog until you have gone through it to see what you can cut out. For instance, you could make a card to aid in watermarking and sorting the Building issues of Germany from that old Michael you bought for a dollar at the club auction and then found out when you got home that you already had a newer one. Catalogs wear out with use; and by making these cards, you can cut down on the wear and make your catalogs last longer. Listed below are two more cards that I have made and use.

The watermarks of Brazil

The watermarks of Brazil. The stamps of Brazil are very interesting and, for the most part, they are inexpensive. Not many people, however, collect Brazil and the major reason for this are the 16 similar watermarks found on Brazilian stamps. The way to solve this problem is get out your scissors and wack away at an old Scott's catalog. Cut out the pictures of the watermarks including the descriptions below the pictures. Spread these cutouts evenly on a l5 inch by 24 inch piece of poster board and tape them down. You now have a tool to deal with these watermarks. If you are not sure how to differentiate between some of the watermarks, then look for a cheap stamp that is only found with that watermark. Put it in you watermark tray face down and drip on some fluid. Now take a pencil and very carefully pencil in the watermark. Remove the stamp from the tray and let it dry. Now tape this stamp down next to the appropriate picture. Use a millimeter gauge and whatever else you need and compare the confusing watermarks. Chances are you will see the differences. When you do, write them down on your board so you don't have to figure them out each time. Collect Brazil-it is a neat country. You will eventually get to really love the watermarks.

The Martyrs Issue of China

The Martyrs Issue of China and Scott type A57. These two issues can be confusing to someone who collects worldwide and doesn't specialize in China. Again, it is time to cut up an old Scott catalog. Cut out the picture of the watermark found on these issues. Then cut out the pictures of the secret marks. Lastly, cut out the picture of type A57 with the list of types attached. Now tape these to a poster board about 6 inches by 24 inches. The extra space on this board is for the flow charts that you have made for sorting these issues. Making these charts is going to take a couple of hours; but once the work is done, you don't have to do it again. A flow chart is simply a set of lines that show a decision process. As an example, we will do the Martyrs Issue. At the top of your chart you write "Martyrs Issue". You then draw downward a short vertical line. At the end of this line you place a horizontal line to the left and to the right. This is a decision point. On the line to the left you write watermarked and on the right your write unwatermarked. At this point you watermark your stamps. Those with watermarks go to the left where you put another short downward verticle line that leads to the numbers 402-20. This tells you that watermarked stamps are identified as Scott number 402-20. Back to the decision point. To the right went the unwatermarked stamps, and at the end of the line you place another short vertical downward line to another decision point. The decision point is on whether or not these stamps have secret marks (check the glued on chart from the catalog). Those who have secret marks go to the right and are 421-439. Those that have no secret mark go downward for another decision point. This one on width. Draw your flow chart out with pencil at first. Go through it until you are sure your flow chart works, then copy it onto a piece of paper with ink and glue it to your board. From now on when you get one of these stamps, you don't have to relearn everything again. You just get out your handy chart.

For U.S. Collectors

For US collectors you can make a chart for the Washigton-Franklin issues and include all kinds of specialized data if you wish.