I put my gloves on a grabbed my tweezers. Most of it went quite smoothly. However, some of the old postage stamps were stuck to the sleeve. With these ones I had a decision to make about what to do.
At first I wanted to leave them in the sleeve. It seemed like the easy option. I haven’t damaged them after all…they were like that when I got them. I instantly knew that was the wrong decision. Like anything in life I knew that I had to take action.
I gave some of the First Day Covers a hard tug to get them out. The old postage stamps on these were obviously damaged.
The damage appears to be on the silhouette of the queen. Obviously this disappointed me but think I took the right decision. At least I think so.
They were obviously damaged in the sleeve. There was no way they could be removed without part of the silhouette remaining attached to the sleeve. I believe that I have help saved these ones even if now they are not in the best of conditions.
I ordered the First Day Covers on the top of the bed once I had all of them out of the album. The first thing that struck me was how colourful they were. This is something that you don’t really appreciate when they are stored away in the sleeve of the album. These old postage stamps in these albums of 30 to 40 years old but are still so vibrant…still full of life…still how my Grandad left them.
With all of the old postage stamps out on the bed it really is an amazing sight. I left them on the bed over night to make sure that they received a good airing.
I have taken photos of each one and recorded a video. I will be posting the videos on my You Tube channel and on this site. After recording the first video I decided to cover up the addresses on the First Day Covers. You can’t be too careful of identity theft!
Then came the more difficult task of putting them back into the sleeves. I couldn’t believe the sleeve sizes against the size of some of the First Day Covers. They were official Royal Mail First Day Covers and official Royal Mail First Day Cover albums.
Why was it such as struggle to fit them in?!
I was very careful not to damage the Old Postage Stamps. I made sure I took my time. Luckily I am a patient person and I was quite happy knowing I was doing it properly.
I even was able ‘fix’ some of the damaged ones. Well… not fix as such, perhaps a better word would be ‘improved’.
Some of the Old Postage Stamps had become slightly folded in the sleeves and I was able to put them back in flat. I was very proud of this.
There are 4 first day covers to go through. I will then move on to the other albums once the 4 have been completed. I will post the videos soon.