Stockbooks are storage books used by stamp collectors for storage of postage stamps placed in pockets, on pages, for easy viewing. Other philatelic items, such as plate blocks, miniature sheets, covers, lettersheets, etc., can be stored in stockbooks.
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.[1] 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, 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.[2]
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.[3] Stock pages are usually sold in packages of multiple sheets of 5 or 10 to a packet.[4]
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.
Manufacturers of stockbooks and stock pages include Stanley Gibbons, Lighthouse, Lindner, Prinz, Safe, Supersafe, G & K, Davo, Schaubek, Vera Trinder, Multi Master, UNI-safe, Climax, Compass, Importa, Rapide and Hagner.