New Collector - Getting Organised
 

Hello All

Great Forum, I have spent countless hours reading and learning so far, firstly a quick intro.

I decided to try collecting from random sources eg Car boot sales, flea markets etc. as you can imagine taking this approach doesn't aid focus and specialisation so my question to all you seasoned collectors is how do you organise your collections? And ultimately display them.

Pictures would be great and many thanks for sharing so much knowledge in one place.

Peter

Hello Peter, welcome to the Forum. Your account is active and open for posts.

Peter,
I have been collecting for more than 55 years and have used various methods to display my collection. Have a look in my album here https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...p?albumid=3867

Tim

I mount them on A4 card and put them in A4 binders. There are too many to put on baords - or I have too little wall space.

Glad you enjoy the forum. I do believe it is an unrivalled amount of information that is unsurpassed any where else.

Alan

Hi peter.
When I first started collecting I picked up badges wherever I could. I ended up with quite a few items. I then started to try and put some groups together IE infantry regiments of WW 2 etc. I then mounted these on large cards and placed them on display, as I like to see my badges. It is probably a good idea to try and narrow your collecting field a little, possibility pick a certain regiment or stick to infantry or even a time period ( that said I still collect whatever I fancy after all it is supposed to be fun) as has already been said a good storage method is mounting on A4 card and putting in a folder. This way it is easy to move badges around. I was lucky to pick up a jewellers cabinet and have some of my badges laid out in this.

I mount mine on boards in regiments/corps a few boards in my album
Also placing my line regiments in frames for my young grandchildren also in album section
David

Thanks all for the responses, I think cards is the way to go until I narrow down to a theme and work out what to focus on, right now I am just enjoying accumulating.....

I'm in the US and use Riker Cases to display mine. hat way i can move them around as nothing is ever permanent. Riker Cases are very popular over here.

I suggest you look through all of the albums and you'll get all kinds of ideas. When I first joined I did that and not only was blown away by the many awesome collections, but got lots of ideas on how to group and mount my items.

I'll also say that for me, I find it better to find an area I'm really interested in and try to stay within that genre. Otherwise it can be very daunting.

You will find the wealth of knowledge in this forum is unbelievable, and very helpful!

Bottom line, enjoy it as a hobby!

Terry

Filing cabinet
 

Hello Peter
Welcome to the forum. I have been collecting for over 30+ years now, I keep all my badges, buttons, shoulder titles, otc, cadets and collar badges on a A4 size cardboard and place them into a filing cabinet on suspension files. I have a sheet of small bubble wrap in front of each board, a bit over the top but it helps to protect the badges. When I started collecting it was mainly to the Essex Regt and they were on one board. Then I started other boards and over the years I have filled two, six draw filing cabinets. You can label each file, I find this is the best method for me.
All the best
Terry

As with a lot of our esteemed members collections I have quite a few badges that are not easy to display due to lack of space etc so I use a Really Useful 9ltr storage box in which I can put 4 trays, each holding 15 badges (depending on size of course) so 60 badges to a box. I have around 80 of these but not all are full.
For shoulder titles, TRF'S, Formation signs etc I use commercial display boards with the items attached to A4 card.
Please see attached photo's .
Jerry - engr9266

I'll have to get a couple of those , the boxes/trays I use have smaller compartments which are too small for some items.

Mike, here are some of my BL/RBL in the trays. As you see in the last photo I have a lot more then the 15.....
Jerry

Got one of the boxes and 4 trays , they are great for larger badges.

For my clutch pin poppies etc I have 3 'Pin Albums' (each holds approx. 8 pages).

Now all I need to do is learn how to take decent photos ! :D

Storage
 

Decided to spring clean and organise/display my ever growing collection.

Thought I'd pick up a couple more of the "Really Useful 9ltr storage boxes" but this wasn't as straight forward as I thought.

Lots of sites selling them but prices vary a lot depending on :
1. How many you want.
2. With or without compartment trays.
3. Postage !

Ended up getting 2 boxes (£6.00 each) and 2 large compartment trays (£5.00 each) , basic postage was £3.95 but I chose next day delivery for £5.95.

Standard trays have 15 compartments and box will hold 4 trays.
Large trays have 7 compartments (6 are 10cm x 7cm and 1 is 11cm x 21cm) , so handy for bigger items and box will hold 2 of these.

NB If I had bought boxes direct from 'Really Useful' website costs would have been £6.86 per box , plus £11.99 postage . Other sites may have free postage but basic prices are much higher.

.

I only collect Wessex Volunteers/Regiment so dont have many badges but they all fit (at the moment) into a Bisley Cabinet. Made up a wooden frame to keep the badges off the bottom of the tray and used hardboard covered with felt to display them.