Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
For the past year I have purchased about 15 packages of original Harold Cohen Fold-o-Hinges and a few Dennison hinges, all in sealed original packages.The first two packages were perfect, I cut them in half so the cost go's down to about $5 bucks a package. The next package a 1955 Harold Cohen package, ackk! it was full of what appears to be the Unitrade "fold-o-hinge"knock offs that are real nasty never peel hinges. I confirm this with a test, they are garbage and into the garbage they go. I have no idea which packages I purchased from who or when, all were on ebay from several different sellers,I did not inspect the packages prior to opening them , I looked at the other "unopened" packages and saw no signs of tampering, I opened up 5 more, all OK, so maybe I will be fortunate if no other bogus hinges await me.
So I guess it would be advisable to check packages of "unopened" hinges as received, as it never even crossed my mind that someone would do this.
Login to Like
this post
That is really a terrible thing to hear. Good old hinges are becoming harder and harder to find (without paying an arm and leg!). Thanks for the heads-up. Too bad you don't know which specific dealer you got them from.
Login to Like
this post
I know the market is not huge, but if one company would make a decent hinge, they would capture almost all of it. How hard can it be to convert back to the old formula and sell packets at $7.50 each? That's double the current cost, but most of us would gladly pay it.
-Steve
Login to Like
this post
10:50:53am
Subway actually tried this a while back. I believe they purchased the actual machines used in the original production, but the difficulty was in duplicating the adhesive. For some reason, the original formula for the hinge adhesive is not known and has, so far, proven impossible to duplicate.
Login to Like
this post
WOW no one knows how to duplicate the adhesive? Can't the adhesive be analyzed for chemical content? Very weird!
Login to Like
this post
They did do that, but I believe it also included the glassine material itself that also could not be duplicated.
Login to Like
this post
Hi All
If I might offer a suggestion, I stopped using hinges when I stopped using an album, was just to much work. I realize a lot of stamp collectors like their albums, but it just didn't fit into my collecting very good. With plate varieties, and cancels, I ended up with too many stamps for the one album page.
So I went to clear plastic stock sheet (stamp friendly) with black background, to mount my stamp, very easy to move stamps around. I also remove all the stamps from my album and put them into these stock sheets. I now have a place to display my collection and can rearrange it when I want to, add labels, add related non stamp material.
No more hinges for me, no more album somebody else made up, I have my own set up, a reflection of my collecting interests.
Any body going to change over?
Good luck to all of you in future collecting interests.
DAVID THOMPSON
MSGT/USAF/RETIRED
Login to Like
this post
Thanks, Michael. I knew Subway had purchased a lot of old equipment, but didn't realize that extended to hinges. My reaction is the same as Theresa's: Really?
Interesting about the relationship between the glassine material and the adhesive. A couple days ago I became curious about glassine - what it is, how it is made, etc. the Google search results almost made me fall out of my chair. Seems that stamp collectors and cocaine dealers (yes, cocaine dealers 
) are giving each other a run for the biggest user of glassine products!
Come to think of it, some of those hinges have been tasting funny lately... 
-Steve
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
I have read somewhere else that the original Dennison hinges contained a substance that you would not like to let loose anywhere on your person that you would like to stay in good condition - the word carcinogenic comes to mind ! You might like to do some further research before you start licking........
Malcolm
Login to Like
this post
"I have read somewhere else that the original Dennison hinges contained a substance that you would not like to let loose anywhere on your person that you would like to stay in good condition - the word carcinogenic comes to mind ! You might like to do some further research before you start licking........"
Well most of the dudes at ARIPEX today were older than 60, and I'm sure many a hinge have been licked by these guys, as well as by myself. I have yet to grow a third eye like the guy in the Twilight Zone episode.
Login to Like
this post
Last year, Wayne Youngblood wrote an article in the American Philatelist about hinges, their history, and what is no available. It is worth reading.
Essentially, he feels that the material used for the gum in old hinges is either no longer available or no longer "safe" to use. Also note that companies like Dennison (now Avery-Dennison) were manufacturers of many paper items, stamp hinges being the least of their product lines.
I'll see if I can find the article.
David
Login to Like
this post
Hi Everyone;
I for the life of me, can't remember where I read this, but it explained why Dennison Hinges
bit the dust.
Back in the day there were many manufacturers of hinges. Just like today most of them were
not very good, maybe worse. In those days folks were not as fussy with the appearance of
the back of their stamps as long as the front looked good. I can even remember stamps that
someone had applied first aid, by using hinges as band-aids to repair torn stamps!!
Then along came Dennison ta-daa. It took very little time for them to catch on, but there was
only one problem. To make them very peelable, they had to be aged for many months. This
was not a problem for a couple decades. But as the popularity of the brand increased, it be-
came more difficult to meet production demands. Eventually they had to reduce the time they
were aged, and quality started to decline.
The last years of production saw hinges that were not as peelable and orders fell as suppliers
looked to other sources. They threw in the towel on hinges, as they had many other products
to make and that was the end of the era. 
Sad....so sad...
Crying in my cantina beer....
TuskenRaider
Login to Like
this post
11:06:04pm
" ''' The last years of production saw hinges that were not as peelable and orders fell as suppliers looked to other sources. ..."
The problem with that has two parts. First I used Dennison Hinges from around 1948 til they disappeared as did my parents who began collecting in the late 1930s. I remember the red and blackish envelopes from when I first learned to read. My eyes are failing, my arteries are shot but my tongue works just as well as fifty years ago. ( Yes, and stifle that thought, it is family hour here.)
Second, I have never heard a single collector say, write or intimate that there was a pealability problem with the genuine Dennison hinges, other brands, yes, but not the genuine Dennisons, nor have I found there to be such a problem.
If there are such reports, I stand corrected.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
I've never had a single problem with Dennison (not Dennisen) hinges. And I was fortunate, several years ago, to have a Stamporama member sell me two full packages of folded ones for U.S. $10. I mount very few stamps, so I still have most of them.
Right now, on eBay, for $40: two unopened Canadian packages of Dennison hinges.
Expensive, yes, but they'd be a better investment than $40 worth of stamps from the post office! And you get a free French lesson from the packages!
Bob
Login to Like
this post
After fiddling with hinges for a very short while I quickly gave up and switched to mounts. I couldn't be happier with mounts. They do a great job of protecting the stamp and the black background brings them out nicely
That being said I do keep a small supply of recycled hi-quality hinges I have pulled from album pages.
Login to Like
this post
01:58:24pm
Antonio
I once admitted in a club meeting that I reused good hinges and was met by a loud round of "cheap" tags, but the fact is, I was doing the same thing as you because it was so difficult to find good hinges. A while back I got lucky in an auction and, in a box lot, discovered a veritable hoard of Dennison and Fold-O hinges from the 1960s (probably enough to last me the rest of my life).
As far as mounts go, several years ago I had difficulty finding top loading mounts at reasonable prices, and discovered that slitting the larger split back mounts down the center of the long side creates inexpensive top loaders. One of our newer members describes this process in another thread http://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=10496#84166 You can almost always find the larger strips at bargain prices either on eBay or from other collectors.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
The problem with reusing hinges is that the gum on the hinge will be used and often pulled off the hinge when it is removed from the stamp. When you wet the used hinge flap and attach it to a stamp, particularly an unused stamp, you are attaching a glassine flap with depleted gum onto the gum of the stamp. Glassine to stamp gum. When you try to pull off that hinge in the future, you could tear the gum off the back of the stamp causing a thin or worse, or you could leave a hinge remnant.
In addition, the weakened or missing gum on the hinge flap can cause the stamp to come loose where the stamp can fall out of the album, or shift around and get tangled with other stamps causing damage to the stamp and possibly other stamps on the page.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
"The problem with reusing hinges is that.."
You are licking other peoples old DNA!
Are hinges not made at all anymore?
Login to Like
this post
Hinges are still made. The problems with today's hinges are inconsistent quality, and they often stay attached to the stamp. Prinz and Supersafe are the two brands that I prefer to use when I put together sales books to send to the APS. I am using the Supersafe brand right now. They don't attach as "tightly" to the stamp as the Prinz hinges do. I like the Supersafe brand a bit better than the Prinz. (Yes, I have a couple of packets of Dennison hinges in my supplies drawer too. Not for sale.)
Login to Like
this post
The original adhesive used in the Dennison was hoof glue. With hoof glue its water activate. Hoof glue is till used to this day but not on hinges.
The habit of the collector licking the hinge was the downfall. They were told to use a food grad glue which hoof glue is not. So Dennison was unable to use the original formula.
This is what I have been told so don't quote me. I had a long chat at college with my industrial hygiene professor and horse hoof glue was common but then they discover that it may contain diseases as result it was not used for food grade items which a stamp hinge would fall under.
Dennison did have a winning hinge the glue was thinned just right and the glassine used for the hinge allowed for the adhesive to be peel-able.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
*** thanks irishjack! That's the first logical explanation I've heard as to why Dennison hinges are no more! That actually makes sense! *** for years I've only heard, "they don't make them anymore."
-Ernie
Login to Like
this post
Two observations:
1) Stamp collectors tend to last well into their golden years, so the stuff we were licking couldn't have been all that bad...
2) I think I'd much rather lick a horse's hoof than ingest what passes for "food grade" these days.
Just sayin'
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
The hoof glue has flexable property's, they still use it on furniture in joints that need a little give.
The glue is water base so the moisture in the air never allows it to fully dry hard.
Login to Like
this post
Glad I noticed this thread. I also have felt there are some shenanigans with sellers of supposedly vintage hinges on Ebay. I have learned the hard way to keep track of from whom I buy a pack. Someone last year stuck me with some apparently repackaged supposedly vintage hinges that were not what they claimed to be. I also have bought two packs that turned out to have no gum! Probably from a remainder of stock from the maker and no one bothered to check. There used to be a dealer on Ebay in Canada who thought he was being cute- he's list his wares as just 'hinges' but include a photo of two packs of Dennison hinges. The portion of the label that had the 'sen' was conveniently covered up in the photo. I gt my money back from him but as of a few months ago he was still up to the same trick.
Login to Like
this post
What is this world coming to, counterfeit stamp hinges? I don't think I can handle this pressure!
I found these advertised on a legit hobby site. Are they okay to purchase?
Login to Like
this post
The article linked to by nl1947 (see post above), "A history of the Hinge," is well worth reading.
It occurs to me that a lot of the hand-wringing over the extinction of Dennison's hinges is unnecessary, at least for many stamps, namely:
• Stamps originally issued without gum
• CTO's
• Used stamps
• Unused stamps (stamps never cancelled, but without gum
Use any kind of hinge you want on these stamps, with the understanding that you can easily remove hinges with a bit of soaking. If you mount them carefully, you never will have to remove them or soak them. Simple, eh?
As for MNH stamps, who would ever mount them anyway? Even the lowest-value mint stamp is worth less if it's hinged.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
I mentioned my experience with Supersafe hinges in my earlier post. They are made in Germany and distributed in the USA by Vidiforms (Showguard mounts). You can buy them for alot less than the asking price in that link. Hobby Lobby sells them too, and you can use their weekly 40% off coupon.
Login to Like
this post
"Mixed reviews on this product "
The Amazon reviews are actually funny, like people who never saw a stamp hinge before. There was one lady who was pretty confused, in her review she was talking bout baking with the product. Others said the mount curled up when wet... were they dropping them into a bowl of water or something?
I saw them on another hobby site for $3.95 a pack. The Amazon number were much more! If Hobby Lobby sells them, I'll grab a pack with that 40% off coupon just to try them out.
Login to Like
this post
Just don't try to bake a cake with them, or drop them in a bowl of water.
With all hinges, I use very little moisture. The hinges usually peel off very easily this way, if i ever have to peel the stamps off of something.
Login to Like
this post
Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps. Even if one can remove a hinge without leaving a mark that could be recognised by the naked eye, the "invisible" mark is quite visible from a magnifying glass and ultra-violet light point of view.
I once bought a stamp for $60 believing it to be mint unhinged, and viewing the back I couldn't see a hinge remnant, even by holding it towards the light. When I took the stamp to a recent stamp expo I showed it to a well known specialist in pre-decimal stamps, he had one look at the stamp through a powerful magnifier and he immediately noticed a hinge remnant, it wasn't in the centre of the stamp, but a very little remnant on a perforation; he then valued the stamp at $45 as a result of that hinge remnant.
Plucking it off would only remove the perforation and that would spell more disaster; so I took the stamp back to the dealer, showed him where to look and he replaced it with a stamp that we both thoroughly looked at with two powerful magnifiers.
It was the rage in the "golden days" of stamp collecting to hinge a stamp; it's a common sight to come across a stamp with multiple hinge remnants where one hinge was torn off and another added and so on until there is a thick ugly clump on the reverse totally rendering the stamp to the category of space filler.
There is no such thing as a good hinge.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Rob1956 said,
"Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps.... There is no such thing as a good hinge."
I would agree with you in part: the value of "better" stamps — meaning stamps worth, say, US $5 or more, will be irrevocably harmed by being hinged. However....
If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care. In addition, dealers themselves pay little to no attention to stamps of minimum value, so it hardly matters what their condition is. This is especially true of modern stamps which are as common as dirt, and worth about as much as dirt. Much less, actually, if you consider the cost of a delivery of a pick-up load of topsoil for your garden! But mounts? If they were only sold by the pound or kilo, few of us could afford to buy them!
Nor do I believe that the classes of stamps that I mentioned earlier in this thread can be harmed by hinges. They are the CTO's, stamps issued without gum, and unused stamps (used, but not cancelled, and missing their gum). For these stamps, there's nothing wrong with using mounts, but if they are hinged, put into an album, and removed carefully when desired or when necessary, they can easily be washed, assuming that the ink they are printed with is not fugitive. To refuse to hinge stamps that can be safely hinged seems to me to be an excess of care at the expense of the pleasures of collecting.
Bob
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Well said Bob, especially where you stated "If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care."
Login to Like
this post
12:51:02am
"..... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps....."
I have been involved in the hobby for well over fifty years, longer if you count youth collections.
I have heard many dealers complain of the effort involved while evaluating a collection or accumulation where stamps are imprisoned within mounts where it is not easy to inspect the back of the stamp, and the subsequent application of a discount to the estimation provided. Flicking a hinged stamp is quite simple, but even with easily opened mounts the stamp must be removed, handled and then replaced without inflicting damage.
I have also seen large carefully mounted collections where I suspect strongly the original cost of the mounts far exceeds the total cost, not to be confused with some catalog listing's wild eyed guesstimate, of the stamps mounted within.
So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can.
I think it offers bad information to many who enjoy the hobby in what he may consider the old fashioned manner. 
Login to Like
this post
Charlie said,
"So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can."
That Should be "Rob" (Rob1956), not "Bob" (Bobstamp)!
But that's a good point about mounts making the examination of stamps difficult. Virtually impossible in practical terms for split-back, Scott-type mounts, which I tried once, with one stamp, and gave up.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
I started collecting as an 8year old.so my knowledge base was 98% empty.After I was informed It took two weeks of soaking these flour paste laden stamp. I could have made great gravy.I have only used Showgard mounts . Flour to Showgard ,that is a jump.I can inspect any stamp front or back with no trouble. And the mounts are more expensive than a lot of stamps. Ray
Login to Like
this post
"I have heard many dealers complain of the effort involved while evaluating a collection or accumulation where stamps are imprisoned within mounts where it is not easy to inspect the back of the stamp, and the subsequent application of a discount to the estimation provided."
How much actual evaluation do stamp dealers do when they buy collections? For instance in my field of facility management, I developed the skill where I could pretty much just walk through an office area or building and upon coming out the other end, I would tell you how many trailer loads of furniture we had.
I'm thinking that stamp dealers have developed similar skills where they breeze through an album, noting the valuable stamps and just give a nominal value for the rest. I notice that in eBay auctions from some of our favorite large dealers. They'll have a collection in album offered at a low start price, but you notice that there are no high value stamps in it at all. Then you scan the rest of their auctions and you can often find the better stamps offered individually.
Thoughts? Or actual dealers opinions?
Login to Like
this post
Dealers don't have the time it takes to actually go through a slow page-by-page review of a collection. There are so many stamps with virtually no resale value (dealers have these by the score), that yes, dealers learn what to look for when flipping through album pages.
In my work with the APS Estate Advisory Service, I do the same. I flip through the pages to see if anything is there. I look for are the sets complete, are the stamps mostly used or unused, are key stamps present, what years do the stamps run, where is the strength, how is the collection arranged and housed.
I use the same technique when looking through collections in auctions/box lots. One can tell pretty quickly how much value is in a collection. Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many collections that had alot of value. Usually there's a bunch of junk (damaged stamps run rampant in many collections), piles and piles of unsorted cheap stamps, or collections with many stamps, but mostly incomplete sets with very few in the classic era and plenty in the post WWII era with next to nothing from 1980 onward.
Working through shoe box accumulations, I have found that there is a 50% to 75% rate where the stamps are not collectible. Stamps in the cheaper albums like Harris run from 30% to 50% not collectible. Stamps in the higher quality albums run around 25% not collectible if they are hinged, and 15% to 20% not collectible if in mounts.
Collections where the stamps are in Crystal-type mounts are worthless as are collections that are stored in/on material that is not suitable for stamps (paper that is not acid free, plastic coin holder sleeves/pages, etc.).
The bottom line is that when you look through collections often enough, you learn what to look for and can tell relatively quickly if the collection has any value.
Login to Like
this post
A couple of weeks ago I was in the local stamp dealer's store. A guy came in with his late father's stamp album. He wanted to sell it. The discussion went along the lines that the album was old, so the stamps were old, and probably were worth some money. He wanted to know what he could get for it. The album was an older album. It was a beginner's album with yellowing pages. Most of the pages had no stamps in it, and the stamps that I saw did not seem to be worth much of anything. Just common material. As the dealer flipped through the album, it was pointed out that the stamps had been glued onto the pages. The small collection of common stamps was worthless. The guy wasn't happy with what he was told, but he said that he understood. That is a very common occurrence.
Login to Like
this post
"So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can.
I think it offers bad information to many who enjoy the hobby in what he may consider the old fashioned manner."
The information I gave about hinges is not bad information (I have no idea what you mean by a "blanket assertion"). There are two types of collectors - those that hinge and those that do not; I used to be the former but eventually I became the latter.
I'll re-quote a snippet of Bobs response to me "If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care."
With that I agree. I originally stated "Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps."
I collect specific stamps such as proofs, colour trials, specimens and other scarce and rare issues, and I have seen stamps tumble in price because of the faintest of a hinge mark.
My comment was not to denigrate a fellow philatelist, my input was to show the other side of hinging stamps.
It is true that a hinge will cause irreparable damage to a worthwhile stamp though I overshot the mark when I said a hinge would cheapen a cheap stamp; as it would have intrinsic value rather than dollar value.
My favourite stamp in my collection (yes there is a favourite) is a 1949 bright yellow ½d Wallaroo (small kangaroo) with coil perforation, only 160 are known to exist (the common version is a dark orange), a hinge would not ruin the rarity of the stamp but it will have a devastating effect on the value.
And I believe that using glue based hinges is old fashioned, unless of course if the hinges have a clear housing to insert the stamp, I'd use them as well.
Login to Like
this post
Let me throw a big rock in the pond and see where the ripples go....
We have agreed that most US stamps of the 20th century are worth little more than their postage value, so why bother protecting them with expensive mounts? IF dealers just discount all the common stuff, like all the three cent commemoratives of the 1940s and 1950s through the stamps of the eighties, all of which are sold as discount postage that I see on my philatelic mail regularly... if indeed dealers will give our estate nothing for them, why bother? Just lick a hinge and go with it!
I am sorting through the collection I built as a teenager. I am putting it into Scott order with the goal of eventually drawing up pages so that I can enjoy it all. I noticed that a lot of my plate blocks had a hinge mark on them. Then I remember that a dealer once sold me that hinged plate collection for face value. My first thought was to replace them all with never hinged. Then I get to eBay and find they all have a sales value of less than a quarter... so I decide GOOD ENOUGH!
Thoughts? Note I'm just riling up the troops here!
Login to Like
this post
Tom, it's all a matter of preference. I like to use mounts on all of my stamps, because of the appearance. I only use hinges for much of the used and unused material that I mount in APS sales books. It is a cost issue why I do that. MNH material that I sell goes in a mount. I don't hinge a MNH stamp.
Login to Like
this post
02:45:50pm
" ... (I have no idea what you mean by a "blanket assertion"). ..."
Well Rob, I did quote your remark clearly so I do not see where there would be any confusion as to what I was referring to.
You posted; " ... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps.. ..."
But I'll explain;
Blanket assertion number one; "" .... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days ...."
Blanket assertion number two: " .... (hinging) only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps" ...."
When you write "anyone" or the latter "any", unless you meant "most" or "many" (and made a typo) you included all stampers and all stamps that are, or become, hinged, you have made a sweeping indictment of what I believe includes the majority of stampers and probably the overwhelming majority of collected stamps.
That is a blanket all encompassing assertion that is not supported by evidence and experience.
Curiously, that remark is also contradicted by both stamp history and actually acknowledged by you in a later sentence in the same post;
" ... It was the rage in the "golden days" of stamp collecting to hinge a stamp; ..." since in that "Golden Age " virtually all stamps were hinged and the values of most of what were worthwhile stamps in that "Golden Age" have increased proportionally since then. Note the use of the underlined "most" a qualifier that prevents my comment from becoming a blanket assertion, unlike the use of "anyone" and "any" in your comment.
Login to Like
this post
02:53:56pm
I'd also like to add that there is another category that your sweeping assertions of there being but two types of collector eg; " ... There are two types of collectors - those that hinge and those that do not; ..." missed, Rob, the collector who uses hinges most of the time but when he, or she, acquires some stamp of higher value or interest will revert to some form of hingeless mounts.
As long as I am being picky, let me add that almost all undamaged stamps are collectable and can provide enjoyment to someone.
This;
" ... Working through shoe box accumulations, I have found that there is a 50% to 75% rate where the stamps are not collectible. Stamps in the cheaper albums like Harris run from 30% to 50% not collectible. Stamps in the higher quality albums run around 25% not collectible if they are hinged, and 15% to 20% not collectible if in mounts. ..."
..... may be your personal evaluation and perhaps the result of your experiences, but the standard you set for yourself does not apply overall to a hobby that proudly proclaims to new collectors that their collection is their collection and not subject to some strange set of arbitrary rules imposed by some authoritarian source..
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
03:12:34pm
... Thoughts? Note I'm just riling up the troops here! ...
You are spot on, Tom, especially when you point out that your goal is " ... of eventually drawing up pages so that I can enjoy it all. ..."
It is your collection, and its purpose should b your pleasure and enjoyment, not mine nor anyone else.
Login to Like
this post
Being that good quality hinges are more costly than most of the stamps they are used on, it was just a matter of time before someone was swapping out the original hinges from the packages and replacing them with the junk that is being produced now and selling them as the original.
For the past year I have purchased about 15 packages of original Harold Cohen Fold-o-Hinges and a few Dennison hinges, all in sealed original packages.The first two packages were perfect, I cut them in half so the cost go's down to about $5 bucks a package. The next package a 1955 Harold Cohen package, ackk! it was full of what appears to be the Unitrade "fold-o-hinge"knock offs that are real nasty never peel hinges. I confirm this with a test, they are garbage and into the garbage they go. I have no idea which packages I purchased from who or when, all were on ebay from several different sellers,I did not inspect the packages prior to opening them , I looked at the other "unopened" packages and saw no signs of tampering, I opened up 5 more, all OK, so maybe I will be fortunate if no other bogus hinges await me.
So I guess it would be advisable to check packages of "unopened" hinges as received, as it never even crossed my mind that someone would do this.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
That is really a terrible thing to hear. Good old hinges are becoming harder and harder to find (without paying an arm and leg!). Thanks for the heads-up. Too bad you don't know which specific dealer you got them from.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I know the market is not huge, but if one company would make a decent hinge, they would capture almost all of it. How hard can it be to convert back to the old formula and sell packets at $7.50 each? That's double the current cost, but most of us would gladly pay it.
-Steve
Login to Like
this post
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin
21 Feb 2015
10:50:53am
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Subway actually tried this a while back. I believe they purchased the actual machines used in the original production, but the difficulty was in duplicating the adhesive. For some reason, the original formula for the hinge adhesive is not known and has, so far, proven impossible to duplicate.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
WOW no one knows how to duplicate the adhesive? Can't the adhesive be analyzed for chemical content? Very weird!
Login to Like
this post
11:59:14am
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
They did do that, but I believe it also included the glassine material itself that also could not be duplicated.
Login to Like
this post
12:22:03pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Hi All
If I might offer a suggestion, I stopped using hinges when I stopped using an album, was just to much work. I realize a lot of stamp collectors like their albums, but it just didn't fit into my collecting very good. With plate varieties, and cancels, I ended up with too many stamps for the one album page.
So I went to clear plastic stock sheet (stamp friendly) with black background, to mount my stamp, very easy to move stamps around. I also remove all the stamps from my album and put them into these stock sheets. I now have a place to display my collection and can rearrange it when I want to, add labels, add related non stamp material.
No more hinges for me, no more album somebody else made up, I have my own set up, a reflection of my collecting interests.
Any body going to change over?
Good luck to all of you in future collecting interests.
DAVID THOMPSON
MSGT/USAF/RETIRED
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Thanks, Michael. I knew Subway had purchased a lot of old equipment, but didn't realize that extended to hinges. My reaction is the same as Theresa's: Really?
Interesting about the relationship between the glassine material and the adhesive. A couple days ago I became curious about glassine - what it is, how it is made, etc. the Google search results almost made me fall out of my chair. Seems that stamp collectors and cocaine dealers (yes, cocaine dealers ) are giving each other a run for the biggest user of glassine products!
Come to think of it, some of those hinges have been tasting funny lately...
-Steve
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
01:19:46pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I have read somewhere else that the original Dennison hinges contained a substance that you would not like to let loose anywhere on your person that you would like to stay in good condition - the word carcinogenic comes to mind ! You might like to do some further research before you start licking........
Malcolm
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"I have read somewhere else that the original Dennison hinges contained a substance that you would not like to let loose anywhere on your person that you would like to stay in good condition - the word carcinogenic comes to mind ! You might like to do some further research before you start licking........"
Well most of the dudes at ARIPEX today were older than 60, and I'm sure many a hinge have been licked by these guys, as well as by myself. I have yet to grow a third eye like the guy in the Twilight Zone episode.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Last year, Wayne Youngblood wrote an article in the American Philatelist about hinges, their history, and what is no available. It is worth reading.
Essentially, he feels that the material used for the gum in old hinges is either no longer available or no longer "safe" to use. Also note that companies like Dennison (now Avery-Dennison) were manufacturers of many paper items, stamp hinges being the least of their product lines.
I'll see if I can find the article.
David
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Hi Everyone;
I for the life of me, can't remember where I read this, but it explained why Dennison Hinges
bit the dust.
Back in the day there were many manufacturers of hinges. Just like today most of them were
not very good, maybe worse. In those days folks were not as fussy with the appearance of
the back of their stamps as long as the front looked good. I can even remember stamps that
someone had applied first aid, by using hinges as band-aids to repair torn stamps!!
Then along came Dennison ta-daa. It took very little time for them to catch on, but there was
only one problem. To make them very peelable, they had to be aged for many months. This
was not a problem for a couple decades. But as the popularity of the brand increased, it be-
came more difficult to meet production demands. Eventually they had to reduce the time they
were aged, and quality started to decline.
The last years of production saw hinges that were not as peelable and orders fell as suppliers
looked to other sources. They threw in the towel on hinges, as they had many other products
to make and that was the end of the era. Sad....so sad...
Crying in my cantina beer....
TuskenRaider
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
13 Aug 2015
11:06:04pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
" ''' The last years of production saw hinges that were not as peelable and orders fell as suppliers looked to other sources. ..."
The problem with that has two parts. First I used Dennison Hinges from around 1948 til they disappeared as did my parents who began collecting in the late 1930s. I remember the red and blackish envelopes from when I first learned to read. My eyes are failing, my arteries are shot but my tongue works just as well as fifty years ago. ( Yes, and stifle that thought, it is family hour here.)
Second, I have never heard a single collector say, write or intimate that there was a pealability problem with the genuine Dennison hinges, other brands, yes, but not the genuine Dennisons, nor have I found there to be such a problem.
If there are such reports, I stand corrected.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I've never had a single problem with Dennison (not Dennisen) hinges. And I was fortunate, several years ago, to have a Stamporama member sell me two full packages of folded ones for U.S. $10. I mount very few stamps, so I still have most of them.
Right now, on eBay, for $40: two unopened Canadian packages of Dennison hinges.
Expensive, yes, but they'd be a better investment than $40 worth of stamps from the post office! And you get a free French lesson from the packages!
Bob
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
After fiddling with hinges for a very short while I quickly gave up and switched to mounts. I couldn't be happier with mounts. They do a great job of protecting the stamp and the black background brings them out nicely
That being said I do keep a small supply of recycled hi-quality hinges I have pulled from album pages.
Login to Like
this post
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin
14 Aug 2015
01:58:24pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Antonio
I once admitted in a club meeting that I reused good hinges and was met by a loud round of "cheap" tags, but the fact is, I was doing the same thing as you because it was so difficult to find good hinges. A while back I got lucky in an auction and, in a box lot, discovered a veritable hoard of Dennison and Fold-O hinges from the 1960s (probably enough to last me the rest of my life).
As far as mounts go, several years ago I had difficulty finding top loading mounts at reasonable prices, and discovered that slitting the larger split back mounts down the center of the long side creates inexpensive top loaders. One of our newer members describes this process in another thread http://stamporama.com/discboard/disc_main.php?action=20&id=10496#84166 You can almost always find the larger strips at bargain prices either on eBay or from other collectors.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
04:47:32pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
The problem with reusing hinges is that the gum on the hinge will be used and often pulled off the hinge when it is removed from the stamp. When you wet the used hinge flap and attach it to a stamp, particularly an unused stamp, you are attaching a glassine flap with depleted gum onto the gum of the stamp. Glassine to stamp gum. When you try to pull off that hinge in the future, you could tear the gum off the back of the stamp causing a thin or worse, or you could leave a hinge remnant.
In addition, the weakened or missing gum on the hinge flap can cause the stamp to come loose where the stamp can fall out of the album, or shift around and get tangled with other stamps causing damage to the stamp and possibly other stamps on the page.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"The problem with reusing hinges is that.."
You are licking other peoples old DNA!
Are hinges not made at all anymore?
Login to Like
this post
05:50:30pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Hinges are still made. The problems with today's hinges are inconsistent quality, and they often stay attached to the stamp. Prinz and Supersafe are the two brands that I prefer to use when I put together sales books to send to the APS. I am using the Supersafe brand right now. They don't attach as "tightly" to the stamp as the Prinz hinges do. I like the Supersafe brand a bit better than the Prinz. (Yes, I have a couple of packets of Dennison hinges in my supplies drawer too. Not for sale.)
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
The original adhesive used in the Dennison was hoof glue. With hoof glue its water activate. Hoof glue is till used to this day but not on hinges.
The habit of the collector licking the hinge was the downfall. They were told to use a food grad glue which hoof glue is not. So Dennison was unable to use the original formula.
This is what I have been told so don't quote me. I had a long chat at college with my industrial hygiene professor and horse hoof glue was common but then they discover that it may contain diseases as result it was not used for food grade items which a stamp hinge would fall under.
Dennison did have a winning hinge the glue was thinned just right and the glassine used for the hinge allowed for the adhesive to be peel-able.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
03:20:01pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
*** thanks irishjack! That's the first logical explanation I've heard as to why Dennison hinges are no more! That actually makes sense! *** for years I've only heard, "they don't make them anymore."
-Ernie
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Two observations:
1) Stamp collectors tend to last well into their golden years, so the stuff we were licking couldn't have been all that bad...
2) I think I'd much rather lick a horse's hoof than ingest what passes for "food grade" these days.
Just sayin'
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
The hoof glue has flexable property's, they still use it on furniture in joints that need a little give.
The glue is water base so the moisture in the air never allows it to fully dry hard.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Glad I noticed this thread. I also have felt there are some shenanigans with sellers of supposedly vintage hinges on Ebay. I have learned the hard way to keep track of from whom I buy a pack. Someone last year stuck me with some apparently repackaged supposedly vintage hinges that were not what they claimed to be. I also have bought two packs that turned out to have no gum! Probably from a remainder of stock from the maker and no one bothered to check. There used to be a dealer on Ebay in Canada who thought he was being cute- he's list his wares as just 'hinges' but include a photo of two packs of Dennison hinges. The portion of the label that had the 'sen' was conveniently covered up in the photo. I gt my money back from him but as of a few months ago he was still up to the same trick.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
What is this world coming to, counterfeit stamp hinges? I don't think I can handle this pressure!
I found these advertised on a legit hobby site. Are they okay to purchase?
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
The article linked to by nl1947 (see post above), "A history of the Hinge," is well worth reading.
It occurs to me that a lot of the hand-wringing over the extinction of Dennison's hinges is unnecessary, at least for many stamps, namely:
• Stamps originally issued without gum
• CTO's
• Used stamps
• Unused stamps (stamps never cancelled, but without gum
Use any kind of hinge you want on these stamps, with the understanding that you can easily remove hinges with a bit of soaking. If you mount them carefully, you never will have to remove them or soak them. Simple, eh?
As for MNH stamps, who would ever mount them anyway? Even the lowest-value mint stamp is worth less if it's hinged.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
11:24:18am
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I mentioned my experience with Supersafe hinges in my earlier post. They are made in Germany and distributed in the USA by Vidiforms (Showguard mounts). You can buy them for alot less than the asking price in that link. Hobby Lobby sells them too, and you can use their weekly 40% off coupon.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"Mixed reviews on this product "
The Amazon reviews are actually funny, like people who never saw a stamp hinge before. There was one lady who was pretty confused, in her review she was talking bout baking with the product. Others said the mount curled up when wet... were they dropping them into a bowl of water or something?
I saw them on another hobby site for $3.95 a pack. The Amazon number were much more! If Hobby Lobby sells them, I'll grab a pack with that 40% off coupon just to try them out.
Login to Like
this post
10:25:15pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Just don't try to bake a cake with them, or drop them in a bowl of water.
With all hinges, I use very little moisture. The hinges usually peel off very easily this way, if i ever have to peel the stamps off of something.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps. Even if one can remove a hinge without leaving a mark that could be recognised by the naked eye, the "invisible" mark is quite visible from a magnifying glass and ultra-violet light point of view.
I once bought a stamp for $60 believing it to be mint unhinged, and viewing the back I couldn't see a hinge remnant, even by holding it towards the light. When I took the stamp to a recent stamp expo I showed it to a well known specialist in pre-decimal stamps, he had one look at the stamp through a powerful magnifier and he immediately noticed a hinge remnant, it wasn't in the centre of the stamp, but a very little remnant on a perforation; he then valued the stamp at $45 as a result of that hinge remnant.
Plucking it off would only remove the perforation and that would spell more disaster; so I took the stamp back to the dealer, showed him where to look and he replaced it with a stamp that we both thoroughly looked at with two powerful magnifiers.
It was the rage in the "golden days" of stamp collecting to hinge a stamp; it's a common sight to come across a stamp with multiple hinge remnants where one hinge was torn off and another added and so on until there is a thick ugly clump on the reverse totally rendering the stamp to the category of space filler.
There is no such thing as a good hinge.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Rob1956 said,
"Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps.... There is no such thing as a good hinge."
I would agree with you in part: the value of "better" stamps — meaning stamps worth, say, US $5 or more, will be irrevocably harmed by being hinged. However....
If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care. In addition, dealers themselves pay little to no attention to stamps of minimum value, so it hardly matters what their condition is. This is especially true of modern stamps which are as common as dirt, and worth about as much as dirt. Much less, actually, if you consider the cost of a delivery of a pick-up load of topsoil for your garden! But mounts? If they were only sold by the pound or kilo, few of us could afford to buy them!
Nor do I believe that the classes of stamps that I mentioned earlier in this thread can be harmed by hinges. They are the CTO's, stamps issued without gum, and unused stamps (used, but not cancelled, and missing their gum). For these stamps, there's nothing wrong with using mounts, but if they are hinged, put into an album, and removed carefully when desired or when necessary, they can easily be washed, assuming that the ink they are printed with is not fugitive. To refuse to hinge stamps that can be safely hinged seems to me to be an excess of care at the expense of the pleasures of collecting.
Bob
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Well said Bob, especially where you stated "If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care."
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
21 Aug 2015
12:51:02am
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"..... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps....."
I have been involved in the hobby for well over fifty years, longer if you count youth collections.
I have heard many dealers complain of the effort involved while evaluating a collection or accumulation where stamps are imprisoned within mounts where it is not easy to inspect the back of the stamp, and the subsequent application of a discount to the estimation provided. Flicking a hinged stamp is quite simple, but even with easily opened mounts the stamp must be removed, handled and then replaced without inflicting damage.
I have also seen large carefully mounted collections where I suspect strongly the original cost of the mounts far exceeds the total cost, not to be confused with some catalog listing's wild eyed guesstimate, of the stamps mounted within.
So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can.
I think it offers bad information to many who enjoy the hobby in what he may consider the old fashioned manner.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Charlie said,
"So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can."
That Should be "Rob" (Rob1956), not "Bob" (Bobstamp)!
But that's a good point about mounts making the examination of stamps difficult. Virtually impossible in practical terms for split-back, Scott-type mounts, which I tried once, with one stamp, and gave up.
Bob
Login to Like
this post
02:37:19pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I started collecting as an 8year old.so my knowledge base was 98% empty.After I was informed It took two weeks of soaking these flour paste laden stamp. I could have made great gravy.I have only used Showgard mounts . Flour to Showgard ,that is a jump.I can inspect any stamp front or back with no trouble. And the mounts are more expensive than a lot of stamps. Ray
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"I have heard many dealers complain of the effort involved while evaluating a collection or accumulation where stamps are imprisoned within mounts where it is not easy to inspect the back of the stamp, and the subsequent application of a discount to the estimation provided."
How much actual evaluation do stamp dealers do when they buy collections? For instance in my field of facility management, I developed the skill where I could pretty much just walk through an office area or building and upon coming out the other end, I would tell you how many trailer loads of furniture we had.
I'm thinking that stamp dealers have developed similar skills where they breeze through an album, noting the valuable stamps and just give a nominal value for the rest. I notice that in eBay auctions from some of our favorite large dealers. They'll have a collection in album offered at a low start price, but you notice that there are no high value stamps in it at all. Then you scan the rest of their auctions and you can often find the better stamps offered individually.
Thoughts? Or actual dealers opinions?
Login to Like
this post
12:29:02pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Dealers don't have the time it takes to actually go through a slow page-by-page review of a collection. There are so many stamps with virtually no resale value (dealers have these by the score), that yes, dealers learn what to look for when flipping through album pages.
In my work with the APS Estate Advisory Service, I do the same. I flip through the pages to see if anything is there. I look for are the sets complete, are the stamps mostly used or unused, are key stamps present, what years do the stamps run, where is the strength, how is the collection arranged and housed.
I use the same technique when looking through collections in auctions/box lots. One can tell pretty quickly how much value is in a collection. Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many collections that had alot of value. Usually there's a bunch of junk (damaged stamps run rampant in many collections), piles and piles of unsorted cheap stamps, or collections with many stamps, but mostly incomplete sets with very few in the classic era and plenty in the post WWII era with next to nothing from 1980 onward.
Working through shoe box accumulations, I have found that there is a 50% to 75% rate where the stamps are not collectible. Stamps in the cheaper albums like Harris run from 30% to 50% not collectible. Stamps in the higher quality albums run around 25% not collectible if they are hinged, and 15% to 20% not collectible if in mounts.
Collections where the stamps are in Crystal-type mounts are worthless as are collections that are stored in/on material that is not suitable for stamps (paper that is not acid free, plastic coin holder sleeves/pages, etc.).
The bottom line is that when you look through collections often enough, you learn what to look for and can tell relatively quickly if the collection has any value.
Login to Like
this post
12:34:02pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
A couple of weeks ago I was in the local stamp dealer's store. A guy came in with his late father's stamp album. He wanted to sell it. The discussion went along the lines that the album was old, so the stamps were old, and probably were worth some money. He wanted to know what he could get for it. The album was an older album. It was a beginner's album with yellowing pages. Most of the pages had no stamps in it, and the stamps that I saw did not seem to be worth much of anything. Just common material. As the dealer flipped through the album, it was pointed out that the stamps had been glued onto the pages. The small collection of common stamps was worthless. The guy wasn't happy with what he was told, but he said that he understood. That is a very common occurrence.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
"So, I disagree with Bob's blanket assertion as politely as I can.
I think it offers bad information to many who enjoy the hobby in what he may consider the old fashioned manner."
The information I gave about hinges is not bad information (I have no idea what you mean by a "blanket assertion"). There are two types of collectors - those that hinge and those that do not; I used to be the former but eventually I became the latter.
I'll re-quote a snippet of Bobs response to me "If value is in the eye of the beholder, and we all seem to agree that it is, then a collector might assign zero dollar value to a stamp but great intrinsic value to it, so a hinge mark or remnant on the back will have zero impact on the pleasure he enjoys in having it in his care."
With that I agree. I originally stated "Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps."
I collect specific stamps such as proofs, colour trials, specimens and other scarce and rare issues, and I have seen stamps tumble in price because of the faintest of a hinge mark.
My comment was not to denigrate a fellow philatelist, my input was to show the other side of hinging stamps.
It is true that a hinge will cause irreparable damage to a worthwhile stamp though I overshot the mark when I said a hinge would cheapen a cheap stamp; as it would have intrinsic value rather than dollar value.
My favourite stamp in my collection (yes there is a favourite) is a 1949 bright yellow ½d Wallaroo (small kangaroo) with coil perforation, only 160 are known to exist (the common version is a dark orange), a hinge would not ruin the rarity of the stamp but it will have a devastating effect on the value.
And I believe that using glue based hinges is old fashioned, unless of course if the hinges have a clear housing to insert the stamp, I'd use them as well.
Login to Like
this post
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Let me throw a big rock in the pond and see where the ripples go....
We have agreed that most US stamps of the 20th century are worth little more than their postage value, so why bother protecting them with expensive mounts? IF dealers just discount all the common stuff, like all the three cent commemoratives of the 1940s and 1950s through the stamps of the eighties, all of which are sold as discount postage that I see on my philatelic mail regularly... if indeed dealers will give our estate nothing for them, why bother? Just lick a hinge and go with it!
I am sorting through the collection I built as a teenager. I am putting it into Scott order with the goal of eventually drawing up pages so that I can enjoy it all. I noticed that a lot of my plate blocks had a hinge mark on them. Then I remember that a dealer once sold me that hinged plate collection for face value. My first thought was to replace them all with never hinged. Then I get to eBay and find they all have a sales value of less than a quarter... so I decide GOOD ENOUGH!
Thoughts? Note I'm just riling up the troops here!
Login to Like
this post
12:41:41am
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
Tom, it's all a matter of preference. I like to use mounts on all of my stamps, because of the appearance. I only use hinges for much of the used and unused material that I mount in APS sales books. It is a cost issue why I do that. MNH material that I sell goes in a mount. I don't hinge a MNH stamp.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
23 Aug 2015
02:45:50pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
" ... (I have no idea what you mean by a "blanket assertion"). ..."
Well Rob, I did quote your remark clearly so I do not see where there would be any confusion as to what I was referring to.
You posted; " ... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days, it only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps.. ..."
But I'll explain;
Blanket assertion number one; "" .... Why would anyone want to use hinges these days ...."
Blanket assertion number two: " .... (hinging) only destroys the value of any worthwhile stamp and cheapens even the cheapest stamps" ...."
When you write "anyone" or the latter "any", unless you meant "most" or "many" (and made a typo) you included all stampers and all stamps that are, or become, hinged, you have made a sweeping indictment of what I believe includes the majority of stampers and probably the overwhelming majority of collected stamps.
That is a blanket all encompassing assertion that is not supported by evidence and experience.
Curiously, that remark is also contradicted by both stamp history and actually acknowledged by you in a later sentence in the same post;
" ... It was the rage in the "golden days" of stamp collecting to hinge a stamp; ..." since in that "Golden Age " virtually all stamps were hinged and the values of most of what were worthwhile stamps in that "Golden Age" have increased proportionally since then. Note the use of the underlined "most" a qualifier that prevents my comment from becoming a blanket assertion, unlike the use of "anyone" and "any" in your comment.
Login to Like
this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
23 Aug 2015
02:53:56pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
I'd also like to add that there is another category that your sweeping assertions of there being but two types of collector eg; " ... There are two types of collectors - those that hinge and those that do not; ..." missed, Rob, the collector who uses hinges most of the time but when he, or she, acquires some stamp of higher value or interest will revert to some form of hingeless mounts.
As long as I am being picky, let me add that almost all undamaged stamps are collectable and can provide enjoyment to someone.
This;
" ... Working through shoe box accumulations, I have found that there is a 50% to 75% rate where the stamps are not collectible. Stamps in the cheaper albums like Harris run from 30% to 50% not collectible. Stamps in the higher quality albums run around 25% not collectible if they are hinged, and 15% to 20% not collectible if in mounts. ..."
..... may be your personal evaluation and perhaps the result of your experiences, but the standard you set for yourself does not apply overall to a hobby that proudly proclaims to new collectors that their collection is their collection and not subject to some strange set of arbitrary rules imposed by some authoritarian source..
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
23 Aug 2015
03:12:34pm
re: Fold-o-hinge rip off
... Thoughts? Note I'm just riling up the troops here! ...
You are spot on, Tom, especially when you point out that your goal is " ... of eventually drawing up pages so that I can enjoy it all. ..."
It is your collection, and its purpose should b your pleasure and enjoyment, not mine nor anyone else.
Login to Like
this post