Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Dennis
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Hi Dennis
Early collectors (before 1900-1910) thought the gum would eventual ruin a stamp and had no qualms about taking it off to 'preserve' the stamps. Of course in many areas, well before air conditioning, storing stamps in high humid made this quite true. So collectors routinely removed gum from mint stamps.
Don
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Thank you Don, that makes perfect sense.
Dennis
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and because of the mentioned humid conditions etc. stamps have been damaged and wound up glued down to albums and to each other. Stamp albums were stored in basements, attics and other poor conditions. Some wound up in floods.
I just found a USPS year set of 15 cent stamps where they are were still in the envelope, but all glued into one big mess. I had no recourse other than to soak them all apart, and those will be used as postage.
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Referring to recent stamps, we have "mint" stamps that went through the mails and were not postmarked. That seems to happen more and more here in the US and especially in mail from Canada. Those stamps after being soaked off the envelope are - mint, no gum. Many collectors consider those as used stamps but they can't be told apart from mint stamps with gum removed. So...
These "used" stamps are collected from mixtures etc and are being resold as mint no gum to use again as postage. At a heavy discount from face value.
Tad
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In a few selected cases I have found older stamps with gums in really questionable shape. Part/heavy hinge; or the start of (did)coloration where I made the decision to soak/remove gum remainder and attachments to assure the condition and future of the stamp.
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A story I've told before: I bought a set of triangular Spanish stamps commemorating a Columbus anniversary. They had thick, sticky gum on them that had apparently shrunk; When I removed the stamps from the stock card they arrived in, each stamp immediately curled into a tight little tube. Soaking with hot water and then scraping the gum off with the edge of a sharp paring knife was the only way to get the stamps to lay flat.
Bob
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"I just found a USPS year set of 15 cent stamps where they are were still in the envelope, but all glued into one big mess. I had no recourse other than to soak them all apart, and those will be used as postage."
"Referring to recent stamps, we have "mint" stamps that went through the mails and were not postmarked. That seems to happen more and more here in the US and especially in mail from Canada. Those stamps after being soaked off the envelope are - mint, no gum. Many collectors consider those as used stamps but they can't be told apart from mint stamps with gum removed. So...
These "used" stamps are collected from mixtures etc and are being resold as mint no gum to use again as postage. At a heavy discount from face value."
So, can we tell these two apart ? It's a question for both sides, those for the re-use of stamps and those against.
What say you ?
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Hi Bob,
"Soaking with hot water and then scraping the gum off with the edge of a sharp paring knife was the only way to get the stamps to lay flat."
Try the edge of an old credit card instead of the paring knife.
When old gum needs removal I place the WET stamp on a piece of mirror/glass and (gently) scrape with the old Credit Card.
cheers
Steve.
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I'm trying to understand how mint no gum stamps come about. Of course some issues weren't gummed and I've read that some foreign stamps had acidic gum that had to be removed to preserve the stamp, but why would gum be deliberately removed? What circumstances lead to a mint no gum stamp?
Dennis
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re: No Gum?
Hi Dennis
Early collectors (before 1900-1910) thought the gum would eventual ruin a stamp and had no qualms about taking it off to 'preserve' the stamps. Of course in many areas, well before air conditioning, storing stamps in high humid made this quite true. So collectors routinely removed gum from mint stamps.
Don
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re: No Gum?
Thank you Don, that makes perfect sense.
Dennis
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this post
re: No Gum?
and because of the mentioned humid conditions etc. stamps have been damaged and wound up glued down to albums and to each other. Stamp albums were stored in basements, attics and other poor conditions. Some wound up in floods.
I just found a USPS year set of 15 cent stamps where they are were still in the envelope, but all glued into one big mess. I had no recourse other than to soak them all apart, and those will be used as postage.
Login to Like
this post
re: No Gum?
Referring to recent stamps, we have "mint" stamps that went through the mails and were not postmarked. That seems to happen more and more here in the US and especially in mail from Canada. Those stamps after being soaked off the envelope are - mint, no gum. Many collectors consider those as used stamps but they can't be told apart from mint stamps with gum removed. So...
These "used" stamps are collected from mixtures etc and are being resold as mint no gum to use again as postage. At a heavy discount from face value.
Tad
1 Member
likes this post.
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re: No Gum?
In a few selected cases I have found older stamps with gums in really questionable shape. Part/heavy hinge; or the start of (did)coloration where I made the decision to soak/remove gum remainder and attachments to assure the condition and future of the stamp.
Login to Like
this post
re: No Gum?
A story I've told before: I bought a set of triangular Spanish stamps commemorating a Columbus anniversary. They had thick, sticky gum on them that had apparently shrunk; When I removed the stamps from the stock card they arrived in, each stamp immediately curled into a tight little tube. Soaking with hot water and then scraping the gum off with the edge of a sharp paring knife was the only way to get the stamps to lay flat.
Bob
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this post
re: No Gum?
"I just found a USPS year set of 15 cent stamps where they are were still in the envelope, but all glued into one big mess. I had no recourse other than to soak them all apart, and those will be used as postage."
"Referring to recent stamps, we have "mint" stamps that went through the mails and were not postmarked. That seems to happen more and more here in the US and especially in mail from Canada. Those stamps after being soaked off the envelope are - mint, no gum. Many collectors consider those as used stamps but they can't be told apart from mint stamps with gum removed. So...
These "used" stamps are collected from mixtures etc and are being resold as mint no gum to use again as postage. At a heavy discount from face value."
So, can we tell these two apart ? It's a question for both sides, those for the re-use of stamps and those against.
What say you ?
Login to Like
this post
re: No Gum?
Hi Bob,
"Soaking with hot water and then scraping the gum off with the edge of a sharp paring knife was the only way to get the stamps to lay flat."
Try the edge of an old credit card instead of the paring knife.
When old gum needs removal I place the WET stamp on a piece of mirror/glass and (gently) scrape with the old Credit Card.
cheers
Steve.
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