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General Philatelic/Newcomer Cnr : Regummed?

 

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StamperMA
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02 Feb 2018
03:01:25pm
I have some novice questions about regummed stamps.

Are there any tricks besides experience to determine if the gum is original?

Are there reasons to regum a stamp other than to fool collectors? If you want to use an ungummed stamp for postage I would think a dab of glue would be a lot easier than regumming the stamp.

If you want to regum a stamp can you buy postal gum or is there a formula to use that simulates the origina gum?

Dennis
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51Studebaker
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Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

02 Feb 2018
03:21:36pm
re: Regummed?

Hi Dennis,
For US stamps, one method which can sometimes indicat5e a regummed stamp is the curl test. Place the stamp face down in the pam of your hand and wait about 1-2 minutes. If the stamp begins to curl, it could well be a regum.

But the best method is to look at the perf tips and perf holes under good magnification (15x to 20x). You want to look for gum which may be adhering to the fibers on the perf tips. Since perforating occurs after gumming, it is not possible for an original gum stamp to have any gum adhering to the perf tips, nor in the holes. But note that regummed perf tips can also be filed by the regummer. With enough experience you can also tell if perf tips have been files.

There is a way to embed a stamp in soft clay, face down, so that the perf tips are protected and then regum. If this is done well, it can be very hard to detect. Additionally, some regummers use very fine air brushing to mask a light hinge mark.

It is not often discussed but there is a good reason to remove gum for a mint stamp. I suspect that there are many professionally regummed stamps sitting in our collections where the regum is effectively masking repairs on the stamp. If we all soaked the gum off our stamps (not that I am recommending this) we might be surprised at what floats off some of them.

Here is a regummed stamp, note the 'dark' perf tips, a dead give-away that a stamp has been regummed.

Image Not Found

Don


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angore
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Al
Collector, Moderator

02 Feb 2018
05:48:45pm
re: Regummed?

Don, can you enlarge the areas near the arrows?

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51Studebaker
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Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

02 Feb 2018
06:02:57pm
re: Regummed?

Hi Al,
Here is a good image of regummed perf tips courtesy of slingshotvenus.com

Image Not Found

Don

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bobgggg

Past President Cortlandt Stamp Club

02 Feb 2018
06:51:51pm
re: Regummed?

Don..that is a good way to detect the Regummed stamps but what about these newer glues that dry clear ?



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michael78651

02 Feb 2018
07:00:41pm
re: Regummed?

Also, it is necessary to clean the stamp paper prior to regumming or else the gum will not properly adhere to the paper. The cleaning process will leave the paper clean and whiter than what a "normal" stamp of such age will show. In addition, the paper fibers around the perfs will be mostly gone as a result of the cleaning process. This is seen in Don's image below. Compare to any older stamp and you'll see the the paper fibers are quite visible and numerous on almost all of the perfs.

A dealer friend told me a few weeks ago that regumming of older US stamps has become so rampant in recent years that one must presume that all older stamps (especially the more valuable ones) being offered as mint, never hinged have been regummed.

Also be aware of lightly canceled stamps having had most of the light cancel removed and regummed being offered as MNH.

This is all done to dupe collectors as values for bonafide MNH stamps continue to rise compared to the values of unused stamps. If it's a valuable stamp being sold as MNH, best to get a certificate to avoid risking getting a regummed stamp.

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StamperMA
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03 Feb 2018
02:42:32pm
re: Regummed?

Thanks everyone for the education.

Don, what makes the perf tips go black? Is it because the paper is extremely thin right at the perf tips and thus absorbs the gum? Maybe the loose paper fibers right at the tips causes the gum to wick into the paper?
Thanks,

Dennis

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cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

03 Feb 2018
11:14:56pm
re: Regummed?

" ... Don, what makes the perf tips go black? ..."

I'll take a shot at that. Obviously the end of the paper
is exposed so that any excess of fluid can penetrate
the tips laterally. So that there is a miniscule amount
of glue inside the paper at the end tips which shows up
as a dark spot.
That would occur betwen the time the fresh (wet) glue
is applied and the time it is dry.
At least that is what it seems to me that happens.

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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
cdj1122
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

03 Feb 2018
11:24:27pm
re: Regummed?

" ... If we all soaked the gum off our stamps
(not that I am recommending this)
we might be surprised at what floats off some of them. ..."


And why not both discuss that option and,
if reasonable, recommend it ?


Why do collectors set such store on the gum side ?
That's easy, Tradition, ! TRADITION !!!

Cue that feller on the rooftop with the Mini-Stradavarious.

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like this post.
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".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
51Studebaker
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Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

04 Feb 2018
07:49:19am
re: Regummed?

I concur with cdj1122's opinion on the darkened perf tips.

"And why not both discuss that option and,
if reasonable, recommend it ?"



Frankly, I did not want to start a debate regarding collecting preferences. My opinion is that folks can collect whatever they wish and if that includes stamps in 'post office condition' then so be it.
Don
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Author/Postings
Members Picture
StamperMA

02 Feb 2018
03:01:25pm

I have some novice questions about regummed stamps.

Are there any tricks besides experience to determine if the gum is original?

Are there reasons to regum a stamp other than to fool collectors? If you want to use an ungummed stamp for postage I would think a dab of glue would be a lot easier than regumming the stamp.

If you want to regum a stamp can you buy postal gum or is there a formula to use that simulates the origina gum?

Dennis

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
02 Feb 2018
03:21:36pm

re: Regummed?

Hi Dennis,
For US stamps, one method which can sometimes indicat5e a regummed stamp is the curl test. Place the stamp face down in the pam of your hand and wait about 1-2 minutes. If the stamp begins to curl, it could well be a regum.

But the best method is to look at the perf tips and perf holes under good magnification (15x to 20x). You want to look for gum which may be adhering to the fibers on the perf tips. Since perforating occurs after gumming, it is not possible for an original gum stamp to have any gum adhering to the perf tips, nor in the holes. But note that regummed perf tips can also be filed by the regummer. With enough experience you can also tell if perf tips have been files.

There is a way to embed a stamp in soft clay, face down, so that the perf tips are protected and then regum. If this is done well, it can be very hard to detect. Additionally, some regummers use very fine air brushing to mask a light hinge mark.

It is not often discussed but there is a good reason to remove gum for a mint stamp. I suspect that there are many professionally regummed stamps sitting in our collections where the regum is effectively masking repairs on the stamp. If we all soaked the gum off our stamps (not that I am recommending this) we might be surprised at what floats off some of them.

Here is a regummed stamp, note the 'dark' perf tips, a dead give-away that a stamp has been regummed.

Image Not Found

Don


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"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

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angore

Al
Collector, Moderator
02 Feb 2018
05:48:45pm

re: Regummed?

Don, can you enlarge the areas near the arrows?

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
02 Feb 2018
06:02:57pm

re: Regummed?

Hi Al,
Here is a good image of regummed perf tips courtesy of slingshotvenus.com

Image Not Found

Don

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like this post.
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"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

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bobgggg

Past President Cortlandt Stamp Club

02 Feb 2018
06:51:51pm

re: Regummed?

Don..that is a good way to detect the Regummed stamps but what about these newer glues that dry clear ?



Like
Login to Like
this post
michael78651

02 Feb 2018
07:00:41pm

re: Regummed?

Also, it is necessary to clean the stamp paper prior to regumming or else the gum will not properly adhere to the paper. The cleaning process will leave the paper clean and whiter than what a "normal" stamp of such age will show. In addition, the paper fibers around the perfs will be mostly gone as a result of the cleaning process. This is seen in Don's image below. Compare to any older stamp and you'll see the the paper fibers are quite visible and numerous on almost all of the perfs.

A dealer friend told me a few weeks ago that regumming of older US stamps has become so rampant in recent years that one must presume that all older stamps (especially the more valuable ones) being offered as mint, never hinged have been regummed.

Also be aware of lightly canceled stamps having had most of the light cancel removed and regummed being offered as MNH.

This is all done to dupe collectors as values for bonafide MNH stamps continue to rise compared to the values of unused stamps. If it's a valuable stamp being sold as MNH, best to get a certificate to avoid risking getting a regummed stamp.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
StamperMA

03 Feb 2018
02:42:32pm

re: Regummed?

Thanks everyone for the education.

Don, what makes the perf tips go black? Is it because the paper is extremely thin right at the perf tips and thus absorbs the gum? Maybe the loose paper fibers right at the tips causes the gum to wick into the paper?
Thanks,

Dennis

Like
Login to Like
this post

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
03 Feb 2018
11:14:56pm

re: Regummed?

" ... Don, what makes the perf tips go black? ..."

I'll take a shot at that. Obviously the end of the paper
is exposed so that any excess of fluid can penetrate
the tips laterally. So that there is a miniscule amount
of glue inside the paper at the end tips which shows up
as a dark spot.
That would occur betwen the time the fresh (wet) glue
is applied and the time it is dry.
At least that is what it seems to me that happens.

Like
Login to Like
this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
03 Feb 2018
11:24:27pm

re: Regummed?

" ... If we all soaked the gum off our stamps
(not that I am recommending this)
we might be surprised at what floats off some of them. ..."


And why not both discuss that option and,
if reasonable, recommend it ?


Why do collectors set such store on the gum side ?
That's easy, Tradition, ! TRADITION !!!

Cue that feller on the rooftop with the Mini-Stradavarious.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
04 Feb 2018
07:49:19am

re: Regummed?

I concur with cdj1122's opinion on the darkened perf tips.

"And why not both discuss that option and,
if reasonable, recommend it ?"



Frankly, I did not want to start a debate regarding collecting preferences. My opinion is that folks can collect whatever they wish and if that includes stamps in 'post office condition' then so be it.
Don
Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

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