Removing Hinges

ColinCMR

Is there a good way of doing this? After being hinged is there always evidence left on the gum that the stamp was once hinged?

-Colin

dougwtx

Be very careful when removing hinges because if removed improperly, you can cause thins. Older style gummed hinges are pretty much peelable but the new ones can sometimes stick pretty good. If they have a very old hinge where a strip of paper was used, I would just leave it there. Hinges will always disturb the gum on mint stamps.

Doug

Plato

Personally I would almost never remove hinges. Always risky and problematic at best. Good luck.

ty

If you really want to remove the hinge (NOT RECOMMENDED) get any plastic container that can be closed tightly. Put inside a thick piece of foam (at least 2cm or about 1 inch). Moisten the foam with a few drops of water – I wrote A FEW DROPS.

Place the stamp face up on the top of the foam and close tightly the lid. Let it sit for one hour or so. Most hinges or paper fragments will be loose. If the hinge is not free DO NOT pull it, leave the stamp more one hour.

Once the stamp is removed from the box, place it face down on a paper towel, kraft or newspaper and let it dry. The stamp will curl a little, just apply a little pressure under a book or mount it.

If the stamp is valuable don’t do it until you’ve gained a lot of practice with cheaper stamps.

One little trick to highlight the colors of a faded pre-1930 stamp: instead of water, moisten the foam with a few drops of oxigenated water (peroxide of hydrogen), 10 volumes is more than enough. This process if done carefully will not damage original gum.

ColinCMR

Cool thanks for the advice, I think I will leave the hinges on then.

Do most collectors have a preference of hinged or not? I suspect many older stamps are most likely hinged from old collecting practices, is this a correct assumption?

ty

Looking the stamp from the back, a stamp can be with or without gum. The gum may be full or traces. The stamp may also be “never hinged,” lightly hinged,” heavily hinged,” or have hinge remnants.

Usually, the more undisturbed original gum the bigger the value.

Remember – it is quite easy to doctor the back of a stamp restoring the gum. Some techniques will even fool experts.

I prefer unused stamps without gum. IMHO they will be preserved for a longer time then the full gum counterparts.

syraq

I suspect many older stamps are most likely hinged from old collecting practices, is this a correct assumption?


The assumption is correct and for this reason unhinged (very) old stamps are infinetely more valuable than hinged. Beware of the "experts", they can really fool almost anybody ! You can do much more "doctoring" with paper than with metal.