We all know about mold and dampness causing damage to stamps, but what about dryness? Is using air conditioning in the home bad for stamps?


The cleanest collections we've ever seen had been stored where the humidity is low. Low humidity is why the nearly perfectly preserved human mummies from the Valley of The Kings in Egypt, and the northern Atacama Desert in Chile, exist. Very low humidity kept them nearly perfectly preserved. And it works on stamps as well as mummies. But if the humidity is too low, gummed stamps will tend to curl and eventually the gum will crack. The ideal humidty is definitely not zero, it's probably something closer to around 30%.

Unused Stamps - Do You Want to Collect Mint Never Hinged, or Mint Hinged?

Some people collect postally used stamps, and we applaud them for doing so. Finding high-quality used stamps to include in a stamp collection can be much more challenging - and therefore rewarding - than locating the same stamp in unused, mint condition. And although there are some notable exceptions, most postally used stamps are less expensive than their mint counterparts. The difference in prices allows the typical stamp collector to include many more used stamps in his or her collection than would be possible with unused stamps.

That's why the folks at The Stamp People chose to offer for sale a large number of postally used stamps in addition to mint stamps. Doing so allows them to help that many more people build their stamp collections.

But enough of that - this post is intended to discuss the relative merits of collecting mint never hinged (unmounted) stamps versus mint hinged stamps.

Often, although not always, there's a significant difference in price between a mint never hinged stamp and its hinged counterpart. Both types - hinged and unhinged mint (unused) stamps - have their original gum. But when a mint stamp has been affixed to a stamp album page by a hinge, its gum is disturbed to one degree or another.

When removed, some high quality hinges leave only an extremely light mark on the gum that can be difficult to see unless the stamp is held at an angle or "against" the light. Other hinges, when removed, leave a much more significant mark or even part of the hinge itself remains attached to the stamp (known as a "hinge remnant").

In contrast, mint never hinged stamps, by definition, have never had a hinge attached to them and so there cannot be any hinge marks or hinge remnants.

But how important is this?

Well, the value of a mint never hinged stamp may be only 5 cents more than a hinged copy, or it might be hundreds of dollars more. It all depends on the rarity and condition of the specific stamp.

So whether a mint stamp has been hinged or not can have a very significant affect on its value. But consider these facts:

• although it may be worth much more (or maybe not), a mint never hinged stamp will also cost more to buy. It increases the value of your stamp collection more than a hinged stamp would, but it also costs more to add to your collection. Would you rather have more stamps in your collection (as you could with the more inexpensive hinged stamps or used stamps) or fewer but more valuable stamps? Only you can answer that question - your collection is whatever you want to make of it.

• do you want to "buy gum?" By that we mean, you will probably pay a significantly higher price for mint never hinged stamps, even though the only difference between them and the same stamps when hinged is those little marks on the gum. How important is that to you? Do you often look at the backs of your stamps? (we think not, once they're mounted in your stamp album) Again, only you can answer that question - it's your stamp collection and you're the one who gets to decide what's important and what's not.

• Early (vintage) mint never hinged stamps carry a sometimes huge price increase over their hinged counterparts. The reason? Stamp mounts didn't exist back then. If a stamp was going to be mounted on an album page, it had to be done with a hinge. That's all there was (although some people used stamp selvedge for the same purpose, it leaves an even worse gum disturbance than stamp hinges). And because most collected stamps were, and are, mounted on stamp album pages, there just aren't that many unhinged vintage stamps around. They're much harder to find, and they're much, much more expensive than a hinged stamp. So if you insist on only mint never hinged stamps in your collection, you may have some difficulties finding older stamps - and you'll probably have some serious money involved.
  

Should I Use Stamp Mounts or Stamp Hinges For My Stamp Collection? Part 1 of 4 Parts.

Some people - especially older stamp collectors and those who collect used stamps - prefer the old-style gummed stamp hinges that until the 1950s or 1960s were just about the only thing available for mounting stamps.

Other people would never even consider using hinges in their stamp collections.

Each mounting method has its good points and its bad points. This post will discuss the advantages of using stamp mounts.

Advantages of Stamp Mounts:

• unlike hinges, a properly used stamp mount will leave no mark on the stamp. This preserves the "mint never hinged" condition of unused, unmounted stamps. Hinging a previously mint never hinged stamp can significantly and adversely affect its value. Thus, using stamp mounts instead of hinges can preserve the value of your unused stamps.
• stamp mounts, unlike hinges, can help protect your stamps. When stamp mounts are used, the stamps are enclosed in a protective plastic-like layer. The stamps are much less likely to fall off the page or get tangled up with each other
• if a collector acquires a "better" copy of a stamp that he or she already has, it's very easy to do a switch and replace: simply slip the stamp to be replaced out of the mount (leaving the mount in place on the album page) and slip the new stamp right in. No muss, no fuss, and no damage to either of the stamps.
• stamp mounts are available in dozens and dozens of different sizes, and can be purchased in strips to be cut to size as needed (a bit less expensive) or in pre-cut sizes (very convenient and time-saving). The larger sizes allow a collector to place large items such as souvenir sheets or stamp panes into an album without having to use multiple hinges.

Part 2 - the disadvantages of stamp mounts - will be posted tomorrow.