I've sworn I'm not collecting modern US stamps, now I've changed my position that I will keep ONE stamp from each sheet I buy for postage. With my running the model car club and show, I do blow through a lot of postage, so I buy $100 or so at a time. Lately I've been asking the clerk to give me as many different stamps as possible.
Anyway, my question how is everyone keeping these? The above illustration is how I've been doing it. I have a paper cutter so I've been cutting perfectly straight and square lines. As you can see, I've used the stamps all around the one I've kept and then cut wide margins on the backing sheet. There seem to be two types of stamps, those with perforations that abut, and those that have a strip of perforations around them. Either way, the perforations are not really perforations, but just decoration the way we have fake wood on the sides of station wagons!
Take the center two stamps as illustrations of both types of perforations. I've selected a stamp in the center of the sheet to get these. I did save a block of four of the Jimmy Hendrix stamp since they varied the rotation of each stamp. I thought that was cool enough to save a block.
Then in the bottom row, I saved a corner. I have Janis with the USPS block and bar code, and Maya had a nice red border around the sheet.
I do something similar in that I use (or relocate) the stamp around the one I want, then cut the backing paper to "frame" the stamp like this and buy slightly larger mounts to mount them with.
I'm not sure this is widely known in the collecting community, so I just wanted to mention that Scott considers the value of a mint self-adhesive stamp to be undisturbed on its original backing paper.
And for used self-adhesive stamps, the value is the same whether on-piece or off-.
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"You gotta put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone. (Hoots the Owl -- Sesame Street)"
I did something similar to Doug and Michael, but I cut the backing paper very close (under magnification) so they would fit in standard mounts. If the design went past the die cut, I would collect two examples. If there were multiple designs, I collected an intact block from a sheet or a complete booklet pane. I collected a complete pane of Hendrix since the stamps all faced different directions. I also collected imperf (no die cut) margin pairs. I collected booklet singles if there was only one design, but collected complete booklets if they were issued without die cuts. If the design flowed from one stamp to the next, I also included singles. If the design spilled past the die cuts, I included selvage to capture it.
That's what I did through 12-31-14. After that I just collect the Annual from USPS.
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
Dave, that's very true. It can be a real bear to try to separate a stamp and have decent backing paper intact behind it. Sometimes the sheets are poorly perforated, and the backing paper tears so that it raggedly overextends, or else it tears behind the stamp. Those all get used for postage. For the stamps on sheets and booklets where the backing paper isn't perforated, it is easy to just use the stamps around the one desired for postage and then cut off the the extra backing paper to come up with a good, collectible stamp.
"For the stamps on sheets and booklets where the backing paper isn't perforated, it is easy to just use the stamps around the one desired for postage and then cut off the the extra backing paper to come up with a good, collectible stamp."
That's pretty much what I do, but sometimes it a hybrid approach. If, for example, I wanted a single from a regular pane, I would order a plate block from Fulfillment Services. Often the backing perforation is just a bit out of sync with the die cuts on the front and you can remove two sides of the plate single by tearing along the backing perforation. If you're lucky you end up with a plate single with plate selvage. Just remove all the selvage and trim the backing for a perfect example. Worst case you have to use the other 3 stamps for postage first. (Although I partially lift the edge of the adjacent stamp and trim the paper underneath to get my stamp. I don't have time to wait for the others to be used for postage)!
Lars
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"Expanding your knowledge faster than your collection can save you a few bucks."
When I use up stamps for postage, I save the backing paper. I have a box full. I then lift the surrounding stamps I intend to use for postage later and put them on some of this extra backing paper for short term storage to get them out of the way so I can do my clean cuts around my keeper!
Just my opinion but for me the self adhesive stamps look prettiest mounted without the self adhesive. That way they look like earlier stamps that had normal gum. When mounted, anyway.
No! I didn't soak these stamps off as they don't soak off. Soaking destroys them. I used a different method that is quite complicated but in my opinion quite worth it. Chris ccndd
I might be wrong but it is my understanding that Citrus Orange can get the self adhesive stamps off the paper but can not get the self adhesive off. I know some people use this and then put talcum powder on the back. That is a poor idea, I think. Over time the talc will enter the body of the stamp and discolor it. Just my 2 cents worth. ccndd Chris
I have been collecting mine with the backing still on and cut wide once the adjacent stamps have been removed. I've even been cutting it straight on my cutting board.
I wonder if these mint stamps that have had the gum removed will be regarded in the same light as Mint No Gum older stamps are today?
Hi! I am thinking maybe if the Citrus Orange can get the self adhesive off as well that this a better method than mine. So to be clear: adding a little more Citrus Orange to the already removed from paper stamp allows for the remaining adhesive to be scraped off? If this is correct I would like to know the exact name of the product and where it can be reasonably obtained. Many thanks, Chris
The active ingredient is limonene, which can be found in other products as well.
In the most general case, you are dealing with three layers: paper, PSA, stamp.
The accepted practice is to spray the paper side, so that you loosen the paper/PSA bond while minimizing the risk of damaging the stamp, or of leaving a chemical (food!) residue in the stamp.
That copy55555 gets a good result loosening the PSA/stamp bond is a tribute to his steady hand and fine motor skills.
Cheers,
/s/ ikeyPikey
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"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
I haven't tried the pure citrus yet. I've been using the n-heptane in Bestine (found at Hobby Lobby), but it's flammable.
I use a cotton swab and soak it in Bestine, then apply it to the paper side and let it soak through to break the linkages in the glue polymers. It is "almost" instant, but you peel the stamp off the opposite side of the paper with steady, firm peeling pressure. I then turn the stamp faceside down on a glass plate, soak the adhesive side with liberal amounts of Bestine (again, applied by cotton swab), and then scrape off the adhesive with the edge of an old credit card. You have to push in one direction (away from you) with modest downward pressure for best results. Any back-and-forth motions risks damaging the stamp. Get the majority of adhesive off first, and then go back and lather, rinse, REPEAT. I can do up to about 10 stamps before I start getting adhesive gunk everywhere and I have to wash the glass plate. I can usually get 100% off, but in these stubborn issues where it still remains tacky, only then will I use an ever-so-small amount of talc to take the tackiness away. Literally just a small amount that gets caught in the ridges of your fingerprints will do.