General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : stamps glued in
Author
Postings
Harvey I think, therefore I am - I think! 13 Aug 2019 11:57:05am
I was checking out a lot of US stamps on line, quite a few of the high value stamps were identified as reproductions so I don't want the lot anyway. But here's my question. Since all the stamps were glued in the album, and assuming you could soak them loose, which might not be possible, how would you identify any mint stamps? Would you call them MNG (mint no gum) or would you call them used since they were soaked. I wouldn't touch them with a 10' pole but am curious how you would label them. The fakes, by the way, were of high value stamps and unless you knew you could easily be fooled. The person selling the lot put a small mark with permanent black marker on the face of each fake, a great idea even though it ruined the look of the stamp if someone just wanted them as a show collection. But at least they could not be sold again as the real thing!
You are better off avoiding the lot. It was standard in the really old days to glue stamps into the album... but with what kind of glue? It may not even be water soluble.
And saying it is water soluble, I'd first try sweating or steaming any mint stamps from the page, hoping to save a bit of the gum, to prove they were mint. I have some mint hinged stamps whose backs look like they were thru the war. Or at least were passed down through several generations of collectors.
The truth is within and only you can reveal it 14 Aug 2019 03:09:03am
re: stamps glued in
To me stamps without cancel or gum are most properly described as unused or even better unused no gum (to prevent any confusion). I have seen hardly any regular issue forgeries that could fool anyone. The engraving on U.S. stamps is so well done that few even attempted forging them, so it is rarely a problem. On the other hand there are several B.O.B stamps that have been faked.