Accidental Cover Cleaning Discovery

Hi

I was going to erase a price on a cover and could not find my plastic eraser. I had a wide soft rubber band at hand. I figured "what the heck" and stretched the rubber band around the end of my finger and used that as an eraser. It did a beautiful job so I cleaned the rest of the dirt from the cover using this method (takes a while because of small "eraser"). I found an advantage in that I had complete control and could see what I was doing. For tight areas I just used the side of the band (after stretching it around my finger). This would probably work with stamps as well.

When the band gets dirty just rub it clean.

Jerry B

So with this thought and your experience, I will ask a question for someone to come along and chime in. Is it worth it (worth the risk I mean) to bother erasing owners marks on the back of a stamp if pencil is used? I must admit I personally wouldnt be comfortable taking the chance of depositing any oils etc...Thoughts? ~Ash
P.S. Good creativity on this one, I'll give you that!

If you are going to try to erase pencil marks from the back of a stamp, I strongly recommend using a drafter's metal eraser guard/shield and the white professional grade "plastic" erasers. The eraser guard will keep you from accidentally creasing/wrinkling the stamp. The plastic eraser will help you from wearing a hole/thin in your stamp. Best to use a single direction eraser stroke, instead of erasing back and forth.

Just my opinions/suggestions.

Personally, I usually don't bother erasing pencil marks on the back of the stamp.

There are some who believe erasing marks constitutes a restorative cleaning/alteration of the stamp and should be disclosed.

Hi

I do not erase anything on the back of a stamp as I usually don't buy the stamp if someone has written on the back, other than an expert mark. However I will erase prices and catalog numbers on a cover. It is larger and less prone to damage.

Normally I use an erasing shield and a white plastic eraser. In this case I had neither so I improvised.

Jerry B

I find people marking prices on covers with pencil annoying too. I like your suggestion of eraser, khj.