The Term "Unused"

Hi All

I am somewhat in a bind here on this topic and thought I would post this here for your opinions.

Personally, I am not a fan of the term 'unused'. This to me, personally anyway, is just a stamp that is neither used or mint.
I have often thought that I would like to coin a new term for these and call them stamps 'in limbo'.

I have also wondered if this is just another ploy from 'some' dealers, not all of course, to get extra money out of collectors for stamps that would normally be expensive mint, cheap used, but does not have the gum.

W/O the cancel, it is not used, W/O gum, it is not mint either. What is your opinion? Hope I didn't open a can of worms here

Chimo

Bujutsu

Oh, I think these worms have been wriggling for some time.

Here in the USA, most of us (I think) use MNH (mint never hinged) to describe 'post office fresh' stamps. Personally, I hate MUH (mint un-hinged), but I've seen it here and on auction sites. I don't often see the acronym MOG, but sometimes just OG for original gum.

And don't forget all the wonderful acronyms for hinges ... MHR, MHH, MH, MLH, MVLH, ...

KirkS

Many sellers on auction sites use the term "unused" in place of MNG but you would never see them say "used no cancel"

I agree with you Kirk, you won't see them advertising using those terms.

For myself, I am not interested at all in stamps without gum and uncancelled . I stick with either MNH, MLH or used with a 'visible' cancellation.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I can't find the previous post where this was stated, but someone did mention something on this forum not too long ago on the subject that I'll attempt to paraphrase. It went something to the effect that:

I have never been a fan of the 'unused' myself. It seems that they do not fall within accepted categories.

It seems easy to make the choice of cancelled or post office fresh (with gum) and for most collectors this is enough.

In some instances, there can be made an exception for some collectors (not all).

1) Rarity, if the stamp collected is rare or hard to acquire, then some collectors will 'make do' with an uncancelled, no gum, version of the stamp. Example: Very old (100 years) stamps that have seen the wear and tear and not survived intact completely. (sounds like I am describing myself here ) or are hard to get at a reasonable price.

The rarity factor also comes into play with some modern stamps too. Two examples are the Canada 2010 Marine Life booklets with their varying cylinder and serial numbers and cover counting marks, and another is the Canada personalized Picture Postage stamps.

On ebay right now are some Picture Postage stamps that have not been cancelled, are described as used (by clicking the 'used/unused' choices on ebay's list your item page) and are being bid upon, because they are rare as hen's teeth. I am actually glad that not as many collectors collect these as they are difficult to get now. Now, as for modern stamps, these could be, once acquired, sent through the mails to get them cancelled, if one chooses to do so, so perhaps not the best of examples. Still, I have in my possession non-cancelled and damaged versions of these stamps and am happy to have them.

2) Tropical climates collecting. Stamps in these climates do not keep their gum without things happening to them (tropicalizing, molds, bugs, etc). Some have been issued without gum from the post office (and are noted as such). However, if you don't like a cancelled stamp and want to see a stamp's design clearly, then what are you to do, especially with a limited budget and no dehumidifiers running all the time?

3) And there is the kind of collector who is having fun collecting stamps and has no strong desire to follow any rules or anybody else's ideas of how they should do things (admittedly a rare individual, but cherished) and is going to do it all their way and damn the torpedoes.

4) Also there exists the collector who does not know of 'the rules' or good or bad ways to collect and just likes the stamp(s) and wants to save them. There are probably a lot of these wonderful appreciators out there.

For those of us (including me) who do enjoy a 'proper' used or mint never hinged (unmounted mint) as proof of use or non-use through the postal system then the best that can be done is to fully describe these stamps so that there is no question as to their qualities or lack thereof.

So, one of my Picture Postage stamps that is uncancelled but without gum, would be perhaps described as Canada 2004, undenominated, Scott Catalogue #2063, depicting a cat, no gum, uncancelled.

Some would abbreviate this as MNG (mint no gum) which is a, to me, questionable way of describing it as the word Mint brings to my mind a post office fresh (possibly hinged) stamp.

The question here is proof. How does one prove the stamp is Mint (non-used, not gone through the postal system and oops, not cancelled) whether it has a cancel or not? You have to take the original purchaser's word that is hasn't. Sometimes this is unavailable to obtain, so what becomes of the stamp then?

A lot of the misuse of terms for these stamps and others of the Cancelled To Order (CTO) variety have been made by stamps sellers out to sell a stamp. If a stamp doesn't sell when you call it CTO or Used but does sell when you call it Mint (of some variety) then, gee, OK then, lets call it mint by golly, and see what happens. Just kind of tack on some words to vaguely describe it's non-use so we are mostly covered.

This is where the no-mans-land of stamps comes into play.

Why do we collect used or mint to start with anyway? Aren't some of the terms and all the brouhaha part of stamp seller's mischief stirred up to actually play to our own preferences? A salesman's tactic? Trust? Do you trust a New car or a Used car better? Mind games.

Even with all this deviltry and confusion existing in the collecting world, it is still a great thing to collect stamps and know how they were used and where, and also how they were made and why, and to see fresh examples and also survivors of the years examples.

I Love my stamps!


Note to Admin folks: Can we please have a Heart smiley to use please?

For what it is worth, the United States Stamp Society Glossary of Terms for the United States Stamp Collector contains the following listing for the term Mint but does not describe either Used or Unused.




To me, unused is a more easily understood term than mint.

Steve

I think unused is unuseful, as a term. What it really means is "no evidence of use."

No Gum is an apt description; NGNC, no gum, no cancel would tell me everything I need to know. (I agree that MNG may be an oxymoron, but I know what the seller means when I see it, and I'm not swayed by the "M" part.)

I think they are just great to meet with my tube of gluestick !

This thread is running because the Postal Services of this world have still not learned how to cancel mail. Period.

I got a lovely envelope from Puzzler yesterday with some very nice personalized stamps on them....all unused !

So for me the term unused brings out one of my few Philatelic gripes...and it brings out my gluestick.

Londonbus1.....Proud to recycle unused stamps.

Sell them that way on ebay londonbus1 ! They will sell. (Call them used) Or the whole envelope. Well, the envelope would probably need to be cancelled I suppose. Even for me. (Nope, I could take them off and re-mail them to myself to get them cancelled.) Soak them off and sell them individually. Canada stamps will soak (so far, crossing fingers)

Hey, by the way, does the cover have the Canada Post red phosphorescent bar codes along the bottom or the back? With the date and postal code B (or J?) at the end?

No nothing.
As clean as the day it was born.
I can send you back the envelope sometime for a future mailing. It will save on gluestick !

Londonbus1...Is that you on one of the stamps?

I'd add one more category to Puzzler's excellent summary:
5) Those very old stamps whose gum is causing, or is likely to cause, the stamp to crack, due to differential shrinkage between the stamp and the gum. Here you have the unhappy choice of keeping the gum and seeing the stamp break up into half-a-dozen pieces, or removing the gum and saving the stamp.

As to the terminology, I'm not fussed. As long as I can see what the condition is - gum or no gum - I'm content.

And just by the bye, certain stamps of Cochin were issued both with and without gum during the early 1940s. Have there been any other examples of this?

I think the same as Cjd. "Unused" mean not used in the mail. It's a general term that doesn't tell you much about the gum condition. A stamp unused can be mint never hinge (MNH)but usually they are hinged (H, LH, VLH, HH). It's like some seller will use the term "unused" to trick the not experience buyer because he may think he will get a MNH stamp.

Over the years I have bought many, many "unused" Canadian stamps. They have, for example, been damaged sheets which were for the most part only good for postage.....or in some circumstances - for sale as "mint disturbed gum." That latter would apply to a vintage plate block for example. I have no problem at all with having a MNG stamp in my mint stock book....and if I had a stamp album - placing it there. Personally, I think the whole gum thing has gotten out of hand. Other faults - such as bad centering - are more impt. in my opinion.

Thank you Tony, I knew of such things in the foggy edges on my mind but not enough to mention.

Mercifully, I don't have any in my collection that need that sort of treatment, but I do recall collectors of (I think) North America remarking on the problem with very old stamps.