Condition - Hinged Versus Centering

Hi all. When collecting early 20th century United States stamps, are you better off with a hinged, well-centered stamp or one off center but unhinged? To me, the aesthetic value of a well-centered stamp offsets the remnant of a hinge on the backside. In the album, I'm not looking at the back of the stamp. Your thoughts on this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Too many variables for one answer. There really are no rules to this hobby and like Wine, it's all personal preference. Some may prefer full gum and never mounted, some might prefer centering, some prefer used over uhused and some might prefer color.

Depends on the stamp, I guess. Some US stamps have their value live and die by the state of their gum as it is a sign of genuineness. I agree with the general preference to have well-centered, previously hinged stamps over less well-centered never hinged examples.

i agree with smauggie .... to me its looks that count . I seldom check gum and most of my stamps are either used or mounted mint

I agree that the choice is a matter of preference. When I first started collecting I tried to acquire all MNH issues but once I started trying to fill "front of book" spaces the reality of price hit home. My preference now is for sound stamps with the best centering that I can find (and afford) and I no longer mind if the stamp has been previously hinged.

Of the two choices I would definitely choose off-center but unhinged. The back of the stamp is very important to me which is why I prefer unhinged; however it will never be a make or break issue if there is a hinge on it. Plus as Tom said, hinged stamps are more affordable for filling those empty spaces. It just makes me extremely disappointed to look at the back of the stamp and see the damage caused by hinges =(

Great question, oncesota.

If you browse/search the forum, you'll find several LONG threads debating the Hinge v. Mount question. Most of those include thoughts related to your idea of appearance vs. gum.

Read on, then let us know what you decide

KirkS

I pondered this question recently when organizing a set. I had MNH versions of all stamps in the set, however, one had significantly worse centering than an identical hinged version that was nicely centered. I chose to keep the set consistent and all MNH.

If forming a set had not been the issue, I probably would have chosen centering. I kept both stamps anyway.

Personally I could care less if it were hinged or not. I collect used anyway so a nicely centered copy is much preferred over the the latter. Like you, I only display the front anyway. Cheers!

Hi all and thanks for the feedback. I think my future purchases will favor centering over condition of the gum. I collect for the fun of it, not as an investment. I see there are a lot of opinions on this subject, a fact which keeps this hobby interesting. Again, thanks for the feedback.

I totally prefer unhinged. As I create my own pages I sometimes keep the hinged version and mount it on the same page with MNH set just because it looks so good. This same thinking has also been used when I found a glorious stamp but used and hinged canceled very lightly so the stamp could appreciated and centering was perfection. So some pages look quite odd as I have several of the same stamp on it but I usually in careful lettering explain why its there.
Nick

As others have said, this is entirely up to individual preference. Mine would be for mint hinged well centred stamps over poorly centred mint never hinged examples. Yes gum is important, often in determining forgeries and repairs, but it is the face I want to look at not the back. Often there is a significant difference in price, which gladdens my billfold, and I have been successful in removing the hinge leaving only very slight hinge marks. My main preference is for used stamps with neat and interesting cancels and these I mount with the mint examples. Makes a more interesting page I feel.

Terry