To Remove Hinge Remainders Or Not?

Sometime back I started a thread "To Hinge or Not Hinge". This one is somewhat related. So, I have a nice classic used stamp that has fair catalog value ($2,750). Before I send it off should I remove the old hinge remainders or not? This particular used stamp looks like it has 3-4 layers of old hinges. The back side just looks like crap. I don't know if these old hinge remainders are hiding a fault or not. I plan on keeping the stamps, irregardless.

However, this question should hold true for any used stamp, regardless of value. The gum is gone and no visible tears or thins. Keeping in mind that the hinge remainders may be hiding faults. BTW, its soaking as I write this.

Comments always welcomed.

Art

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If you absolutely must, try to see how much play the very last hinge has, but further than that you'd be risking causing a thin. For a stamp of that value I wouldn't want to take that risk.

CF

If it's soaking, won't that remove the hinges anyways ? I get worried about repairs when more than 1 hinge has been affixed to a Stamp as all that is ever required to mount a single Stamp is 1 hinge. For most stamps I have heard that it is best to remove the hinge if it is not being used, with that in mind I'm skeptical about pre 1900 Stamps due to the inks.

Hi artlaunier

I have dozens of old stamps that I inheirited and when I remove them from the old album pages that are too dilapidated to save then I used to soak them off, sometimes however, old inks bleed, so now if I know that the ink will bleed, I just cut a square around the stamp on the old page and keep it on the original mounting.
This is one of those questions, as you said, is the hinge hiding something, is there a rare watermark?
It is one of those questions that does not have a right or wrong answer.
Regards
Horamakhet

Yes, its soaking, because I'm removing the old hinge remainders. I didn't want anything on the back.

Typically, not always, I do remove the old hinge remainders. The not always is due to my hurry to put one in the album. As to the ink bleeding, that's not something I worry about with the older stamps, perhaps I should.

There were 5 old hinge remainders on that stamp and I'm happy to say that they were not hiding anything. I suspect that this stamp has visited at least 5 other collectors before finding a home in my album. I just wonder under what number he was hiding under. I bought it as a #24 but it turned out it was a #21. And I use mounts, not hinges...

Art

Nice to see it wasn't hiding anything and it looks to be a good sound Stamp, even tidied it up a bit.

Bravo! Removing paper and hinges isn't that big of a mystery. You do hold your breath to find out if it was repaired. I use tap water to remove paper, gum, and hinges and then re-soak in distilled water as not to leave bacteria or mineral deposits.

May we see the front please? hee hee...

I am a perfectionist, so I couldn't stand leaving all of those hinge remnants on the stamp. Care/preservation considerations should pretty much require taking the hinge remnants off because of the likelihood they are made from acidic paper. The glues could cause issues too. The stamp can't even lay flat!

I would hope an expert would do no more than identify the stamp with all of that crud buildup. I also have a problem with sellers that sell stamps like this. How do you accurately describe them? The seller of this stamp was obviously clueless but didn't have any interest in finding/disclosing faults either. Though not completely hidden by the hinges, the stamp has a pretty heavy crease.

The front, as requested.

Beautiful !

Nice stamp!

Fortunately the crease doesn't show from the front. Very nice looking.

Beautiful stamp. Congratulations on your find and yes removing the old hinges will increase the value as well as appeal.