2 Short Questions About US Stamps

Are these pairs have really been used on this wooden box, or just have been glued on the piece of the wood??





Is something strange with the scalp of GW on this stamp, or it is just an optic illusion made by postmark/cancellation? I can make a better scan...

My guess: the stamps were used to mail the wooden box. They have been on there for almost a hundred years. The bottom red stamp is an illusion as you suspect.

Thank you, Chasa. The question is what to do now with that piece of wood... I cannot place it any album that way, and to soak them will be a very, very bad idea.

The acid content in the wood will eventually tone and ruin the stamps if left alone.
Don

Yes... but, also, whoever used these stamps on this box, didn't believe in the "power of the gum" itself on the wood, so, some kind of glue seems also being spread and used in addition (you can see the shinning tone around the stamps).

And almost a plate number pair on the $1 Franklins.

Put the piece of wood in a large plastic sleeve, as you would with any cover.

Is the glue on top of the stamps, or only applied to the wood underneath?

Since the stamps are not tied by their postmarks to the piece of wood, they could have been added at any time, but for what purpose? I tend to think as the others that they were used in period.

Classic coins makes a good point. The person who applied the stamps may have applied some kind of varnish or sealant to fill the wood pores beneath where the stamp were to go. That would create a surface below the stamps to which they would stick better. If that was done and there is no sealant above the stamps, then skip #1 and go to #2.

To remove the stamps here are a couple of things I would try, but either or both could put the stamps at risk:

1. brush on some naphthalene (lighter fluid such as Ronsonal) or acetone on the extra glue on the wood above the stamps. If either softens the glue, then keep brushing it on the stamps until they are released.

If nothing happens in 1, then hold the stamps above a steaming kettle (not too close), with the stamps facing into the steam, and let the heat and pressure loosen them until they can be taken off safely with tongs.

It is entirely possible that neither will work, but if the sealant is only below the stamps, then steaming them should work.

I would give the wood a good soaking in the bath tub (or some other appropriate container.) I can`t believe you would hurt the stamps as I think they would be gently loosened as the wood swelled.

since the stamps have no special value, I would just leave them on the box

Nail that bit of wood up somewhere and keep it like that.

By the way, do we assume the last precancel is also from Binghamton?

Hi people. Thank you for all advices. Surely, these stamps don't have any special value (except on the covers, but... nothing about wooden covers in US specialzed ;) )... and I will probably not even try to remove them from this piece of wood.

Classic coins... it is applied on the woood underneath... I cannot be 100% sure that it is glue, but it is still kinda "sticky"... however, some kind of varnish, after decades, also could be.

I thought that will be nice to get thise piece framed, as is, but, unfortunately, from the US stamps, I am really not a fan of this Washington-Franklin issues... I will not find attractive to see them somewhere on the wall hinged.

KGB - 99% yes... I don't know why the printing plate was so worn... unreadable... it has been printed in the same time as the first pair. I can make a better scan of that pair, and also of the first pair, if someone is interesting what is written on the first postmark/cancellation/precancellation/postcancellation.

Binghamton Ny is very likely.

I have a wooden postcard. Sorry the scan is so poor but over time the wood has warped and my scanner didn't like that.



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