To Soak Or Not To Soak

Hello everyone........

In the readers opinion column in this weeks Linns the editors response to someone who raised this point was...

"Presently, US stamps produced by Ashton Potter will not soak, but stamps produced by all other printers will. The name of the printer is included in the US Postal Service's technical details for each stamp issue. Linn's will continue to address the issue of soakability for new issues as they are released."

Knowing the printer will save you from ruining a stamp. I would not be surprised to find a list of these unsoakable stamps somewhere.

hi tom,
i was not sure if ashton potter was the only printer involved or not. but others may follow suit. let's hope linn's publishes the list, if so, I will put it here for all to read.

merci et a bientot,
bill aka cajunsr.

Heres a Fiume # 1 that choose not to soak !!

That postcard from the Queen Mary is amazing. Such cool history involved with that piece, an this hobby. How rare is something like that?

I'm not sure how rare it is I got it in a lot of stamps I bought off ebay for around $10 or $15 I think

This was one of best finds I think.

Dianne

Wow. That's really cool! Gotta love ebay. I buy a lot of bulk Lego lots on ebay and am constanly amazed by the little treasures included.

For those that don't like letting their stamps go swimming I have a suggestion. I am new at stamp collecting myself and was leary about soaking. So I got the bright idea of taking a washcloth and soaking it then wringing it out. Don't wring it out completely but keep it fairly wet then just fold in half, lay your stamps on one half then fold the other over top and let set for a few minutes. It Worked GREAT for me and didn't mess any of the stamps up so far as I can tell. I hope this helps some other newbies out.

Sounds like a good idea. I'd still rinse them in clean water just to make sure all the glue is off or it might cause staining later on.