Tagging 101

It may seem funny to some, but I'm just now really starting to pay attention to tagging as a variety on US stamps. Here is a link to an ebay Tagging 101 lesson that I found quick and easy to understand.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Guide-to-US...000002458564

Hi Greg.....

Just to add a little to this.......here are links to my posts on taggants.

https://goscf.com/t/628&SearchTerms=Taggants

https://goscf.com/t/6205&SearchTerms=Taggants

Great link, laswabbie! Thanks.

Also nr-notrare, great threads and pics on taggants.

You say you take photos of the tagging but is it possible to scan these also?

How does one do that?

I have a few Canadian stamps that have a less bright kind of overall tagging than most of the rest of this stamp (Canada 2004 year, Picture Postage, Sc #2063,4). I would like to photograph or (my choice) scan these to show people and get an explanation of what the cause is. I do not have a camera. Is that the only way?

Thanks.
Doug

Hi Doug....

In order to photograph the taggants you need to be in a very dark room using one of the two types of fluorescent lamps to "light up" the taggants. I don't know of any way that the taggants could be scanned.

OK. Good to know. Thank you.

Another question. I have a long-wave lamp and the bulb only 'lights up' in the middle region of the bulb. The ends are dark. Is this still good enough? I can see some taggings. But should I gut another bulb or lamp? Or could it be the batteries. Hmmm. Haven't tried that yet.

It could be the bulb or the batteries. Normally the bulbs are pretty rugged. I've used mine for over 15 years and both bulbs are going strong (hope I didn't just jinx myself). Try switching the batteries first, because uneven light emission will damage the bulb after a while. My UV lamp is plug-in only, so I can't tell you how long those batteries should last.