How Do You Collect Self-Adhesives?

I only collect worldwide issues through 2000 and only mint USA through 2000. I'm thanking about extending my USA collection to all years since I can get them mint at the post office. I use the Scott International pages for my collection so buying the supplements past 2000 I will have the worldwide pages, so I might as well extend my whole collection. That's why I'm asking the question. If I do this I thanking about putting them in mounts instead of hinging them. I hate messing up the look of my collection with stamps on paper.

Current postally nused self adhesive can not be removed from paper . Linn's had an article on this problem . Stamp collectors asked the Post Master to return to water soluable gum but no commentment as been made . I my self do not afix them into an album until I can find a removal solution . They are accumulated in a stock book.

Postally used stamps are now a bummer....I tried to soak some Simpsons and Love stamps and it was a mess. I ended up just sticking a small sheet of Love Stamps and other new stamps of interest in my stock book as is.

I like collecting modern used US stamps and place them in Stiener pages...it's easy to print the latest year and it's cheap. These new self adhesive stamps haved slowed me down.

I also like buying new mint US Stamps but only of the issues that catch my eye. I throw them in a stock book.

Very interesting subject. I've heard about the change of gum used on U.S stamps & how impossible it is to remove from paper. I have not tried this out myself but it seems that soaking in lighter fluid works well. I wonder if it's true? I am very much a novice in this area so I could easily be out of step.

I tried soaking in lighter fluid and it did not work. I only kept them soaked for about 5 min though.

There is a letter in the latest Linn's complaining that the 2010 U.S. issues already would cost a person $85 or so to collect, based upon the packaging and minimum purchases necessary to acquire the stamps. And we're barely a month into the year.

Then you have the issue of how to physically collect the stamps. Remove a stamp from each side of a coil stamp and clip the backing paper? Then what? Its a mess. And a big part of the reason why I don't concentrate on modern issues. I also tried to soak a few recent issues, out of habit (or nostalgia) more than anything, and it wasn't pleasant. And yet most Canadian stamps I receive pop right off the paper. Go figure.

New Zealand must use a different self adheassive glue as I soak the stamps of in warm water. They don't float off but I am able to peal them away form the glue which remains as a thin flim on the paper. any remaining glue stuck on the stamp can be gently rubbed off with the fingers.

If you search "vodka" you will see that this method of soaking US self-adhesive stamps was being joked about some time ago. Here are links to the article that initiated the banter, in both both HTML and PDF. See page 3 of this newsletter of The Wisconsin Federation Of Stamp Clubs:

http://www.wfscstamps.org/ATFP/ATFP-Dec2008.pdf

Here is the same in (faster but harder to read) HTML format:

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache...nt=firefox-a

Ironhelm:

I think you're asking about MINT stamps, but the discussion wandered to used.

For MINT U.S. stamps, often the backing is perforated so you can separate one single with backing intact. Then you could mount or hinge it, although it might be a bit heavy for a hinge.

As for used, Bruce & Modern have great suggestions. As I understand it from here and Linn's, some of the U.S. simply will not soak -- regardless of the method. For those, I suggest you forget scissors; instead use a straight edge and razor to trim them neatly and closely. Again, hinge or mount as fits your design.

Good Luck,
KirkS

KirkS:

I was talking about used stamps. Maybe I should have made it clearer. I thought about buying a little perforation cutter or perforation type scissors to cut around the stamp.

I didn't realize that different countries use different self-stick gum. I just soaked a large batch of Australians in warm water for about 20 minutes. While none of them actually floated off, they were easy to peel off the paper. I think I'll stick to Aussies.
Allan

Sorry about that -- I took that sentence to mean you were going to get MINT stamps at the post office ?

I've tried scissors as carefully as possible and a few times I still managed to accidentally trim the edges of the serpentine. But then I got a small, flat, metal ruler and a razor. I position the ruler so it covers the edge of the stamp, then slice with the razor. No clipped edges so far.

Either way, good luck
KirkS

KirkS

Yes you are right. If I start collecting past 2000 for the USA they will be mint. That might lead me to expand my worldwide collection (mint and used) just because of the supplements. I might just make my own pages for the USA. That is another option. Do other countries have stamps that will not soak off paper the way the USA does?

Yes. There's been a lot of controversy (or at least a lot of complaining) since the USPS removed the requirement for a water-soluble layer on the self-adhesive stamps.

Like the U.S., other countries have some s/a that will soak and some that won't. Another possible trend, starting with U.K. machins is the inclusion of a security feature so stamps can't be be removed without damaging them. You can see them in this small jpg...



Kirk

That security feature could have a big impact on stamp collecting. Not only on stamps but could hurt supplement sales etc. It could be the end of collecting current issues.

One suggestion for collecting used was to purchase a pair of "pattern scissors" at a hobby shop. They cut a serpentine or similar pattern. I've seen pictures and when you use these the paper actually makes a nice looking frame for the stamp.

We discussed this about a year ago and I think there was even a link to a place where you could get them. I'll look.