Your Opinions Needed. To Soak Or Not To Soak

I mentioned in a previous post that I have been soaking stamps for the last year or so. Most of the examples are like the following pictures. After each pic is my thoughts on soaking, I would be interested to hear how you all feel.


I would not soak these two examples because there is a full cancel on them.


I have mixed feelings on this group the top piece has glue on it and there is no way to remove the upside down stamp without soaking it. The bottom image has a partial cancel and I will probably leave it alone.


The pieces like this give me the most pause The cancel ties each to the piece but is not a full cancel. Previously I have been soaking these but maybe it was a mistake.

Your insights will help guide me in my future endeavours.
Thanks for taking the time to look.
Scott

In my opinion:

For the first and second pictures, I would soak the top stamps (no dated cancel) and keep the bottom ones on paper because of the dated postmarks;

For the last picture, I would soak both of them, as the partial cancel is common and meaningless to its value.

Actually, all of these stamps are common, so the soak/not to soak dilemma comes down to a matter of personal preference, as it's not going to affect the value of the stamps in any appreciable way.

The soaked off-paper stamps are easier to handle for long term storage, though, so that might be a consideration.

Tough question. For full covers DON"T SOAK. Old and rare NEVER SOAK!! Common stamps on pieces as shown with full nice cancel I would not soak. Partial or common cancel I would normally soak. Pieces that display well I don't soak. I print my own album pages so fit my album to my collection instead of fitting my collection to my album. THIS IS PERSONNAL PREFERANCE. If you don't soak them determine how you will mount and display. There are pros and cons to both the main thing is what do you want your collection to look like?
Talk to other to get opinions and then decide what you like. Collecting should show your preferences. Collectors should develop their own style don't be afraid to be different. There are no hard rules for common stamps.

If you already have an example of a stamp on piece,
why soak at all? leave it alone.
You only need one copy of a stamp to mount.
The ones you soak may take off a part cancel that is interesting
to a student.

Also be careful soaking multiples, such as the pair of 10 cent Franklins and the strips of four and strip of three. It has been my experience that the stamps will separate very easily. You must be gentle. Don't try to pick them up wet with tongs. That is just asking for separation. You have to have a way to lift the entire multiple without putting any strain on the perforations.

Now what if we pretend that the stamps in the third picture are not Scott 554 and instead were 579. 579's are worth more used then mint according to Scott. I've read that cancels need to show contemporary usage for the used valuations for a stamp like that. Would the cancellation that ties it to the piece be able to show the contemporary usage if it were off the piece?

It depends on the cancel. Of course dated cancels are easy but some other cancels can be dated. Many machine cancels can be dated by slogan, design, machine type, etc.

I totally understand the pros and cons but what about the older rarer ones that all stuck on what seems to be plain ole writting paper. I've bought a few old pages from albums that also looked like they were hinged with scotch tape . Those all took the plunge. Then theres the treasure hunt for watermarks although (especially canada) seems to be a needle in a haystack. I think alot comes down to personal preference and as said before how you plan to display. My opinion is enjoy your collection but also take care of them as you never know how many future generations will enjoy them after you.

please dont soak the old stamps, new common stamps could be soaked.


warm wishes.

1. So for those of you who soak stamps off paper, how do you dry them?

I've had mixed results with 'dry books' and have resorted to just using paper towel to initially sop up the water from a newly soaked stamp. After it dries to a soft finish, I press it.

2. So my question is do you press your recently soaked stamps and if so for how long?

I can't see the pictures!

Jack Kelley

Yep, no pictures. It's an old topic ... but the closest one out of the hundreds "search" presented relative to my question. The original poster probably used photobucket and lost his pictures.

However the pictures are not relative to my question about pressing soaked stamps.

oldguy,

I sop up the little spots of water on the stamps with a paper towel so that they are no longer shiny with wetness. I then transfer the stamps to a dry paper towel and let sit for a up to an hour, periodically checking dampness level. If any are starting to curl I put them under a light weight on my desk surface. My watermark tray is useful for this part, weighed down with my magnifying glass. I don't do this part until the stamps are almost completely dry, since I don't want any sticking to each other. After a half hour or so, the stamps are ready for sorting and identification. Whole process from soaking to sorting takes about 2 hours for 100-200 stamps.

Hope this helps,

Robert

Oldguy, for your consideration.

The rod222 drying sandwich.

2 sheets A4 or similar copy paper, bag of A4 sized freezer bags (80c)
After stamps come out of cold water
gently tamp dry on clean / new tea towel.
Place copy paper sheet down, on top goes freezer bag.
place with tongs, stamps on top of freezer bag (Face up)
another sheet copy paper on top
This is your sandwich, place in an old book that is no longer wanted,
I use old second hand recipe books.
Leave for a week, they come out (float off the freezer bag) flat as a halibut
I use 5 -10mm between pages for the sandwiches, and if doing a large soak use multiple books

Place new soaked at bottom of pile.
Regime I have used for 10 years.

Tw & Rod -- thanks for the replies. Very helpful.