I have wondered this for a while now, but not explored the topic too deeply as I was not that interested in mint stamps. Now, however, my interest is awakened due to the entering of the constellation Philla into my house of Neo-telica.
New issues of Canada stamps usually come in booklets of 10 or so self adhesive (peel and stick) stamps. They are printed one next to another, the perforations of one stamp intermixing (take the kids into the next room please) with the perfs of the next stamp.
It is virtually impossible for my brain to imagine how to cleanly cut between two or more stamps to end up with one single stamp, nicely centered, still on its own original backing paper, ready to place in an album or stockbook, without terribly mangling one or the other of the adjoining stamps in the booklet. And without having any edges of the stamp being free of backing paper. I do not want my mint stamp sticking to my album.
Do you have to actually postally use the stamps all around the lone single stamp and then have one left to cut around without worry of slicing irreparably through the neighbouring stamps? What a waste and expense!
What do dealers do? (I have not asked any yet myself.) Do they just unpeel one stamp and stick it down to some OK-to-use transfer paper? Perhaps retrieved from a business that uses coil stamps? They reuse the backing paper of the coil of 50 or 100 or 5000? If so, will the stamp stay stuck down or will it slowly unpeel again due to the minutest touch of the finger that peeled it off the original booklet in the first place?
Are there special cutters (scissors, knives, specially made items?) that exist that are used to cut between stamps so one can end up with stamps such as those to be had in the annual or quarterly collections available from
Canada Post where the stamps and backing paper are cut through at the same time during the manufacturing process?
I am not suggesting anyone make these stamps or try to counterfeit the
Canada Post printings at all. I am just a possible, to-be, avid, ardent collector of mint singles. That is all. And I don't want to buy every single stamp put out by the Post Office either. Just the ones I want that appeal to me.
Am I being too picky? Am I asking for too much? No, I do not think so.
What is acceptable in the philatelic field now? I do know that the flag over booklets of 10 stamps do come with possible different backing advertisements so to do a 'proper' collection one must collect the whole booklet. Yeah, yeah, good marketing, I know, I know. But all I want are the five different stamps in the booklet of ten. I don't want to collect the backing advertisements, nice though they are and all that.
I realize the way the booklets are printed now makes selling a single stamp over and over a hassle for the accounting of stamps at the end of the day for any Post Office employee, and a hassle for the Post Office itself. A waste of time and money.
Of course it is. And people would raise a stink if they had to pay say 10% to 20% more for a single stamp compared to the next person who just bought a booklet of ten. But who uses that many stamps now anyway?
Go to a building store and see how they package and sell screws or bolts or nuts now. Packages of ten or twenty or 50 or 100. One near here does have bins where you can pick out just how many you want but the price is jacked up to pay for the loss of items, the extra inventory control, the extra storage space, etc, etc.
I suppose I could just go to my handy dandy stamp dealer (who doesn't exist anymore thank you) to get the odd single stamp or two. Hmmm, or go online, isn't that easy, and pay the added, unfortunately needed shipping charge to cover all the fees and expenses incurred in listing an item online and making a profit selling it.
I am going to scan a booklet or two to illustrate further.
Posted 09/12/2011 12:04 am
