3RD Reich Including Ostropa Sheet Purchase

I picked this lot up today for $77.50. The Ostropa sheet is nearly a total loss as a souvenir sheet, but the stamps are still in good shape (scott catalogue as singles is $32.50/ea). Catalogue values are for stamps without gum. All other stamps are assumed hinged.

For those who are not familiar with this souvenir sheet, its gum contained sulfuric acid which, as you can see, eventually eats the paper.

My question to SCF members is this:

Would you leave the existing sheet as is, or remove the remnants of the ruined paper? My first thought is to remove the paper, but am open to suggestions.

Brian

My opinion.
It is what it is, it reflects the history of the sheet,
it illustrates a particular manufacturing process,
It is degraded but not mutilated,
that's what it will be if you intefere.

I suppose there is an argument for saving the stamps
from further damage by soaking off the gum,
but I would imagine the paper is fragile at best.

Nice lot I have decided to collect Germany along with my US and would love to have these. I'm jealous. I would also leave the stamps alone though.

I'm kind of a perfectionist and that missing chunk off the corner would bother me to no end every time I looked at it.
Personally I would turn it into a se-tenant block of four.

Congrats on your acquisition, that's another one I've wanted for
a long time but never got.

Personally, I'd leave it as is. But if you do decide to excise the stamps, be sure to carefully examine them before you do. If they're significantly damaged, it's extremely easy to destroy them while trying to separate them from the remaining sheet. The first Ostropa sheet I ever had shattered like pane of glass dropped flat on the floor the moment I tried to remove the stamps. Completely destroyed the sheet and the stamps.

Good input, all. I think I'll leave it as-is. The same seller has another sheet for sale that ends tomorrow. I hope to add that to this weekend's booty. I'll keep you posted ...

Hello.

My advice would be to remove the acide gum... now... . MICHEL lists the sheet as mint OG (Ohne gummi - without gum) as it is adviced to remove the acid gum - you can remove it now and see what happends or look at the sheet for some time and see the destruction.

Kloster

Can the gum be neutralized with a spray like this, or does it risk damaging the stamp?

http://www.acmoore.com/p-52922-arch...-ounces.aspx

Removing the gum on the Ostropa sheets is a problem due to the age of the sheets. In many cases, if the gum wasn't removed long ago, the damage is already done and the process of removing the gum will cause the sheet to disintegrate.

The archival mist is interesting. I'd be interested to hear if anyone here has used this, or similar products.