My First Stamp Collecting Pet Peeve Of The New Year.........

Hi,
May I complain..............

I won an auction for a nicely filled Scott International album, and it arrived late yesterday.

This morning I began going through it to pick out the stamps I lack in my collection. WOW, there were quite a few, and that was just in the A & B countries!

BUT, it seems the collector used peelable hinges on only about half the collection, with the rest being of the "soak or tear" kind.

That is a tough one! I hate to tear off stamp/hinges from album pages, but soaking them will totally ruin the page.

I can surely see a newbie using the "wrong" hinges, but anyone that has been around awhile should know better. Ha, how silly of me to think that!

Anyway, just thought I would start out the new year with a gripe!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !!

Mobilman44

hmmmm....first world problems!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Mobilman
(the next topic down the list from yours is entitled "acetone and Scotch Tape", so there's always someone worse off.... )

May I suggest that a very thin, very sharp blade will be your friend in this endeavor? Something like an Xacto #11, perhaps? Keep the blade almost flat against the page and slide it up, under the stamp, and slice through the hinge at the fold. Go slow at first, and practice on junk.

Yes, you'll have a remnant on the page and on the stamp, but you can address each of them separately, without fear of wrecking both at once.

I feel your pain.

I agree Cjd, The Xacto knife is a good tool for this. It save the pages and is quick. But, those babies are sharp. Be aware of whats on the back side of the page just in case you cut down through.....

Hi all, I had some Mexico stamps like that and I used an iron with steam on them and it loosened them enough to peel off. May have been different hinges from those. There was no damage to the page. At least worth a try. =Happy New Year= Gary

Two things you need. A thin sharp blade, a Swann Morton surgical scalpel with a No.10 or 11 blade is ideal. Use it to get in to the crease in the hinge and carefully slit through it. And a bottle of Stamp Lift. Used properly this will not damage either stamp or album page. Carefully apply the Stamp Lift to the hinge remnant on stamp or album page with a small artists' brush. Do not saturate with the stuff, you want just enough to release the glue from the stamp or page. A couple of light applications are better than a single blobby one. Wait a few moments then carefully peel off the hinge remnant and blot up any excess fluid. In the case of mint hinged stamps do not blot, but leave them back up to dry naturally then press between tissue in a thick book. Done right this works. Just takes time and patience, but well worth it.

Terry

Hi,
Thanks for all the suggestions. As a lifelong model builder, I'm right at home with Xacto and surgical blades and other removal methods. The thing is, I've got an album with almost 3000 stamps to purge, with a good half or more being "unpeelable". I do want to keep the album for resale, so it looks like I'll tackle those stamps one by one by one................

Thanks all, just wanted to pass my problem on to others that can relate!

Those are all excellent tips!