Sweated Gum

Along the way I have often seen references to "sweated gum", and for some reason came to believe this was a technique used intentionally to enhance damaged gum, sort of a cousin to regumming. I have also heard of stamp "sweat boxes." After some research it seems that sweated gum results from improper storage, sometimes involving stamp mounts. Do I finally have it right? Sweated gum is a fault and not an alteration?

Good question!

As I understand it, sweated gum can be both scenarios - either accidental (by way of extreme humidity, or on purpose.

I have a "sweat box" that I have used with success to separate mint stamps stuck to paper or each other. In most cases, the gum will appear to be disturbed, or in the case of stamps stuck together, gum residue may be left of the face of the stamps.

I am also aware of "sweating" stamps in order to redistribute original gum in order to hide a flaw or hinge mark. I'm not sure what exactly to look for when trying to identify stamps with redistributed gum, but if I were to guess, I would expect that this would be accomplished by brushing the gum in the desired direction.

Brian