Regummed Stamp

I hope this isn't a dumb question but I was wondering how do you tell if a stamp is regummed or the original?

Most regummed stamps can be told by examination ,that means having original stamps in a reference source.But the true experts of regumming can fool everybody .

In many cases you can tell from the front of the stamp as well. The stamp just doesn't look like it is in mint condition, not quite as bright. From the back, the gum can look a bit streaky, maybe even with some very fine bubbles. If the stamp is an old one the the gum looks too new for the stamp. Floortrader is absolutely right with his advice. There are some serious experts out there who can fool most people.

Using a 10x or stronger glass around the edges of the perfs will often give away regumming. Sheets were gummed first and then perforated, so there should be no evidence of the gum on the very edges of the perf tips or in the holes themselves. Regummers often file the ends of the perf tips for that reason, and that can also be spotted.

I have been collecting stamps for a long time, but I am by no means an expert on most stamp subjects, so...

Can anybody tell me how often regumming occurs? I guess it is not uncommon to find one, right? Is it usually done to try and add value to a stamp? Maybe to pass off a used stamp as a mint one or to pass a low value stamp off as a similar one with higher value?

Sorry for so many questions but I really want to learn a bit about this.

I often joke with collectors who only collect MNH that they should mount the stamps gum-side up, because they're paying a more for the gum than they are for the stamp itself...why not display the side that's responsible for all the value?

For instance, an unused $5 Columbian (XF) is worth around $1,500. A tiny fraction of an ounce of original gum on it would be worth $28,500+ (XF NH value approx $30,000+.) Original gum is probably among the most valuable commodities known to mankind :-)

And that's the primary reason stamps are regummed...to take that $1,500 stamp and fool people into thinking it's the $30,000 version.

IMO, the likelihood of finding regumming on a given issue is probably directly proportional to the difference in value between a no gum example and a mint never hinged example...

The other incentive for regumming of course is raising a used stamp to mint and gummed, depending on how easily the cancel can be removed.

Among the early US Federal Duck stamps the signatures have sometimes nearly gone away just in the process of floating the stamps off the licenses, so the temptation is there to enhance the process.

This is a later Duck, RW28, but someone couldn't resist trying crudely to make it a mint stamp...




In this case it looks like the faker used low-tack tape to hold the stamp in place and keep the gum off the perf tips while probably spraying the gum with an airbrush.

-Duncan

I take it that there is no practical value to be added by regumming common US 1930-50's commemeratives? I bought a largish batch of those and they all seemed to curl excessively from heat simply when laid face down in the palm of the hand..... I recall reading on here that is a common sign, though not definitive, of regumming. Then I thought, who would go to such trouble to make a 20 cent stamp into a 35 cent stamp? John

John to have a stamp professional redone cost between $20.00 and $35.00 . What you described as curling is usually a sign of the gum being too thick .

One of the really dangerous types of regums is using genuine original gum from one stamp and applying it to another stamp. For example, someone might have a damaged mint #300. As a stamp it is worth next to nothing, but if the stamp is "sweated", that is exposed to enough heat to liquify the gum than the gum can be redistributed onto another stamp (or on that original stamp if desired).

This is a start:
http://www.hgitner.com/regummed-stamps.html

CHIPG ------Thanks for that article ,excellent information .My favorite part is "But there are some regummed stamps which are so skillfully done they are extremely difficult to detect" So my policy is if your buying from me you can only purchase the stamp at a poorly lit stamp show or a stamp bourse with bad lighting . Then I am only selling to people who don't carry around a 60 power microscope . Also all my certificates on the stamps will be from Upper Bongoland Philatelic Society or I.M.Blind Expertize Co. ,remember you don't need 100% of buyers ,I only sell to 90% of the buyers who visit my table at the shows .