What Do You Prefer - Mnh, Cancelled Or Something Else?

Hello. What kind of state do You prefer and how much is it important to You? Do You mix it? I collect only cancelled stamps because that kind of stamps have more value in my eyes. They are used, some part of history is on them. And to me, its important. I"ve heard that MNH stamps are the most wanted but...And I really dont like MH stamps. Mint+ someone hinged them . How can someone hinge stamps when there are quality stamps albums...

For me it is MLH as I am not bothered about gum and refuse to pay the extra price for it. ( It may shock you, but some archivists remove the gum from stamps as they see it as a possible risk to the stamp). I don't go that far. I particularly like fine used stamps with clear full cancels, both off paper and on piece. I will mix both MLH with fine used (as a separate example of use on the same page)and sometimes add a cover if it is of particular interest. I believe the demand for MNH stamps co-incided with the appearance of stamp mounts. Before then the only choice was to hinge stamps in albums, or use stock books.

Terry

For me, the preference is cancelled for the historical reason stated by The_Pope. Also, for U.S. revenue stamps, part of the fun is looking for identifiable printed or handstamped cancellations. All that being said, for my worldwide 1840-1940 collection, I'll take the nicest copy I can find, mint or used.

agree with Terry C. ,I will not pay extra for MNH . My collection contain 30,000 or 40,000 stamps that were MNH and now are lightly hinged and mounted .There are many stamps that can only be found in complete sets and price is the same MNH or LH for a worldwide collector .

Like most revenue collectors, I collect used stamps. However I am a purist, and would never hinge a stamp that was currently MNH, even a current issue. It's easy for me, since I only use stockbooks and never hinge anything anyway.
There are collectors of mint 20th century revenues; I don't imagine too many of them are hinging MNH stamps ether somehow.

The_Pope, Greetings: If you want to make a religion out of it, you might adopt the view that GPU (Genuinely Postally Used) stamps are the only real postage stamps, as only they have been used to carry mail. Cheers,

Generally mint light hinged pre-1960, NH post 1960-ish (depends on country - for most of the French colonies the change is 1960 with independence, its also when the Maury catalog stops pricing differences between hinged and never-hinged). Used any time if I see nice clear town cancel strikes. Using Lighthouse stock pages so no further hinging damage will be done while stamps are under my care.

Interesting enough, in Maury the differential on most 1950s items between hinged and never hinged is only about 30%. It would be nice if Scott could give some sort of guidance since they put their MNH breaks earlier in most cases and do not give much info on price differential hinged/never hinged. Since hingeless mounts did not really get to be common among collectors until the early 1960s or so due to cost you find a lot of 1950s material hinged but with no idea what, if any, discount hinged should be given from values in Scott.

I like mint,if they have been hinged it doesn't really bother me, It will be in the album a long time and I probably won't be looking at the back of the stamps much.

I have to agree with ikeyPikey. My preference runs to postally used.

Heya.
It sound nice to me And cant understand people damage stamps with that thing called Hinge. . hinge stamps on the paper leaves in 21th century.

I collect mint and used. Used for the historical value the stamp could represent and mint for the "clean" look. It doesn't matter if it's been hinged or not as many people could have owned the older stamps before I got them. I do like my stamps to be in good condition and not torn etc.

For me, it would have to be used with a fine cancel not obstructing the design, or a good SON clear cancel.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I cannot understand the fasciantion with MNH stamps. You might as well collect a picture of the stamp. That way you could have all of them!

I prefer postally used, the more of a story the cancellation tells, the better. Perfins can add another interesting twist to a stamp's story. Not to mention these are all obtainable at a fraction of what people pay for MNH.

I have used stamps that may very well be one of a kind.

I still use hinges. I prefer the stamps' appearance on the page, and being able to see them without a layer of reflective plastic covering them. And no matter how good the low reflective mounts are, they do dull the stamp colour. Only very slightly, but it is enough.

Terry

I collect used, primarily due to price and not necessarily preference. Some items, such as inscription block, are almost impossible to find used, but when I do, I'd prefer to purchase them used (if I can afford it). I've been using Dennison or Fold-A-Hing hinges for all the pre-1940 stamps. If you look at the current prices for the Dennison hinges, they are starting to approach the prices for mounts. All the later items I use the new inexpensive hinges.

I collect both used and unused. Primarily I enjoy stamps for the artwork, hence the desire for stamp not besmirched by a cancel. I say unused because it doesn't much matter for that purpose what is on the back. Yet I would prefer MNH when it's worth more.

For used, I prefer a nice cancel. The problem I have with collecting used is when do you stop? There can be many nice cancels of the same stamp and I want to keep them all. This makes it hard to fill a single space. Plus, since I likely have an unused copy for the artwork, should I care how much the image of the stamp is covered by the cancel or just go for a big heavy interesting cancel?