Peroxide - Value Or De-Value Of Stamps..?

Hi guys...I took one of my 1898 Newfoundland stamps and subjected it to a peroxide bath..You can see the slight changes it made..And cleaned it back to where the stamp was years ago..Now does this de-value the price of the stamp..?

Remember if some one bought an antique chair from a farmer's barn that was filthy dirty and removed the grime but left the finish, it would not depreciate the value..That is the way I look at stamps...Am I wrong..??


Below is the stamp before and after the peroxide bath.


ORIGINAL STAMP



STAMP AFTER PEROXIDE BATH


BELOW I ANALYZED THE COLOUR AND THE COLOUR CHANGE. I ZOOMED IN TO ANALYZE THE SAME PIXEL FROM ORIGINAL AND BATHED STAMP. THE YELLOW ARROWS SHOW WHICH PIXEL I DID THE TEST ON.


OLD STAMP ANALYZED.



PEROXIDE BATH STAMP ANALYZED.


THE "HTML NOTATION" IS AN INDICATION THAT THE COLOUR DID OBVIOUSLY CHANGE TO A LITTLE LIGHTER COLOUR.
SO, DOES IT DEVALUE THE STAMP...??

Not in my opinion.

It comes down to alteration versus restoration. Restoration = good, alteration usually = bad

If we are talking about financial value, it's always going to be the buyer who decides. So when you sell it, just let them know it's been through a peroxide dip and let the buyer decide. The great majority of buyers don't really care when it comes to peroxide dips, and the great majority of sellers who do perform peroxide dips don't bother disclosing it ahead of time. Will it still be the same 50 years from now? Who knows? A lot of people didn't care about hinging 50 years ago... (and a lot of people still don't care!).

stallzer..Here is the meanings of RESTORATION and ALTERATION according to the Dictionary.

RESTORATION...The action of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition.

ALTERATION... a change in the appearance or form of something.

Guess your right..Restoration of an object (or stamp) is good.

Will water alter the colour? Yes, and in some cases considerably, yet most of the used stamps get a bath, or they will remain dirty and unattractive. Shall we call it alteration, or simply cleaning?
Now what if we add a drop of soap or detergent into the water? Most of us will consider it perfectly OK. So, if instead of water there is something stronger, cleaning better, why should it be condemned?

Generally speaking, restoration is considered OK in our hobby - so long as it is disclosed to future buyers - which often it is not, and that is not OK. That is deceptive. For such minor restorations as peroxide dips or bathing/cleaning in soap to remove grime/dirt, those need not be disclosed in my opinion. They do not negatively affect the market value, but when an item has major restoration - like a cover, for example, that's had a piece added or some other major restoration - that definitely affects the value if disclosed. On the other hand, we must ask ourselves whether by adding the piece the market value is MORE than if the piece was missing or less? What do you think? My observation over the years is that it is worth MORE than before the restoration but the restoration MUST be disclosed for it to be a fair increase, otherwise, if not disclosed, then the item can realize a lot more than if it was disclosed, and that's wrong IMO.

Well that makes perfect sense. Almost all my used classics have been bathed in warm soapy water and full disclosure. They was filthy and I helped preserve them. no chemicals with maybe the odd peroxide dip but again full disclosure as I don't collect for any monetary gain just a passion. In my personal opinion "the value of a collection is in the history & not in the pocket"

Peroxide can also be used on mint stamps if one knows what they are doing.