Gum - Regumming...

I have a choice to make, buy it or not, on a Diamond Jubilee 50 cents Unitrade #60. The seller says the stamp was regummed

Would that raise the value of the stamp if the stamp was not regummed?

Any lesson to get on this topic?

T me, a regummed stamp should be viewed as an unused stamp. The gum has no meaning since it is fake. It makes the stamp MNG. Dont think it affects the value in any way. You could juste soak it to remove the fake gum......

regummed stamps could be hiding thins or other faults. I usually just soak them back to the no gum state

This is an area I admit I have no clue about. Is the reason Mike mentioned - to hide flaws - the main reason a stamp would be regummed? Are there other reasons?

I don't think it's the main reason. From the many I've come across in various collections I've picked up, only one or 2 had thins. I think it's more so just to fool a novice into thinking it's MNH.

Haven't soaked many that the regum didn't just float right off although a couple needed to be rubbed with my fingers under water to remove all traces of it - was gooey until rubbed.

They really don't bother me since I prefer looking at the front of the stamp than the back and once they are in my album, I'll probably never see the back again :)

Cool Mike33, good point!

Re gumming to me is changing the original state of a stamp..If you guys say it dosen't matter, it dosen't change the value, look at it this way..If I changed the perforation of a stamp which is what a re gummer is doing (changing the original state) to me the stamp is ruined..Does that make any sense...?
Robert

Not sure how the stamp is ruined since (as mentioned) you can just soak off the gum. This would bring it back to it's no gum state (ie. before anyone tried to re-gum it).

Perforations can't be undone.

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Regummed stamps are generally considered to be about the same market value as a no-gum stamp. I prefer no gum, as do many collectors because regummed stamps very often are hiding faults which sometimes can't be detected through the fake gum. Regumming is probably the most common alteration expert services see, then reperfing, then removed cancels.

It is probably better to have the stamp with no gum rather than regummed.

Bill, answer me this,,,Is this not sort of illegal as most people who use these services are doing so to alter a stamp, for personal pleasure, but more likely for profit..???

Could these services (if they are honest) post names, stamp and what they have done as so people like us can investigate potential forgeries..??

Robert

I don't think in this situation it would be a fake. I think it's more of an alteration of preservation kinda like giving it a dirt bath or hinge removal and not a fake if this makes sense I mean I'm a Newby. Let's just say I have a mint classic stamp or any mint stamp for this reason and I tore the stamp and had the tear repaired because I didn't want further damage to the stamp. Now, did I just do an alteration for preservation or did I just create a fake. A fine line perhaps by definition? I think regumming and telling about it doesn't make it a fake stamp. The seller is disclosing the fact and not trying to fool anyone. Should be the price of NG and hope nothing else, but if you reperf or cut off perfs, print copies and trying to make something look like something else alone this line then yes fake(counterfeit, imitating, knockoff). That's my take
Dana

Is the 'intent' of the hobbyist really the determining factor? I certainly can see how the 'intent' is important, but it is an intangible that fades with memory and time.
I look at this subject the same way I view part numbers and stamp catalog numbers; 'fit, form, function'. If the 'fit, form, or function' is different than the stamp is different in my mind. Of course there are tolerances which apply and it has always bothered me that we don't really have those tolerances to compare against. (A good example is rotary vs. flat plate design dimensions.)

But when a hobbyist changes the condition of a stamp, it certainly changes the stamp itself. (For better or for worse.) While this does not change a catalog number, it certainly can change the value. This is where 'intent' may come into play; the trouble is how does the 'intent' follow the stamp? If the collection is well documented, changes in the stamp conditions are well noted and value is most likely added. But if the alternation(s) are not documented, or condition is altered without disclosure, in general value is deceased.

But while our 'intent' may be noble or simply a personal preference today; our collections ultimately will be in the hands of other folks down the road. It is our responsibility to be good stewards and we should do everything we can to document our stamps and their history for future generations of collectors.
Don

Hey...MERRY CHRISTMAS Don..

Robert

Merry Christmas to you Robert, hope that you and yours enjoy good health and many exciting new 'finds' this upcoming year!
Don