Where To Expertly Repair Stamp?

Robert,thanks for your kind help

Hieronymus,,not everyone as you think who will resell the repairs stamps to the future owner,to make repair the stamp is to make it looks better,I that simple,,otherwise this FCI RESTORATION wouldn't be exist.

Well,then Valjean, go ahead and pay to lower the value of your stamp so that it will look better (at least look better outside of watermark fluid).

Hieronymus, I'm fairly certain you'd be able to see this repair without fluid (just hold to light or glance at the fake gum) and I doubt it will look better outside of fluid anyway. The regumming jobs done by firms like these usually leave a lot to be desired (and a lot of gum on the perf tip fibers or filing away of the perf tips.) I see stamps altered like this pretty frequently & they are usually discernible at a glance with a trained eye (no fluid necessary.)

Yes, I know. I was trying to be generous to the OP's hopes of having a better looking stamp. But you are probably right to be candid about it. He's paying money to lower value and not even gaining much in the way of better appearance. It would be a gain in appearance to the untrained, casual observer only.

Your answer is superior to mine.

Your answer seems to be very odd,I already said that the repairment only make the stamp that has missing Perfs and thinning gum looks better in album.as for the problems of observing it,easy or not,that's the owner's affair,not yours, it,it's better for you not to worry about it..

valjean,

how about showing a scan of the stamp as it looks now. It would make it easier for anyone to understand what you want to do with it.

Pagoda

I also have a rare stamp with a large thin, and have been concidering these people for quite a while. Since my big thined stamp (O11s position 40) was issued with out gum, that is no problem, nor is disclosing that the thin has been filled, I would want the filled thin marked as such. I know that it wouild look much better on the page with the thin filled. Also have a torn O76s that would display much better repaired, their final cost is a bit unclear, the CV on both of these two is probably high ( the O76s was $850 in 1996, and this one is centered very well, no clue now, and when was the last time the Major foreign entry was sold?)
Here's both of the patients.

Hieronymous, your points are well taken. Restoration is well-known and accepted in many other areas such as oil paintings, sculptures, rare or antique furnishings, books, documents, textiles, and cars. The difference is that those objects are easily detectable as unique. A painting, sculpture, and document are always unique, furnishings and cars always have some unique characteristics that are easily seen by even relatively casual observers.

With stamps, the item is very small and in most cases many examples exist. With large numbers and small sizes, it becomes essentially impossible to separate examples with unique features unless the stamp is slabbed or has some other form of provenance such as a photo cert. Altered stamps, as we all know, rarely get certs and when they do the certs are bad.

IMHO, there are 2 different issues here. The first is the restoration of beautiful objects. In this regard, I personally have no objection to stamps being restored to bring them closer to their original condition, albeit artificially. The owner has that right, and if the stamp looks more beautiful to the owner that's a great reason to undertake restoration. In the bigger picture it's also a way to preserve a stamp for the future.

The second issue is how the stamp is dispersed once the owner who restored no longer wishes to own it. Obviously a complex issue and none of us wants to be burned by undisclosed and unseen alterations.

Pagoda,I have not yet sending my stamp,I am asking details of the restoration these two days.

shermae..I have bought a lot of antiques over the years and ANY antique dealer will tell you if you refinish or change the original lacquer etc...The price drops...Having said that, why is it if a stamp has gone through the same process, it some times retainer its value...?????

Valjean,

but what stamp is it,

Pagoda

Pagoda,It's a China 1897 sc#84.

Yesterday I sent Hans and Anne Marie of FCI a link to this discussion and invited them to join in the conversation, Anne Marie answered back that Hans was working but was looking forward to taking part in this discussion. I think that it would be helpful to hear their viewpoint.

Very rare stamp will always have appeal and possibly even sell for a good percentage of catalog value even with a fault. But I think OG with thin would retain more value than RG with thin. One aspect which valjean is representing, is Chinese stamp and Chinese market are different than U.S. market and U.S. Philatelic conventions. In Asia, the eye appeal may dominate above a stamp being RG or OG. In that case, value is added by the repair of a very rare Chinese stamp. After all, it is a faulty stamp either way. I think this may be Valjean's point.