Hi all. We usually don't correspond with or get into long discussions on other web sites or forums as we just don't have the time to do so. However, as promised in a reply to an email request we received from Don East, we'd like to take the time to do so here.
It was with interest that I read the posts related to the topic of restoration. You may be able to find many of my comments on our web site and can read them there under FAQ's. We value everyone's opinion and no matter what I say here will undoubtedly not change anyone's mind, one way or another - nor am I about to try to do so.
Here are some points we'd like to make. They are not in any particular order and are not specific to any comments made by previously by others. But obviously you can apply them to the pervious thoughts as you deem appropriate:
1. We believe that having an item restored is very much a personal matter
2. Whether or not you believe an item's value is enhanced or diminished by having an item restored probably also falls within this thinking. Much depends on a collector's own preference.
3. Also, whether or not the value is enhanced or diminished probably depends not so much on whether or not an item was repaired but much more likely on the quality of the repair itself
4. Stamps or other philatelic material have been 'altered' if they are anything less than pristine, - albeit not for the better. Does the word 'ALTERED' only apply work being done to improve something back to its original condition or as we deem, 'a change from its original condition' - usually from good to bad.
5. We do our very best to reverse this process by repairing/restoring an item to its original condition as best as we possible can and know how to do
6. The quality of our work needs to be virtually the same for a stamp valued at $5, $500 or $5,000. No one in their right mind would send us any high value stamps if we did sub par work on their lower valued items
7. At the same time, one can do the math... how much time could anyone invest in making repairs to a low value items when the most we charge is 20% of catalogue - on a $20 stamp that equates to $4. We don't believe there are many other people out there that would spend a couple of hours on an item at $2/hr - WE DO!
8. Although this point may be argued by some, we have our ethics as well. There are certain procedures that we will NOT engage in. I.e. we not remove cancellation marks, we will not attempt to turn a stamp into a variety of stamp that it was not, when issued or as was the case once, remove black ink from supposed American bank notes from some Nigerian guy who suggested he had numerous bank notes of this type in his possession, - something that gives the term 'money laundering' a whole new meaning.
9. There seems to be fairly common thinking that it is very obvious that any restored/repaired thins can be spotted by even amateurs at a glance. Why then would anyone ask that these repairs be marked with (Indelible) ink in order to identify them as such. We will NOT mark any repairs. Should anyone wish to do so, feel free.
10. To my point above... If you drove a Ferrari and your fender was damaged, applying some parallel thinking, some may say it is better to drive around with it in that condition rather than having the fender replaced and the car repainted. Applying this kind of thinking suggests that once the fender was repaired it would no longer make this a Ferrari. I know which way I'd decide on that one.
11. The philatelic community at large seems to be the only one of all collectible communities that has an issue with repairs and restoration. Just as an example the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican was restored not just once but several times. As technology improved so did the quality of restoration, sometimes by having to redo previous attempts. However, had this not been done, over time, much of the quality of the original would no doubt have been lost, possibly forever.
12. We believe that wherever possible, restorations, should be done in a manner that is reversible. If you don't like it, put it in a water bath and wash it away. The worst that should happen is that you have a stamp in a condition it was in when sent to a restorer. At least this is the case when we do the work.
13. There are cases where certain gums were applied rather heavy, haven't aged well and have cracked. The cracked gum, which is obviously quite brittle can negatively affect the substrate, paper, by weakening its cellulose fibres and tearing them. In these cases, it may be a better option to remove the gum entirely or regum the stamp with new gum - that is if your intention is to preserve the stamp for long periods of time. Once it falls apart, even the highest value stamp has no value
14. On stamps that have thins but still have gum, it is not possible to repair the thin without removing the gum. It would be like trying to add a piece of ham to a sandwich without taking off the top slice of bread.
15. I'm hoping to have misunderstood any comments that suggests anyone may have an issue having their items returned or that they are not safe while in our care. We take all reasonable care that customers receive their items back. In the many years of working with our customers, we can only remember shipments being lost on two occasions. Once we had to launch an investigation through
Canada Post, who tracked it to the last known location, which was the US Customs service but never retrieved.
Canada Post then sent us a settlement of $47, which we forwarded to our customer. In addition, we gave him a major break on his follow-up repair order. The other problem, was a customer who lived in the UAE and his shipment wound up somewhere in Africa and it took Anne Marie weeks to track it down, have it returned to us and then forwarded to our customer. We have gone above and beyond.
16. Regarding security of your items, I suggest that we are much more exposed to issues then many of our customers. We have a web page, it displays our full names and address, c/w both home and cell telephone numbers and email address. If you get on Google you will see a real house made of bricks and mortar not some obscure P.O. box in a place you'll never find. People have reached us by email, called us on the phone and even visited in some cases.
17. Our customers are from all walks of life and are located throughout the world. They included a NASA engineer, a doctor from the Centre of Disease Control in Atlanta, doctors, lawyers, teachers, you name it... not to mention an Apollo astronaut who took a trip to the moon. Lately we received and order from a first time customer who talked to Anne Marie by phone who included a blank signed cheque with his order only to follow it up with a second order a few weeks later - also with a blank signed cheque.
18. If I may make a suggestion, given the fact that there is so much emphasis put of the condition of the back of stamps, I would recommend images of stamps are posted showing both the front and back of the item.
19. I believe that in this day and age, there are few people who do not own a scanner (or All-In-One printers). I doubt that I need to tell anyone here that if you scan your stamps at a resolution of 300 DPI or greater, there are few repairs or restorations that we, or anyone for that matter, could do that you couldn't see when displayed on a computer screen when the image is enlarged to 100%. I would however recommend you scan images as TIFF and not JPEG (JPG) files as the latter makes use of 'lossy' compression algorithms.
20. So, as I said above - this all is a personal choice and everyone is entitled to their opinion. All I can say that it is our full intent to please all our customers most of the time. I just don't know if is possible to please all of them all the time - but it is certainly not because we do not make the effort. We have always in the past done everything possible to resolve any issues to make things right if there was a concern and we have no intentions of changing that in the future.
Cheers,
Hans
Posted 05/31/2015 2:59 pm
