Have A Question About Showgard Mounts

I'm making my own album pages and using Showgard mounts. I have designed the stamp boxes on the pages with the size of the stamp in mind, not any standard mount sizes. Therefore, I have been buying mounts in strips and cutting them down the center, where the split back is located. Up until now I have been buying new packs of mounts in the sizes I need. Once I cut them down the middle, I have twice as many mount strips to use, and they are of equal size because split on the back is located down the center of the strip.

Recently, however, I have purchased some NOS (new old stock) Showgards off ebay, at a cheaper price. The problem I'm now having is that the split on the back of these older mounts is off centered, so I wind up with strips of 2 different sizes. Not a big deal, because they will eventually be used,but I would sure like to know beforehand if the split is centered or not, so I can gauge how many stamps I'll be able to mount.

Does anyone know when Showgard started putting the split down the center of the strips? Which packaging to look for?

I think you answered your own question .... "Recently, however, I have purchased some NOS (new old stock) Showgards off ebay, at a cheaper price."

I have used Showgard for about 50 years and even my decades old ones are center cut. You may have gotten a cheaper price for a reason.

So I'm assuming you are hinting that these are "seconds" or "blems" of some sort? Hmmm, didn't think of that. But it makes sense. I do recall seeing on the Showgard website that even they sell bulk packages of scratch and dent mounts.

I do not understand what you mean by "cutting them down the middle" at the split, so that you can have twice as many mounts.

Are you mounting stamps in 1/2 of a Showguard mount? That is, do you insert the bottom of the stamp into a 1/2 mount with the top 1/2 of the stamp sticking out from the mount? I suppose these are clear Showgards, not black background.

So in effect, you are creating half-size top-opening mounts??

edited for typo

Depending on the size, you can always cut the short size and then measure and trim the long side so both are the same.

I assume you are making 2 top load mounts from one split back?

Yes, I am making topload mounts from the split back mounts, and yes they are the clear mounts.

Duthchman - Yes, that is what I am having to do with these NOS mounts I just got.

I got them thinking I'd be able to cut them down to make 2 strips of toploaders, of equal height. Instead I have one that is a bit short for one application, and one that is a bit too tall, which I can trim down to the size needed, then just lop off to the required width.

The strips that are not tall enough I can, luckily, use for another application.

I recently used a pack manufactured in West Germany with a hand written price of 75 cents on the back of them and they were split down the middle. They were slightly thinner than newer ones though in width