What Does "Mint" Really Mean?

Hi Folks,
What does "mint" really mean? I'm asking because I see lots of adds for stamps, "mint no gum, or "Mint, regummed." How did the stamps lose their gum?

I know that some stamps never had any gum, e.g. Farley's Follies, or some souvenier sheets. But from pretty early on, most stamps were gummed.

Does "mint" mean just "No visible cancelation?" Do I have a pile of mint stamps I soaked off envelopes that came in the mail but the cancelation machine missed?

Just wondering.

Don

In the broadest possible sense, "mint" means that the stamp has never been used and it doesn't have any cancellation marks. Some collectors prefer to use the term "mint" only when it applies to a pristine, never hinged stamp free of any defects and prefer to use the term "OG H" for unused hinged stamps. There's really no standardized definition that everyone agrees upon, but I think all would agree that "mint" should apply only to stamps that have not gone through the mail and have no cancellation marks. An uncancelled stamp that has gone through the mail should not be described as mint. "Uncancelled" would be a better term for those.

If it never had gum - eg lots of Chinese stamps - it should be "mint, no gum, as issued". Anything else without a cancellation is usually called "unused" these days, although the failure of postal authorities - at least in the UK - to cancel stamps means that a stamp without a cancel or gum may or not have been postally used. Regummed means that the stamp - usually from the classic era before 1900 - has lost its gum and had it artificially replaced.

In my opinion, "mint" means Post Office fresh. Without a cancellation, and if it's without gum (soaked), been hinged, or re-gummed, I call it "unused". Sure wish others had the same definition.

The can of worms has been opened. Many will not agree with Art but he describes it well and that is the way it should be.

""mint" means Post Office fresh. Without a cancellation, and if it's without gum (soaked), been hinged, or re-gummed, I call it "unused""

I think this is the most appropriate definition. According to Wikipedia, "a mint" is the factory were coins were made. Thus this term originated from coin collectors for a coin that was just minted or in this case, a stamp "hot off the presses"

I assume "mint" is a term borrowed from coin collecting. That's strange to begin with...

Strange? I don't know about that, but I think it is instructive. With coins, I'm sure it means something like "uncirculated." And I think that is what others are getting at in describing mint stamps as not having been postally used, or circulated (through the mail). Of course, by this definition, CTO's and unused precancels are mint. As it should be. All mint means is never used for mail. But that doesn't necessarily mean uncancelled. Lots of stamps go through the mail uncancelled. And I would consider a stamp used for mail if it was afixed to an envelope and the envelope was never mailed. Just the act of putting it on the enevelope is "using it for mail" even if the envelope was for some reason never placed in the mail stream.

My 2 cents..."Mint" to me means post office fresh, as issued.

Mint used to mean post office fresh. These days "mint" alone is meaningless.

"All mint means is never used for mail"

I don't agree with this statement. What if you took a brand new stamp from the post office ("mint") and soaked off the gum? Would that stamp still be considered a mint stamp? I wouldn't. It would be an unused stamp, but no longer should be considered mint.

I'm old time and still go by the terms I learned as a kid. Mint = just as it came from the post office, full original gum, never hinged. Unused = original gum, hinged or gum disturbed. Unused, no gum = just that, unused without gum. Used = cancelled.

its so loosly used nowdays you better not assume anything, heck you could claim the used ones were used only once.

Great thread, but the original poster errs slightly in saying that most stamps were gummed. It really depends by country and locale. As an example, many of the early stamps in Portuguese colonies were issued without gum due to the very humid weather in those colonies.

Well, after thinking about it for a bit, "mint" isn't too strange to use for stamps. It turns out that "mint" is not a verb but a noun. One doesn't mint coins but instead--wait for it--stamps coins (at a mint.)

Yes, I know, not everyone sees it that way, but still... A stamp was originally a seal and one stamped a seal just like one today stamps a coin.

It's clear as mud!

I beg to differ...

Definition #3 from my Webster dictionary "Mint"( verb) "to make (as coins) out of metal. It is also an adjective, ""unmarred as if fresh from a mint"