What do you do with your selvage? Keep it? Remove it?
I understand the importance of selvage on plate number blocks, large blocks of old stamps, booklet panes, etc., and I preserve it in those situations. But I see no reason to keep selvage on singles, pairs, etc., even if the stamps are "old and valuable." I see no point in plate number singles.
When I collected PR China in year sets that often came with blank selvage I left on if going into stock books and occasionally removed if going in hingeless album. On old stamps I would leave selvage on to preserve the perfs on that side. I would keep plate number singles intact. To me a little more special and more of a philatelic story to preserve.
I leave all selvage, no matter what. I may not have any use for selvage, but maybe the person who is going to own the stamp after I am gone will value it. No reason to destroy anything just because we see no point in it.
Since I am interested in printing methods and like to know which presses were used it's possible to find all kinds of useful information from what is marked on the selvedge.
Quote: I leave all selvage, no matter what. I may not have any use for selvage, but maybe the person who is going to own the stamp after I am gone will value it. No reason to destroy anything just because we see no point in it.
Ditto. I see it as good husbandry. I cut the mount to suit the item.
Depends on stamp. Keep it for older stamps, keep it for those with meaningful margin markings, keep it when I am going to use stamps as postage. Remove it for newer stamps being mounted. Don
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Posted 02/17/2017 10:04 pm
