Strange Hinge Style, Any Info?

I'm familiar with the crystal mounts, but I've been soaking some stamps recently off old Minkus pages and about 1 in 10 has a nasty old hinge type on it that seems to be made of almost plastic. If that make sense... Water does not loosen these hinges and when the stamp dries the hinge wants to contract and bend the stamp. Nasty things....who evented these? I don't think they are that old of a hinge style, just guessing that the previous collector may have hinged these stamps in during the 1970's or 80's or so, though they are 1900-1940's era stamps. Do they have a name so I can avoid them in the future? John

Scotch tape, perhaps? I've seen it done.

Jack Kelley

No, at least I don't think so as these are all uniformly sized, smaller than conventional hinges...maybe 1/4" x 3/8". I'll post a pic at some point if no one is familiar with these.

With the characteristics you describe, it certainly sounds like some sort of adhesive tape. If the "hinges" have been on there a long time, you may have a very difficult time getting them off with solvent. If the self-adhesive material has begun stabilizing, you should be able to see some ugly stains on the front of the stamps. If that is the case, then there is really no point in trying to salvage the stamps.

Pre-1970s, I'm pretty sure, maybe back to the 1950s or earlier.

I think you have the waterless self-stick hinges, brand name unknown. These had something like rubber cement on them. Unfortunately, the solvent and glue would migrate into the paper and leave a stain.

Try lighter fluid on the stamps with those hinges.

Sheepishly....Yes, they were tape as JK suggested, had me fooled. Anyway, in the bin, they were penny ante duplicate stamps.