1c 1851 Plate 4 Stamps

No I didn't look, I assumed it was what it was.

That's a nice Iowa CDS, which is somewhat scarce.
I'd keep that just as it is for that.

I think I would remove it.
Sometimes I see a stamp on a cover that I want but will not bid because I know I will destroy the cover. And I hate destroying things.

So what do you do with the cover fragment after you remove the stamps?

Good question. Without the stamp, the rest is useless. That is why I hate looking at covers. lol. I rarely buy anything on-paper. That is how I see it. It detracts from the stamp.

I doubt I would soak the stamp off of that item. It is already very small. IF I DID I WOULD KEEP THE PAPER FOR THE NEXT COLLECTOR!!!

I spent several years waiting to figure out what town is responsible for this cancel. I don't own the stamp (sad story about the one that got away) but I do have a cover now. Who can identify the town? If anybody removes stamps from covers, please, for the love of God, save the covers!

Here is that 68L4 posted earlier. I finally got it in.
I looked at it closely and did not see any repairs that the paper backing was holding together so I took a chance and soaked the stamp to remove the paper.The stamp came out unharmed and undamaged under the paper.

I always soak paper and hinge remnants off used stamps (such as on the 68L4 above). For single stamps on closely-cropped paper I would also soak. For multiples on closely-cropped paper (such as appeared to be the strip jaxom showed above) I would soak unless it appeared the paper was needed to reinforce weak perfs. For stamps on larger pieces showing postal markings (such as jaxom's actual Keokuk strip) I would not soak.

Along these lines, is there any acceptable way to keep multiples from separating at the perfs through the use of some attachment to the back of the stamp that will not harm the stamp and is easily removed if desired? I though about Jaxoms pair and decided I'd probably not remove the backing as in time, if not there, the stamps are likely to separate. They lasted some 170 years attached together in this fashion and stand a greater chance of making it another 170 years if left alone. Why chance it?

Its not uncommon to see hinges used to keep multiples together in spots where the perforations have separated. That's probably the most common method.

Winston - that cancel doesn't immediately ring a bell with me - a very pretty item. Do tell.

edit: closest I could find was Louisville & St Louis SB, but in black. Very similar.

I think that Louisville & St Louis cover is in the Gordon Eubanks collection.

This blue circle of wedges is from Stockton, CA. Here is my cover that finally solved the mystery.

Winston - That's a wonderful cover, and a western use as well. Very nice.

Update to my post of Feb 4, 2018 regarding Plate 4 stamp on Scituate cover:

I believe I have identified this as 67R4, a Type III Relief C. I looked at all the Scott #21's at Siegel's site. This stamp has the dash in shoulder noted by Doporto (which I missed under the rim of the CDS during my first go-round), as well as left-side scratches resembling those shown in Neinken. It shows other marks that neither of these sources mentions, and does not seem to exhibit some of the other marks shown in Neinken (neither does the Doporto photo), but that's Plate 4 for you...

Dudley, can you post a 1100 dpi (forum won't take bigger scans. Need to change to 250mb instead of 200mb.) scan of just the stamp? I would like to get a good look at it to give any opinion.