Poll: Writing On Stamps

Don,

Love all your knowledge and input. Here is a prime example-CV$150.00 hard to find stamp. What takes away from the value? The pencil all over the back of this fine 1881 certified stamp. Sure I could ask $100.00++ for it, but once you turn it over,,,the price drops. IMO.

And here's the front.
Rare! One of a kind! I have two of these by the way. Seldom seen! Just don't look at the pencil marks all over the back-

Voted no.

However, for common used, I don't mind if it is very lightly written.

91stang, the giant hinge mark, imho, is more of a concern than the writing.

Every rule has an exception. If the writing establishes provenance the of course it could increase value. But 99.9% of the writing on stamps has no business being there, I vote no.

Stampcrow, how interesting. Never mind that its 13x12, never mind oringnal gum, never mind the pencil marks... just hinge that is used on millions of stamps in the collecting world...boy did I just learn something...thanks...

some ancient hinges require prolonged soaking to remove, and there are few which cannot be removed. I would advise to use great care and patience, if required.

91stang, that was just my opinion. If I was looking at that stamp to buy, I would look closely at the hinged area. Looks like it was removed roughly. I would also be concerned if the script writing at the bottom has bled through to the front.
My least concern is the pencil marks.
Again that's just my opinion

I think you could be confident that Mr Sadri would ensure that he wouldn't damage the front. But neither hinging nor writing bothers me much.

I would have voted NO
but like a fool I checked the results first and now can't vote

Even though I am adamantly against writing on the front of covers, I'm OK with light pencil writing on the back of used stamps or stamps without gum (for example, a plate position). The thing I really hate is when ink writing on the back ends up showing through the front.

Another thought on writing on the back of a stamp: I just bought a first series revenue stamp on silk paper. Someone had circled the two areas where the blue threads were visible. I thought is was really quite helpful.

Don

I came across a stamp this weekend where someone had written in dark ink. It was somewhat noticeable from the front.

If it is light pencil, and thus can be removed, it should not affect the value.

If it is a permanent mark, either by staining the paper, or making an indentation, is is damaging the stamp.

If the stamp is hard to find and scarce then some specialists are not too particular about the condition since just having a copy is desirable. I find that with some stamps that I know are hard to find and scarce that just getting anything is more desirable than getting nothing, especially when most copies do not exist in very fine condition.

I once bought an almost complete never hinged collection of stamps only to find that someone had penciled in the catalogue number on each stamp. It was possible to remove it using an eraser but under a UV light the number was still visible due to the indentation caused by it. The collection was returned due to the amount of work needed to rub out the numbers and due to the visibility of the numbers under UV light.