Great Americans Stamps Without Gums?

Hello,

I bought a few great Americans blocks off of ebay and a few of them didn't have gums. Were some issued without gums?

I'll be able to list the scott numbers later today.

Some of the gum on the Great Americans and the Transportation Coils was "dry gum, dull" and gives the appearance of not having gum. Maybe they do have gum and you just do not realize it is there?

Peter

I know how gums should look but these does not have gums. I just want to make sure I didn't get ripped off :)

Take a close look at the gummed side of the stamp. Use a bright light & hold the stamp at an angle to the light. You will also need a good magnifying glass. With a bit of practice you should be able to see gum striations on a mint stamp ... of course, there won't be any such striations on a stamp that has been used. With the current penchant for not canceling many stamps that go through the postal system, it can be challenging to determine whether a stamp with dull gum is mint or used. On many of the Great Americans series, the gum striations can be either vertical or at an angle to the vertical ... depends on the type of dull gum used.
Added: If you have any mint State Birds & Flowers stamps, practice on them. They were issued only with dry/dull gum.

Dry gum

https://www.linns.com/news/us-stamp...otchner.html

http://www.shaulisstamps.com/tips/DullGum.htm

Modern polyvinyl chloride glue/gum used on some of these stamps is not shiny like the gum Arabic glue used on the older stamps. Use the advice given by previous responders.