New Member Seeking Mounting Advice

Hi all,

I've been posting over in the coin forum and now need to seek some input over here.

I inherited my grandfather's coin and stamp collection. The stamps are in a 1949 Scott album. It's pretty complete from a 1922 Nathan Hale (551) to 1948 Air Mail stamps, but there are gaps here and there.

Each stamp is mounted in a plastic holder that's hinged to the page. The hinge isn't on the stamp itself but on the plastic holder. I'd kind of like to fill in the gaps and finish out the album but am new to this.

Is this still an acceptable form of preservation?

He also has a ton of First Day of Issue cancelled envelopes, 1960-1972. I'm guessing I don't need to do much for those other than leave stamps on their envelopes and put them in a sealed bag.

Finally, he has a collection of envelopes from the 1870s through 1890s. Oddly, they're mostly to the same person but not a relation. The stamps look pretty common. Sealed bag as well?

All help is appreciated - thanks!

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's an example of an album page:

For unused stamps like the ones you show, especially if they have never been hinged and have full original gum, then definitely continue to use mounts like these. For used stamps or stamps without gum, then the stamp could be hinged directly to the page. Incidentally, I really like the idea of using hinges with mounts rather than directly adhering the mounts to the page. I used to do this with my general US collection (when I had one). Helps preserve the album pages and makes them reusable.

HaleHalf,

You may have to re-mount your "plastic holder" stamps if they are "HE Harris Crystal Mounts". They are bad for the backs of your stamps. I use "Showgards", myself.

Jack Kelley

The mounts indeed look to be Crystal Mounts. Were I you, I'd be getting them out of those soon. The adhesive gum strips on your mounts are discolored, not good. It also looks like they are shrinking, another issue with these. Sorry to rain on the parade but I've seen a lot of old collections using these and they are usually best replaced.

I agree that Showgard mounts are preferable.

If replacing, you'll probably find top-loading mounts by Hawid and others, rather than thise with a divided back, like Showgard, easier to use.

I'm a big fan of Hawid mounts after de-mounting a collection of MNH that had a darkened horizontal stripe on the back of each stamp where the split occurred in the mount.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Looks like I have some remounting to do, but I'd rather spend a few dollars than let the collection get ruined!

HaleHalf, the most important aspect is storage conditions although some mounting methods like Crystal Mounts add risks. There is risk in everything.

There are a lot of users of split back mounts who have used them for years without issues so there are other factors than just the mounts.

I am surprised that stamps even survive given they are often handled by hand, attached to a hinge with saliva, and mounted on not the best archival paper (most stamp album pages).

From my calculations the cost of mounting starts at around 4 cents each (buying strips and cutting them) to more expensive types like Hawid.

One of the most frequent problems which occur when using split back mounts is that many collectors try to mount them with the stamp in them when they apply the moisture to the gum side.

That's a Bozo no-no.

Even if you are very careful, there is always a possibility of moisture migrating to the split, which then affects the NH gum on your stamp.

Instead, I measure the mount with the stamp inside and trim it using a guillotine style cutter. I then remove the stamp and affix the mount to the page. I put both the stamp away and the binder when I'm done with affixing the mounts. I'll return to them the next day.

This gives the mount and page time for any residual moisture to evaporate. I then mount my stamps in their new home.

Super - this is great advice. Thanks for helping out a newbie!

Another thing to remember is you don't have to lick the whole top half of the mount. I only lick enough to stick it to the page. I can both remove it and reuse it, if I choose to.

If you do not have a calibrated tongue to apply the right amount of moisture, you can use something like a Q-tip to place a small amount at the very top center.

A dab from a glue stick is probably better than saliva!

Ha! Do you know where your mounts (or gummed stamps for that matter) have been?