Do You Agree With This Or Not

One reason could be to preserve the diminishing population of classic stamps.

True..Just like as if you had a 1969 mustang and put it back to it's original state..No one complains about that.

Robert

One of the dirty secrets of the old car hobby is that over the last 50-75 years we have constantly 'rewarded' the restorations of antique cars. It has now gotten to the point where an 'original' car is now almost never seen. So for example, trying to find an original car to understand exactly how the wiring harness was routed through the car's firewall is virtually impossible. Original condition cars represent a hugely valuable historic resource but the hobby and old car marketplace has systematically destroyed the overwhelming majority of these cars.

It would be very sad to see philately go down this path.
Don

51studebaker

So very true. A "survivor" car with matching numbers is far more desirable than a restoration project.

The same can be said about classic stamps.The hunt for the true gem of a stamp and to actually find one is far more desirable than to restore a stamp. How are you preserving a classic if it's been re-glued or the front colors touched up etc etc.?????

There should be an overhaul of the grading system and possibly add a new term GNA - Genuine Never Altered to truly describe a real stamp in it's true original state free from alterations to make it appear better than it is.

True Don (and I love old cars..I had a 64 1/2 mustang..Darn, wish I had kept it.) but as littleriverphil said ""One reason could be to preserve the diminishing population of classic stamps.""

Maybe not in our life time but for future collectors to SEE what it (the stamp) it really looked like in mint condition

Robert

Well, experts have to be able to see the repairs in order to certify that. That won't always be the case.

Years ago, when the Honolulu Advertiser Hawaiian Missionaries went up for auction, they all had some degree of repair. Indeed, some of the repairs were major: tears were sealed, missing pieces were added back in, thins were filled, paper was added at the margins so all four were clear, etc. Of course, this was all done on the up-and-up: the repairs were fully disclosed in the auction catalog, documented in detail.

The best of the repairs cost thousands of dollars to perform. They were done by professional paper conservationists (the kind that work with historic documents in museums). To fill a missing corner, for example, paper fibres were extensively woven into the stamp, one by one. The fibres were taken from period paper (the main source IIRC was a piece of selvedge from pane margins, so an exact match for the issue). The repair was so good you couldn't tell, even through a microscope, which paper fibres in that corner were original and which fibres were added during the repair. If you weren't aware, you'd think it was a sound stamp.

Now, that quality of repair can only be done at great expense, so it will only happen to rarities. Of course, that's also where the most value for performing a repair is. Any Missionary with a corner missing would still sell for a healthy amount -- it's a rare stamp and almost all copies have some faults -- but the repaired stamp certainly looks much better and no doubt the auction realization was higher for the repair.

Point well made.

I believe that if a stamp is that rare and someone wants to truly try to restore it for historical purposes then I have to admit that I would agree. I also believe that generally, the motives for alterations are for gain.