Are These Hinges Acceptable?

Hi.

I had a smiliar experience with Prinz hinges. I planned ahead and bought 10 packs. I opened three or four packs, and they were all like this:



As you can see, most of them are curled, buckled, folded. I went back to the seller with this photo and explained - and he was kind enough to send me 10 new packs, all of which seem fine, and let me keep the others (I binned them, as it happens).

I've not had this trouble with Prinz hinges before. You always have to expect some duds - 10 percent, maybe, will be creased or not correctly folded, etc. but not this many!

I have some Prinz hinges. They can usually be removed fairly cleanly if you apply minimal moisture.

Just curious if they all curled away from the gum side or towards the gum side or both.

Ringo. those hinges look perfectly fine to me! My packs of hinges look just about like that. It's to be expected that hinges will curl up sometimes. You can uncurl them either by using your fingernail or your tweezers rubbed over the "outer" part of the curl.. After awhile it becomes second nature to pick up a hinge, uncurl it, and use it.

As noted by others, the key to good hinging is not to "over-moisturize". The goal should never be to wet the entire face of the hinge. Those hinges will never come loose. Wet about a third of each face of the hinge. You really want to "dab," not lick, your hinges.

As an example of how quantity determines permanence, rubber cement has a quality of removability. If you apply a small amount to one of two glued surfaces, it can later be peeled off. This is why artists and designers use rubber cement for design work. However, if you put it on both surfaces, or use more of it, the bond becomes more permanent. I don't think rubber cement is a good way to mount stamps, but I mention this to illustrate how you use glue can affect how well it adheres and whether it can be removed. With stamp hinges, too much moisture makes the bond permanent. That's the cause of ripped stamps and ripped album pages.

Most people are probably going to lick hinges. It's easy to do and requires no other "equipment". Nothing wrong with that if you do it right. Stamps have been mounted that way for decades, generations really, often with little problem.If there is a problem, it's not related to whether or not a hinge was licked but to the hinge itself or too much moisture.

You might try a Q-tip (cotton swab) dipped in water. One problem with this is you never know whether the swab is too wet or not. That is one advantage of using your tongue. You can't tell nearly as easily with a cotton swab -- but you can learn. Dip the swap in water, roll it against something to squeeze out moisture, and apply it to only a small portion of the hinge. Don't wipe moisture across a hinge. Just dab it once or twice.

A finger might work even better since you can sense how much moisture you're using - like your tongue.

Another way to control the amount of moisture is using a wet sponge instead of water. A finger lightly tapped on a wet sponge will be moist, but not wet, ideal for hinging stamps. Just tap it on the hinge once or twice. Try to avoid wiping across much of the hinge.

I'm still interested in -- but have not tried -- other approaches to mounting stamps (besides stamp mounts). Some collectors use double-side removable archival tape to mount their stamp mounts so they avoid moisture altogether. I wonder if you could do that for stamps without mounts? I worry it would damage stamps. Or archival glue sticks. They're supposedly acid-free and removable and are often used by artists and designers in the same way rubber cement is used. I wonder if they would hold stamps on album pages, and still be safe and removable? I have no idea. Please don't do this on any stamp you value. But it might be worth experimenting on some cheap stamps. You never know.

I'm glad to see interest in hinges. Stamp mounts are fine for mint stamps, but most of my stamps are used. And mounts are expensive. I've seen lots of stamp albums where the total cost of the mounts used far exceeds the value of the stamps. That's a bit nuts.

To each his own.

What I think is odd is this talk about 'if you do it right'.

Make no mistake about it, the issue is not about 'doing it right'. It is about 'not doing it right;. How in the world does a person look at an existing album and determine if the stamps have been hinged 'correctly' using these crap modern hinges? You simply cannot know which stamp have been 'done right' until you have pulled every stamp from the album. So it is not relevant if it was 'done right' to most future buyers, they are going to assume that they are going to have to soak every stamp and offer much less. Additionally, how many stamps have already been ruined by these modern hinges? How more will be ruined in the future?

It is like telling people, "it is fine to store your stamp stock books and album in your basement...if you do it right'.

I think this is a risky qualification on several levels. I assume that most of the people who are using this justification are actually considering the 'economy' of not buying costly vintage hinges.
Don

Sorry, Don, I still don't buy this. Let's accept that there was, for a time, a golden age of hinges made by Gibbons, Errington and Martin or American or other companies. But there was also a long period when stamps when being stuck into albums with stamp-edging or with glue. Even when better hinges and hinging practices became more widespread, there is no guarantee that collectors weren't over-moistening the hinge and damaging the stamp. I don't believe that most of us when buying collections - which we often don't see in the flesh - carry out some detailed consideration of the previous owner's hinge use, and nor have I ever seen an auctioneer describe such use, except where a significant amount of material is stuck down or, in the case of an individual stamp or small group, where an item is heavily hinged.

I buy collections at auction on a continuous basis and if the stamps are hinged I take that into consideration when bidding. I am processing two collections now. One used hinges that are so lightly adhered that turning the page prompts them to fall off. They most definitely are Dennison hinges. The other is full of great sets that need to be extracted from the page and leave heavy, heavy hinge remnants on the stamps. You can guess which collection realized more dollars for the consignor. It matters a great deal. Of course the argument then becomes how many folks now are placing stamps of better value into their collections using hinges rather than mounts.

I should mention that when faced with thousands of stamps to be processed it is impractical to soak hinges off unless it is a stamp is of exceptional value.

But Rod, that's why bathtubs were invented! Just tell the missus to sponge bathe in the kitchen.

For some weird reason my wife made me sleep on the sofa when I tried to rebuild a flat head 6 Studebaker engine in the bedroom, wash parts in the kitchen sink, and dry parts in the oven. Needless to say, I do not do that anymore.
Don

I love the smell of parts cleaner in the morning.

This is why I stopped using hinges. I cannot control all the variables even with Dennison. It is like cutting mounts. It is best to use a cutter but some will say if you do it right you do not need a cutter.

I also have purchased packets of hinges that are curled up, stuffed hurriedly into packets, or look as if they've been run over by a steamroller. I would dread a packet where most of the hinges were glued or stuck together; in that case, I would return and exchange them. I have never had a problem with glued packets at Hobby Lobby.