Why Should The Glue On The Back Of The Stamp Matter?

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<snarky> The best use for Original Gum is to keep your money glued into your wallet.</snarky>

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Edited to acknowledge criticism.

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with collecting any way a person desires. Folks wanting to collect items as close to as they were made is as old as collecting itself. Using collector cars as an example, the ultra-original cars are critical as historical baselines. Many car collectors are faced with owning an original cars which consistently gets beaten by a 'frame off' restoration cars at some shows. So many shows have special classes meant only for original, unrestored cares. They did this because it is important to 'reward' folks in keeping them original. And of course there are some cars which are cut up and made into rods, retaining very little originality. The point is, a hobby should support whatever folks collect. Hot rodders should not be snarky about original cars, original car owners should not demean the hot rods; each has value, each has their place.
Don

If money were no object I'd want the best example of a stamp I could find, including one with pristine original gum, undisturbed by a hinge mark or anything else on the back. Money is an object, however, so I purposely avoid NH on older material as long as it's a nice enough looking example from the front. I can't think of a single time that, once mounted, I took a stamp out of a mount to admire the back. Not once.

If the premium for NH is 2x or more over the hinged price, I'll also maintain that the stamp should be mounted upside down as at that point you're paying more for the back of the stamp than the front. But....people should collect whatever and however they like. As long as they're not using my money to buy the stamp, I don't care how much of a premium anyone pays for NH.

51Studebaker and TheArtfullHinger, spot on, in my opinion. Nailed it.

If the OG fetish were not well-established widely-held orthodoxy, it would not be worth a tease.

This clip is from the 1925 Scott Catalog, courtesy of the thieves at Google Books.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

With the amount of attention directed to the back of the stamp, I'm half surprised you don't see some people put their stamps in their albums face down.

If you watched Antiques Roadshow, you would know that is often not the case.

I've done that before, but it was to show a stitch watermark.

Here are some of my Columbians. 230 - 241 are mint, original gum. Some bear hinge remnants, but most do not. 242 - 245 are unused, no gum. None have been hinged, as far as I can tell. Generally, throughout my classics, this is the compromise I have made, and I'm happy with it.

I believe the OP wants to re-invent the wheel. Louise, to each his / her own; if you like them without gum - more power to you

Peter

Bud, that is a beautiful page - too bad the mounts do not close in the back. Mine do not do that, must be the manufacturer?

Peter

Thanks, Peter. Been using Mystic and some Scott mounts. At this point don't have the time or energy to remount everything, but if and when I do, what would you recommend?

Those mounts will certainly damage stamp backs. Through the years they will disrupt the gum side with an indentation where the coverage doesn't close.

I use Scott mounts ( made by Prinz ) and don't have this problem. Have been using them since the eighties

Peter

Very attractive set, but are you sure about the #241? The dark-colored perf tips at top center/center-right suggest either perf thins (dark color from the black mount showing through the thin) or a regum (dark color from added gum residue) to me.

Split-back mounts will indeed cause a line of gum disturbance along the split given enough pressure and time. Much better than old Crystal/PM mounts, though, which would eventually warp or stain stamps entombed in them.

I agree that unused NG 19th century with good centering and color are very attractive and are obtainable at (usually) reasonable prices. Many earlies are gruesomely hard with original gum, and regums can be very dangerous nowadays. Of course, NG has its own issues; you still must beware of unusually light or cleaned cancels.