All very true, but there's very little anyone can do about getting less experienced collectors to hinge stamps properly. It's pretty unlikely that articles about "proper stamp hinging" are even going to be seen by inexperienced collectors. If there were good websites for new stamp collectors, that's the place for such articles -- if they're short, simple, amusing, and have lots of pictures.
I think most packets of stamp hinges already included instructions about how to use the hinges. MIne do. They specifically say to "moisten" the hinge lightly only on about one-third of the hinge, and so on. Isn't that the "warning" you'd want on hinge packets? They're already there.
I still mount MNH stamps with hinges ("Dear God, he's ruining that stamp forever!"). But I only do so with common modern stamps of which there are hundreds of thousands issued.
There are more than enough flawless no-hinge-marks-on-the-back copies left for those who collect stamps backwards.
I hinge used stamps all the time. They already have hinge marks on them most of the time. There is a clear use for stamp hinges -- even in the Age of Stamp Mounts. I have no problem with hinge marks even on the "mint" (really "unused") stamps I buy. I do with thins and other damage caused by hinges. Removing stamps from old albums, I've managed to "thin" a few stamps, myself. "Oops!" Yes, it's a very bad thing, but on the scale of important things it's pretty minor 99% of the time. Remember there was a time when people glued stamps into their album. And a later time when many of us (me included) scotch taped our stamps into our albums. So it could be worse.
When I come across a particularly aggressive hinging problem in some album I'm denuding of stamps, I just soak the page in warm water. It nearly always works. When I encounter stamps with bad hinges still on the backs, I generally attempt to remove them, but if I can't I leave them in place. No major harm done. When I encounter stamps with thins, they go into my "usable but basically junk" envelopes to be given away to some random kid someday whenever I find an actual living stamp collector under the age of about 50. Yes, there are far too many stamps with thins on them due to bad hinging practices -- or bad hinges. Or both.
The sheer volume of modern stamps issued by the 100s of thousands sort of encourages wastefulness through sloppy hinging. With less common stamps, I'd imagine people would be more delicate and thoughtful with mounting their stamps. But even if they weren't, how could you "babysit" them to lessen the damage they do?
My own pet peeve is a bit different: I think stamp mounts are overused today. How many common stamps deserve to be put into stamp mounts before we all go bankrupt from spending more on mounts than stamps? Or before our album pages become too heavy to turn? An album covered in stamp mounts on both sides of the page is not easy to browse unless the page is made of heavy card stock, and they usually aren't. I see page after page of common stamps, including used stamps, in mounts. Why put most used stamps into mounts? Early stamps, yes. Rare stamps, definitely. But modern used stamps in mounts? What's the point? The mount is there so you don't hinge the back of the stamp (for whatever reason) as much as to 'protect' the stamp from whatever might harm it (as if the album didn't already do that). I could do with fewer mounts and more hinges. It would save collectors money and lighten up their album pages, Plus I like the look of bare stamps not in shiny plastic mounts.
Yes, slobber on your stamp hinges less, people!
As for bringing back the older hinges with the less-aggressive glue on them like Dennison and Fold-O, that's not going to happen. There's no financial incentive to do that, and everything happens for profit. Unless the APS or someone with a lot of money to spend wants to finance production of better hinges with no expectation of making a profit form them. But that's not happening, I'd guess.
Posted 12/15/2019 6:33 pm
