Incomplete Perforation Removal

I have several stamps that have one or more incomplete perforations leaving the waste still attached to the stamp.
I fight the temptation to remove them and was looking to replace some even though the stamps are quite nice.
I see lots of stamp like this so can I assume any attempt to remove them is just asking for trouble?

Cheers,Bill

I leave them alone. Chances are you're going to damage the stamp

Peter

The chads have been there for 100 years! I'd leave them be... Chris

I appreciate the comments and respect your opinions.
I will leave them as they are although I think The chads diminish the appearance overall.

Cheers, Bill

Bill

They are more common than people think..Here are just 3 from Nova Scotia stamps...Other Provinces and Canada have blind perfs. also.

Robert





If you try to remove these blind perfs...This could happen to you.

Wert, I was Leary of trying to remove them before asking simple because there are so many with them and no one before me had removed them.
Will this effect the overall grade at all or are they ignored completely?

Cheers, Bill

Hi Bill

As lots of collectors say, allowing the stamp to remain in the state it is in, it as my opinion, removing or leaving it as found, will not change the monetary value of the stamp...BUT, trying to remove it and damaging the stamp as shown above with my P.E.I. stamp will drop the value big time.

Look at my New Brunswick stamp below..Look at the right side perforations..I would not even try to remove them.

Robert

Carefully pull them. The natural process was to remove them and they detract from the overall appearance. Your stamp, your rules.

I remove them all the time, but I've also left a few that were still strongly attached to the stamp. I don't think I've ever ruined a stamp.

I use my tongs to gently remove the unwanted paper. If it's already cut, it will take no effort at all. Obviously, you do need to be careful, but it's very simple to do this.

First, I inspect it carefully front and back with a magnifying glass to see if the paper is cut through or if a lot of it is still attached. If it's still attached to the stamp and not just "stuck" in there, that's the point where you would likely just leave it attached. But you can also 'massage' it a bit by trying to bend it carefully back and forth -- the way you'd normally weaken perforations before tearing them. If it's firmly attached, leave it. I've used a pair of small, very sharp scissors a few times to cut the remaining threads of paper, but that's hardly ever necessary. I also do the same thing when I have a tiny bit of the next stamp still attached. I simply remove it.

If you're "ham-handed" and not the most delicate in your motor skills, I'd steer clear of doing this. But for people with some dexterity, it should work.

One of the benefits of leaving the perf discs is that it helps prove the perforations are original. If they are loose or hanging, I remove them but otherwise I'm very happy to find them remaining on the stamp.

...archerg

Robert

I also found it could be helpful to identify stamp positions, at times. Here is an example of Canada # 19, position 54, and the far right perf holes left at the bottom show part of position 64, and can be matched with the slight misalignment to the right of the vertical row between rows 50's and rows 60's
To illustrate, here is a single position 54, a plate proof example and an actual block of 6 used.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/525354626364 target _blank rel nofollow 525354626364 /a -scfopt1.jpg" border="0" style='cursor:default' onClick='doimage(this,event)'>
I have not done maths on this but in my view, perforations remove a % of visible area. Any one left increases a slight portion of the original paper, and could add valuable information for specialists and flyspeckers, on older classic stamps.