1901 Commemorative Series And Question

Had a question about what is deemed "valuable" in other collectors' eyes.
For example, I noticed that even though these have been postmarked, there's no remnants of hinging on the back. I know that the catalog prices them more "unused", but in my opinion a decent looking postmark without a hinge is more appealing than an "unused" stamp with a hinge.
Any opinions on that?

"Unused" means a stamp without a cancellation - in the UK, it additionally means a stamp without a cancellation, but also without gum. Yours are all used.

(Sorry - misunderstood your remarks at first.)

I believe that German collectors prefer their CTO stamps with full gum, but I'm not aware that that's a widespread interest. The great majority of nineteenth century mint stamps will have been hinged, so most collectors won't mind that at all, unless the hinging has been particularly heavy.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I was talking about the grey areas between "used", "unused", and "unused but hinged". If a piece is used but has no hinges, gum still in tact, and an albeit subjectively nice postmark that compliments the stamp, seems like it could be more desirable than an unused piece with a hinge.
Just sharing my thoughts!

Stephen - sorry - my additional remarks crossed with your response.

You can take a hinge off any used stamp. What is stopping you? People who call a stamp 'used, never hinged' aren't playing with a full deck.

The stamps are considered 'used' by most US collectors; any hinges can be removed without impacting value (if done correctly).
The stamps shown above appear to be well centered, not have any conditions issues, and the one with sideographer initials carries more interest.
Don

That's very informative Geoff, and makes perfect sense! Makes me feel more so that an unhinged, gum-in-tact used piece has more value than that of a standard "used" evaluation because of the scarcity alone.

Thanks Don!
I've read that for even though more modern hinges that may be the case, older hinges have a habit of leaving behind remnants or damaging the stamp when removed. Many forgeries are done by trying to hide the damage by melting the gum and spreading it back around the stamp again, but professionals are able to discern whether this has been done or not based on the light brush strokes used from when the original gum was applied.
I guess there's levels to the situation, but I can't imagine that a stamp that's been hinged for 20+ years isn't going to leave any trace of it behind without having to alter it somehow.. but that's not experience talking.

I'm sorry, Stephen, but what do you mean by "used with gum intact"? Other than CTO's (cancelled but not used), a genuinely used stamp will by definition not have full intact original gum. Are you suggesting that the used one-cent Pan American you show above has full intact original gum?

There is a scan of the back that does appear to show gum.

They are all "used" in my opinion. The back of a used stamp does not matter much to me, unless there is a big thin, of course. Centering of the features of the front of the stamp are what determines the price of used stamps (again, my opinion).

I believe that the OG 294 is precancelled and was never used on piece which explains the gum.

The gum appears much too disturbed for that to be likely. It was probably just put on very lightly, or perhaps something dried the gum out before use and it popped off a post card later.

Another excellent theory.

I posit the precancel theory because of the gum and the large top selvedge that is intact and would have very awkwardly fit on a low-rate mail piece. That and the direction of the cancel bars.

The machine cancel on the 1 cent stamp is consistent with those of the Pneumatic Cancelling Machine Company in use in several U.S. cities in the 1901 era.

I don't know Dudley. I'm very new to this and trying to learn.
I've read that valuation can also be determined by how intact the gum is. I pulled these out and thought maybe that's what it's referring to... When carefully removing a stamp from an envelope, is it possible to remove it with gum somewhat intact on the stamp?