Soaking Or Not Soaking?

The British Guiana stamp may or may not have a major tear through it, starting at lower left and traveling east then north, exiting at the G of Guiana. It may be best to accept it as it is.

Quite appropriate for this stamp
Damus patimus que vicissm
"We give and expect in return"

The stamps are currently in transit, so I can't check for a tear ; but before bidding I did ask the auctioneer about any damage he could see. He only mentioned the small visible flaw above QUE, so if it has major faults I should be able to ask for a refund.

I can't see a definite repair on my larger image (the system here only allows me to upload max 300 kb, which is woefully small). It can sometimes be a case of the brain trying to link tiny flaws into a pattern ; or maybe it's wishful thinking on my part and it's a "cut & shut" ! Once it arrives, I have a 30x loupe and a UV light which should show what's going on.

There were later reprints of both 1852 waterlow stamps, and sometimes fakers trim the perfs to pass off a reprint as genuine. If anyone would like a reference shade & paper comparison between the genuine 1d stamp and the reprint, they are both shown in the full lot image here. The reprints were on white paper, which is usually visible on the edges, even if the photo only shows the front.



ROB

I soak most. Especially the ones I want a closer look at....

Something I just encountered - this go round in drying, my paper towels were from a brand that embossed its name throughout the sheets. "Bounty". Did not think of this before, but this am when I went to remove the stamps from between the paper towels which were under some heavy books, the stamps were "wavy" a tad as they were dispersed in between the Bounty embossing.

I now need to get a brand of towel with no embossing.

Maybe you can flatten the towels before use... but pressing them might damage their ability to soak the water.

I think you are right on lessening the absorption. I'm pretty sure there has to be some regular ole flat ones.

I think painting canvases are both flat and absorbent.

Nice! Washable & reusable too guessing?