There Is A Stamp God

ok now some of you remember that I dontlike used stamps. some of you also remember that dear LB sent me this nice package from israel because I wanted it from there instead of UK

now he used this nice lil sheet on the cover that was going to get destroyed under normal circumstances but because I dont like it destroyed the sheet arrived in mint condition.


what do you say me hearties. are you all believers now or what?


oh and yes dear LB the package arrived wonderfully well

now get the old fashioned machine and cut the sheets

oh I forgot come here tony and ligt a few candles maybe all your barwani will become mnh as a result of that ")

spock......


....if it's on cover it is not mint.

yes it is if it has not been cancelled it is mint.

If it's on cover it is not mint !......uncanceled , but NOT mint.


uncanceled does not mean mint.

yes it does check any listing mint is not used.

unused mint uncanceled are the same you can ask K the resident expert

what you are talking about is the gum and I have not said anything about gum

btw its not on the cover its in my album

if it was issued with gum and the gum is used.....it is no longer mint !!!

unused and uncanceled are NOT THE SAME !

soaked off the cover, uncanceled, no gum DOES NOT MAKE IT MINT !!!

What you have is used, uncanceled !!................NOT MINT !

I'm surprised at Spock. "Mint" has always meant to me as uncanceled,un used, original gum, and as close to perfect centering as possible. Anything less is NOT mint.
Allan

I can see where some would call mint non-cancelled stamps.

I call mint those stamps as issued from the Post Office, fresh and with gum usually, ready to be used postally. Can I lick it and stick it?

Used are any stamps that can be shown to have been used on a piece of mail, whether they have been cancelled (so as to prevent reuse and avoidance of paying further postal fees) or not. If the gum is missing then the stamp can be assumed to have been used unless proven otherwise.

Usually for modern stamps it is easy to make a distinction, gum or no gum. Some older stamps or stamps issued in tropical climates are sometimes issued without gum, so that definition does not work there.

However, I think most times a stamp that has been soaked in water to remove it from the paper envelope or parcel loses some of its glossy appearance and becomes somewhat dull.

If you do not remove it from the paper cover or cardboard then it sometimes appears as mint on the surface. It is this fresh appearance that can be visually appealing I think.

But some stamps retain their glossy appearance when soaked so that when reused to post mail again can be seen to be mint, not used for postal use and ready to be stuck onto a piece of mail. Thus the market in 'unused', non-cancelled stamps now online.

Another reason that these unused stamps are being reused and not caught by the Post Office is that it costs too much to check every piece of mail. Checking randomly will catch some but not all uses of a reuse. And even then it would be hard to prove unless the definition of a mint stamp is stated in the law. What if mint stamps stuck together in a pile and you had to soak or steam them to remove them from one another? They are still mint, that is not used for postal use, but now without gum. Perhaps the definition can be seen to apply to any use at all of a stamp, whether you want to postally use it or wallpaper your domain with them.

Perhaps spocks calling the stamp(s) mint means to him (and others) not defaced by cancellation or other marks, appearing fresh as issued on the surface with the presence or not of gum being a secondary issue, especially in his tropical, humid climate.

calling it mint does not make it mint.


If it was issued with gum and the gum is no longer there....it is not mint.

The stamp is not mint, Spock... it is unused.

David

David....

Sorry to say you are wrong.......it was on a package and went through the mail.......it is used, uncanceled.

exactly Allen you choose to define what you believe in rather than just say mint or used over and over again.

there are tons of people here who will say perfect centering is not a requirement for a mint stamp a stamp with fine centering and very fine centering can also be mint

what you are saying is you only consider MNH OG Superb as mint and that is fine what I am saying is in the market mint is mint you have to quantify all of those extras to get to your definition

for most in the market there is no distinction some will say you are wrong and it is cancelled.

nothing could be further from the truth we are all right because there is no acceptable definition in the market. then again it changes based on the region you are and the country you deal in.

there is no distinction here between unused and mint but there is a silent understanding that unused means there is no gum while mint has stopped being used and people use mnh with the new issues having no gum we are in for another change in terms.

i call it tomato you call it tumato and then you get ready to hit me with it because you dont like what I said

the last statement was tongue in cheek but you will get the idea where I am coming from :)

Spock is your Avatar MNH or MNG (mint no gum) or UNG (uncancelled no gum)