Stamps Glues With Scotch Tape.

argg
i received a large envelope with very nice commemorative stamps but the sender has put scotch tape over the stamps

i tried to remove it by pulling very slowly but that destroyed a few of the stamps...

is there a non costly way to get the scotch tape off without destroying the stamps?

You can try lighter fluid, but usually stamps are destroyed by scotch tape.

Better to just toss them out.

None worth the effort especially considering used modern stamps have little value in the best of circumstances. And the real frustration is the glue will discolor the stamps in time anyway as it is never fully removed.

Be happy you were not assessed postage due. In the USA covered stamps are invalid for postage.

Edited to add three rules to help preserve your stamps:

No tape.
No rubber bands.
No Crystal Mounts.

They are death for stamps and postal history.

I was going through my dad's collection and found a few packs of Crystal Mounts. He did not use them. They looked fine.

Few combos worse than Scotch tape and paper. Haven't tried Irish or Croatian tape but imagine the same applies.

Crystal mounts are horrible. Over time they shrink and destroy stamps. Throw them away.

And the glue on Crystal mounts stains album pages and the stamps contained within.

Edited to make "an" "and" to be English.

ok I guess these nice stamps are toast...

what is crystal mounts?

A clear plastic mount for stamps, very popular back in the 60's and 70's.

Crystal mounts also had the catastrophic staining self-adhesive in addition over time self-shrinking stamp crinkling action.

I am feeling kind of queasy.

so these things?
https://www.etsy.com/listing/180497...unts-vintage

i attempted to pull the tape off
nothing to lose right
and by going very very slow I was able to save 3 of the stamps
yay

the first one was the worst off as it had a fold in the lower right
removing the tape had pulled some of the coloring in that part
but overall I think it is not too bad