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I mentioned in another section that I work with students with disabilities as well as the very elderly, and I have been sharing my new hobby with them.

I was able to purchase (very cheaply) from a local auction, a couple of stamp albums - a really inexpensive paperback variety, which had quite a number of hinged world stamps in them.

What is the best way to remove the stamps from the albums so that I can give them to the students? Should I soak the whole pages? Lift off the stamps from the hinges? Cut the hinge off at the fold?

We are not talking expensive stamps (not that I would know an expensive one even if it jumped up and bit me)... but all the same, I dont want to ruin them either.

For your purposes, the best thing would probably be just to gently peel the hinges off the stamps - a few hinge remains shouldn't be a real problem.

You could even get part of the group to be "hinge removers" while the others are "sorters" or "collectors".

Depends on the hinges. for decent peelable ones do as Gavin suggests.

The cheapie yellow ones kids used often to buy from Woolworth's etc, (to use for these kind of books) were often strong enough to join pieces of timber I reckon.

Peeling THEM will rip a thinned hole in all mint or CTO ones for sure.

Stick a tweezer behind stamps on page and rapidly slit the hinge like using a knife would. i.e. leave half the hinge on the page, half on the stamps.

Thanks Gavin-H

It's important that I do it right the very first time. One of the students I work with has a "medium severity" ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder), and if I chop and change methods, he will become distressed. It has to be the same each time. Thus the need to get it right straight up.

I think your idea of "job" allocation is a great one. This young chap can be the sorter. I cant see any potential problems there.

Just read your post too Admin. These stamps are in quite poor condition, none are mint or even remotely fine, but they serve my purposes very well with the students - good geography lesson too.... (and they only cost me $2.00 for the two albums).

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Waroff49

The last chapter of the Never_Ending Story is being written.

There is another angle, if they are damaging too many, put the bite on Glen to give you some recent Kiloware, that might finish up in his _Not good enough _bin for use with with your group. Ask him up for a photo-shoot with the group (after getting parents/guardians permission) and he's sure to accept, maybe then both the group and Glen will finish up in Australian Stamp Professional and you'll all be famous. Good advertising for the group and philanthropist Glen...

I might even Ask Bob and see what he says.

If all else fails, give me an email and I'll see what I can do.
I know what it's like having taught for many years in a school for the intellectually disabled/ multiple disabilities.

cya..

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Waroff49

The last chapter of the Never_Ending Story is being written.

Who is/was Ernie/Ernest/E A Crome? Every so ofteen I come across a nice cover addressed to him: in 1935 he apparently lived In Brisbane, then Stanmore, and in '32 in Newtown? Must be a VIP..just interested.
Ted J

The EA & VI Crome fantastic photograph, music, stamp & covers collection is in the Power House Museum Sydney. See the following website:

http://www.dhub.org/object/197425

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Tony

Ted what on EARTH has that post got to do with this topic?

If you go to top of your page and click "SEARCH" and type in CROME you will get this:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=1249

More than you'll ever want to know about his work.

Hopefully this topic can now go back to removing hinges.

Suitably chastised.

I learnt the hard way a long time ago, that you don't (or even try to) pull older type well stuck hinges off stamps. You will either get a ripped stamp or a thin neither of which value adds.

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Tony

As a dealer I've probably removed more hinges than I'd care to remember. Probably 50 times more than most collectors ever will.

When I was far younger and had more time I'd look at a heavy hinged set of something and think "If that is worth $50 like this, I bet it will be worth $75 if those 10 hinges all peel off pretty much fully. And off I'd go carefully - 8 of the 10 would work fine and Murphy's Law PROVES that the stamp you will thin or tear for SURE is the 10/- or £1.

Making the set worth $40 on that basis. And wasting a half hour as well.

Lonnnnnnnnnnnng experience now tells me to leave things just as they are! Take the $50 and go onto something else productive with that half hour.

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

In one junk lot I got a few years ago was a smallish Chinese stockbook full of Czechoslovakia CTOs which were stuck to the cardboard and sometimes each other, but otherwise undamaged.

I actually cut the book up into nice slices, and soaked the lot.

With old "kids" collections, I simply tear out individual pages and soak them - most of the mints are from Seven Seas Stamp approvals, usually partly stuck down (due to young tongues missing the hinge and licking the stamp), and are worth just as much without gum, as with. Next to nothing.

Norm

Thank you everyone,

I think I will go with the soaking the whole page for the cheap stamps. The elderly, and the students, seem to like this method. (I wouldnt be permitted anyway to allow students to use sharp knives etc., and the elderly's hands are not too steady) so soaking seems a good safe solution.

For the slightly better stamps, I will cut the hinges off myself, then soak.

Thanks Waroff49 for the tip about the soaking in the water. I didnt know that - These stamps may not be 5/- Harbour Bridge etc., but they are loads of fun and have had an enormous therapeutic effect on both age groups - and for me too.

Thank you all for your suggestions.

There is a way to safely (95%) remove hinged stamps from album pages. Insert your tweezers(tongs),gripping the face of the stamp with one half and gripping the back of the stamp AND the hinge part stuck to it with the other. Gently pull parallel to the page.

This will remove the hinge from the page without causing any stress to the hinge/stamp contact.Any paper damage will be to the album page which you should consider a write-off, but we are only considering stamps here.Next using a good-quality artists brush ( a NEW one please not one that has seen paint and/or white spirit !!!) and water soften the hinge, While still wet it should come of easily.

If you meet any resistance float as you would to get stamps off paper but for the shortest of time so as not to allow the water to penetrate the stamp.

Time consuming yes, but as you are not a dealer this is no different to buying hinged stamps from a dealer and removing the hinges -- and NOTHING looks worse than an attractive stamp with seven hinge remnants on the back.

I have done thousands of removals and any disasters have been as a result of my impatience, tiredness, alcohol or any combination thereof.

Malcolm

I have numerous mint o.g. stamps with annoying hinge remnants.

How do I get rid of the hinge remainder without losing the rest of the original gum? Presumably soaking it off downgrades the stamp to the mint no gum category...

In 30 years of dealing I have learned not to bother on mint stamps.

One in 10 tries thinned the stamp, always one of the set high values of course.

The good quality peelable ones like the USA near always used are fine, but those old European ones... leave them ALONE is my advice!

On coarse fibrous blotting paper that things like 5/- Bridges were printed on, NOTHING will take a hinge off except a soak. And a hinge thin on a bridge takes $200 off the price. A hinge remainder does not! Take my advice .. leave them alone.

Somehow I thought that may be the case. I hadn't heard of a solution, probably because there isn't one!

Glen, in your experience, does a hinge remainder have a negative impact on the value of a stamp? I should point out that I do mean "remainder", not one of those half inch wide monstrosities that seem to cover half the stamp...

Or a cotton "Q" tip to dampen (moisten not soak) just the attached hinge and peel off - very carefully.
Glassine is just processed paper so may moisten and peel off.

Then let the stamp dry again in a non-stick desert magic book?

Otherwise if you can very neatly trim off the excess - just leave the rest on the stamp.

People tend to get carried away licking the back of a hinge! They were only meant to be lightly damp and just hold the stamp in place. Pity people took that to mean lick and stick it like its a stamp itself!

I must find out what "Stamp Lift" fluid does to gum? Anybody tried it?

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

Here is a Q-tipper for you; I don't know if she'd cotton
to hinge remnants or not. Looks like she's been into
some heavy Original Gum already this evening.

Was she supposed to be a "Cotton Bud" at a Fancy Dress

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Ive got Ugg Boots - but an Ugg Hoodie!?

Maybe their from New Zealand!


I get it! She's the Snow Queen!

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

The used ones are simple - soak, float off, dry-press between 2 sheets of blotting paper, but is there a solution for removing stamp hinge remnants from gummed mint stamps without wetting the whole stamp?

A quick way to remove remnants from used stamps would be useful, only a few hundred to do

Some ideas appreciated!

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May 1840 - one of the greatest social revolutions in history!

Wise dealer tip .. do not touch most hinges unless green peelable USA type.

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

If you find the hinges annoying, the above is the best suggestion!

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Wolfgang
Papua New Guinea stamps and postal history: http://www.i-ng.org

Mike more often than not that creates a bad rectangular indent on the FRONT of the stamp.

Some papers really show that badly. And it CANNOT be fixed, once done. I'll often pay HALF for such items versus ones light a normal hinge remainder.

Some genius did that to a £1 Roo bi-colour I bought this week. I took $1000 off the price I'd have otherwise have paid.

Same expert also did it on a 10/- Moncolour postage due on Chalky paper. He butchered that as the Chalky did NOT like that fiddling, and again he lost $500 by being too clover.

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.
Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

I agree that this is the best option for most cases.

However, there are some hinges that have caused the stamp to curl or warp. Using a very thin paintbrush with half a drop of water to soften the glue will remove the hinge (as mentioned above). I have found this improves or removes the warping in most cases.

Practice many times on cheap stamps before trying it on higher valued stamps though.

But the best tip at all comes from Glen:

.. "do not touch most hinges" .... on mint stamps!

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Wolfgang
Papua New Guinea stamps and postal history: http://www.i-ng.org

I would'nt touch anything really scarce as it is very easy to damage.

Regards

Michael

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Michael Gorwits British Commonwealth Philately & Postal History
http://www.wharfestamp.com

The stamp will always be described as MH wether the hinge is there or not won't it?

Not exactly, Brummie. Common description in the U.S.
would be "MH" for Mint Hinged where a peelable hinge
has been removed, with some traces, and "MHR" for Mint
Hinge Remnant, where a sliver of the hinge remains and
defies removal. The large British "white" hinges of the
40s and 50s are notorious.

You also find "MVLH" for Mint, Very Lightly Hinged, where
you have to look hard for that little shadow of disturbed
gum.

Identical stamps with these 3 ranges of hinging would
sell for different prices in the U.S., and most other places,
I would guess. My own inventory of investment material
uses MNH (MUH to you), MH, MHR, and MVLH.

Thanks Doug for clarifying the terminology in the USA. I'd leave it alone as it was quite acceptable once. Better a hinge than a thin.

Well not really.

There are DEGREES of hinging that much is certain.

Things with a faint hinge touch are MVLH. Things like this should be called "heavily hinged".

And all grades in between.

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Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

I more a black or white person, it is or it isn't. It's always going to be a hinged stamp wether is VL, heavily hinged or anything in between.

I spent a good part of the weekend "cleanig up" the hinges off the back of my used machins - the blotting paper was a a disaster as it wrinkled up, but found some 190 gm A4 printing paper that worked much better:

soak the stamps in a bath of tepid water for about 5 or 10 minutes and they float off, dry the stamps in soft tissue, lay between sheets of said paper for a few hours, place back in stockbook, place new paper between stockbook leaves overnight - resulting in perfectly flat stamps!

will have to put up with the mint hinged ones, as trying to remove hinges with a dab of water and peeling made them look worse

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May 1840 - one of the greatest social revolutions in history!

I would never argue with the sheriff, leave the hinge be except you should cut of the loose end.

For low value stamps this is really bad stuff but why try to repair a low priced stamp? Use it as postage and buy a fresh one.

For really high priced (old) stamps I would any day prefer a mint hinged stamp because it is cheaper than mint but the hinge will support the argument that the stamp has not been re-gummed, which could otherwise be the case.

I always go for mint hinged when the catalogue price of mint is less than 20% of the cancelled price i.e. probably cancelled to order.

Hello Everyone.

Let me tell you guys what I want to do before I ask my question.

I have purchased some stamp albums which contain hinged stamps and some stamps that have been glued to the pages.
I want to remove all of the stamps, from the albums, and place them in my stockbooks.

Now my question is, should I also remove the hinges from the stamps that have them or should I leave the hinges on the stamps and place them in a stockbook?

What is the general practice if you want to place stamps, that were hinged, in a stockbook?

Cheers!

I take Glen's word - do NOT touch the hinges if the stamp is mint.

If they are used, cut the stamp out of the page with scissors, leaving a piece of the page on. Then soak the stamp.

I should add the pale green "Scott" or "Dennison" USA made hinges were really good, and DO peel off readily and easily with no issues.

The old UK heavy yellow ones are the type I am suggesting you do NOT mess with peeling! Try and peel this type of guy off, and you will damage the stamp.

Glen

I HATE HINGES

I bought a nice stamp a while ago that had what appeared to be just a hinge applied on top of an old hinge. Carefully removing the top hinge showed that the original hinge had a rough attempt to remove it from the stamp which had lifted up the paper slightly. Not enough to show a thin when viewed to the light (that's why I didn't notice it pre-purchase), but still reducing the value.

Someone had than applied a new (but old type hinge) over the top of the original one to disguise the lifted section.

I asked for and got a refund from the dealer I bought it off.

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Tony

Tony .. yes that is another reason I suggest folks do not mess with them.

These pix below are from a thread yesterday on Hong Kong.

It was not relevant to that thread, but as we can see the hinged stamp looked pretty sound on that back, but when soaked there is a quite bad crease evident.

...

Yes, keep the soaking as simple as possible!
That way no one will stab themselves with either knife, scissors or tweezers.

Put a page in a bowl of warm water and wait 5 minutes
Then put the stamps only in another bowl of clean warm rinse water for a couple of minutes.

So you need 2 soakers, a drier, some sorters, a geograper? (armed with map), someone to pick out Animals, People, Cars, Bugs etc, a cataloger to find the sets, on and on.

Do you want some more to soak off paper? We could all stick a few hundred in a 60c envelope and send them up to you - then you'll need an Aussie map checker to see where they were all sent from!

Lets us know the postal address.

It will give me a feel good for the day moment!

Tips on drying - if nothing else face up onto clean tea towels and let air dry.
Another tip - don't be tempted by a hair dryer, (or microwave), all the stamps will curl up into useless tubes!

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

I recently bought a large lot of worldwide stamps. Many of them are mint but are hinged to pages. Is there a way to safely remove the hinges without damaging the stamps?

Some of the older hinges come away easily, but the newer types seem to not want to go without a fight.

And why do they make stamp hinges that damage stamps?

Thanks Mark ... I'll merge this - and repeat my advice given earlier here -

Some early collectors were amazing.

I just dismantled an old album, and I have never seen such a variety of fixing methods in the one place.

A (very) few were attached with good quality hinges and just popped off with a slight lift.

Some had hinges that could have held up a barn door.

Some had regular hinges but were all oriented differently, so it was difficult to slice the hinge off at the fold.

Some were attached with home made hinges of folded paper and glue.

Some were stuck to the pages with their own adhesive.

Some must have been curly as they had 4 hinges on a regular sized stamp.

The worst were those attached with a loop of adhesive tape.

My ultimate solution was to cut the pages into manageable pieces and soak the lot.

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Hi everyone

I'm new to this forum and I hope this question hasn't been asked a dozen times before!
I have several old albums (1930's from my grandfather's family) and I want to display the stamps in new Lighthouse stockbooks.

There are some very nice stamps - blacks, blues, seahorses etc - but at present they are mounted on hinges. They seem to be lightly mounted but I'm not sure the best way to go about the job.

Should I cut the hinge from the album and leave the attachment on the back of the stamp to avoid damage?

There are several thousand so soaking seems not to be an option!
many thanks for any advice.

Loikroh

Hi Loikroh

I would go with soaking,because not long ago I bought an old collection and 10% of the stamps were damaged by the glue of the hinges.The glue actually soaked right through the stamps.I lost a lot of COGH stamps.

I'm not a fan of hinges at all.

You do not say = are they mint or used?

Silly me - they are almost all used - I would say probably 95% - a few mint.
cheers
Loikroh

Loikroh,

If you are thinking about removing hinges read these two threads first.

Hinged stamps - leave them alone, or remove the stamp hinge?

Way to Safely Remove Hinges???