Posts Tagged ‘hinges’

Stamp collecting is easier and more fun when you have the right tools to help you organize, identify, and handle your stamps.

Philatelists (stamp collectors) have special tools that help them collect with skill and enjoyment. The great thing is that there are only a few basic items you will need and they are inexpensive. As a beginner, you really only need an album, hinges or mounts, a pair of tongs, a magnifying glass, a perforation gauge and a watermark detector. Stamp catalogues are very useful, but you don’t have to have one. You can borrow catalogs from other collectors or you can usually find them in your local library. Let’s review these tools in greater detail.

Stamp Albums: It is a good idea to store your stamps in albums to help protect them. You can buy stamp albums from local stamp dealers, make your own, or even use a photo album with acid-free paper. (Do not use a photo album with pages that are sticky as these pages will damage your stamps). Some stamp albums that you purchase feature specific categories with pictures of the stamps that should appear on each page. A stock book is another type of album with plastic or paper pockets on each page. Stock books do not picture the stamps, so you can organize them however you wish.

Hinges/Mounts: Put stamps in your albums with a hinge or a mount. Don’t use tape or glue as you will decrease the stamp’s value and possibly damage the stamps when you try to remove them from your album. Hinges are small, thin, folded pieces of translucent paper or plastic with special gum on the one side. Mounts are clear plastic sleeves that are open on both sides. Both hinges and mounts are available from local stamp dealers.

Tongs: Keep your stamps in good condition by handling them as little as possible. We suggst that you use tongs to handle dry stamps because no matter how well you wash your hands, oil from your skin will damage your stamps. Tongs look like tweezers, but have a smooth gripping surface designed to handle stamps.

Magnifying Glass: Some stamps appear to be alike, but with close inspection you will see small differences that can help to identify a rare stamp. Considering the size of a stamp, a magnifying glass is a great tool to help see the details of our stamps and to find differences. When selecting a magnifying glass, choose one that magnifies clearly, without distortion. We recommend a magnifying lens with at letast 5 times to 10 times magnification. It’s also a good idea to select one that folds into a case to help prevent scratches on the lens.

Perforation Gauge: Here’s another tool to help us find differences in stamps. Some stamps have the same design but different numbers of perforations (holes between stamps that make it easy to separate them). Of course you could count the perforations yourself by counting how many appear along a row 20 millimeters long on each edge of the stamp — sounds confusing, don’t you think? That’s why perforation gauges are a good idea. They are usually made of cardboard, plastic, or metal and make the measurement of perforations simple. The gauge has different scales showing the various sizes of perforations so that you can simply place your stamp against each scale until its perforations match exactly those on the gauge.

Watermark Detector: Watermarks are another way to recognize differences in similar stamps. A watermark is a design (maybe a letter, a number, or a picture) that is pressed into the paper that a stamp is printed on during manufacturing. Watermarks are used to make it harder to counterfeit stamps. Sometimes watermarks are visible, or can easily be seen by looking at the back of a stamp as you hold it up to the light, or by placing the stamp face down on a black background. If these methods don’t work, a watermark detector can be used. A watermark detector is a shallow, glass black cup or dish. Simply place your stamp face down in the detector, and pour watermark fluid over it; if there is a watermark, it should become visible. Plain water is the most common and safest watermark fluid, but you can’t use it with all stamps. You don’t want to use water to test stamps that have gum intact or on stamps that have ink that can be damaged by water. For these special stamps you will want to use stamp chemicals known as “dry fluids,” as they evaporate quickly and won’t harm the stamps. These chemicals are flammable and can produce harmful fumes — so use them only with the help of an adult.

Stamp Catalog: A variety of stamp catalogs are available. They are very helpful, and can easily be borrowed from the library. A stamp catalog is a great reference book filled with illustrations that can help us identify and learn about our stamps. They provide us with such information as, the date when the stamp was issued, a description of the stamp, why it was issued, how it was printed, and gives the value of the stamps in used and unused-condition.

Every stamp collector has a few basic skills to master before they begin. We would like to share ways to soak, sort, and mount stamps.

Soaking: Now that you have gathered some stamps from envelopes that came through the mail how are you going to get the stamps off the envelopes? First you should decide if you really want to remove the stamp. Perhaps there is a special cancel or image on the envelope that appeals to you — in this case put the entire envelope in your album. But if you want to remove the stamps from envelopes, the best way is to soak them. Soaking stamps is fast and easy. Here’s how:

* You first should go through and pull out any brightly covered envelopes (such as red or green) and lay these aside to soak separately as the color may bleed.

* Cut off the upper right-hand corner of the envelopes; be careful not to cut the stamps.

* Place them, stamp side up, in a few inches of lukewarm water in a shallow bowl (make sure the water is not HOT as it may damage the stamps). Don’t soak too many at one time, they should have room to float. And, if you are soaking a lot of stamps be sure to change your water after two or three batches.

* After a few minutes, you will notice the stamps begin to float free form the paper. Using stamp tongs, remove each stamp from the water. Be patient and do not try to pull the stamp free from the paper before it is ready as you may end up tearing it.

* Rinse the back of the stamp gently in fresh water to make sure all the glue is off. Then place the stamps between two paper towels and put a book on top of them to prevent curling. Leave the stamps to dry overnight.

* You’re ready to sort your stamps!

Sorting Stamps: Your stamps are soaked and dried, what is your next move? Before you mount them in your album you need to put them in some kind of order. Let’s sort:

* Depending on the type of collection you are putting together you may want to first sort your stamps by country or by topic. Or, you may decide to sort them by the service which the stamp was meant to provide such as airmail stamps, special delivery stamps, postage due, parcel post or revenue stamps.

* Now you may want to resort the piles by the stamp types meaning definitives, commemoratives, or special stamps like Christmas or Love stamps.

* You then can sort each pile further by their denomination. But be sure not to mix stamps of different categories when you group them according to denominations.

* During your sorting process remove any badly damaged stamps, unless of course it is valuable and may be hard to replace.

* If you have more than one copy of a particular stamp, select the best one (well centered and lightly canceled). The duplicates can be saved for trading.

* Sorting is a never-ending job as you will always be adding to your collection. And remember, there is no right or wrong way to collect. Your collection is just that — it’s yours. That’s what makes stamp collecting so much fun!

* It’s time to put your stamps in their new home — your album.

Mounting Stamps: Collectors often store stamps in albums. To attach the stamps to album pages, you may use peelable hinges or stamp mounts. Unlike tape or glue (which you should never use) hinges and mounts provide a way to remove the stamp from your album page without damaging it. So, should you hinge or mount? That’s another choice that is up to you.

Hinges are small, thin, folded pieces of translucent paper or plastic with special gum on the once side. To use a hinge, moisten the short end of the hinge lightly and press it to the back of the stamp, placing the fold about 1/8 inch from the top of the stamp. Then lightly moisten the larger portion of the hinge and attach it to your album page pressing down to secure it. Many collectors prefer to use mounts for mint stamps, as part of the gum will come off of the stamp if the hinge is removed.

Mounts are small, clear plastic sleeves that are open on both sides. To use a mount, you simply insert the entire stamp into the mount, lightly moisten the back of the mount, and attach them to your album pages. Mounts are a little more expensive than hinges, but they protect stamps from air, dirt, and moisture. Hinges and mounts can be purchased from local stamp dealers.