Collection From Elderly Friend Of My Wife - She Used Hinges.

A friend of my wife, they are both avid quilters, found out that I had a stamp collection. Apparently she had collected years ago and was still keeping stamps from envelopes and cards she received. She gave me a gallon bag of stamps on the paper, mix of self-adhesive as well as older stamps.
Then she brings me more - many new stamps, she had obtained and never put in her Minkus album.
And here comes the big question - she finally brought my wife a box with that Minkus album, she'd stopped at 1987 as the 88 and 89 pages had not been taken out of the packages and put into the album. She'd really been active for a while, decent collection for someone doing it for fun and relaxation, most in the album were good used stamps, mounted on quality hinges, but there are quite a few NEW, unused, stamps in the album as well - on hinges.
I, personally, dislike using hinges on new stamps, but perhaps back then that's about all there was? Whatever - on to my question -
In the process of mounting those new, unused stamps, some in blocks, she'd bought directly from the post office (she told me she'd go get new stamps now and then for her collection) of course the gum got wet when applying the stamps into the album pages, and so some are stuck onto the paper pages not only with the hinges, but the stamp gum itself. Not huge areas, but you cant' just lift and peel the stamp hinges off the paper to remove the stamps.
How can I remove those so I can transfer them to my set of 6 albums using mounts, and not do damage, or at least minimize the damage, to the new stamps? Some of these date back many years since she's probably in her late 70s and was collecting, even new, way back in the 50s.

If the gum had adhered to the pages and there's no way to gently lift them off, then they'll need to be soaked off, which will of course mean that the gum will go.

If you aren't bothered about keeping the pages, cut out the relevant sections and soak them. A quick soak and you should manage to retain some gum.

Thanks to both for the replies.
I had almost resigned myself to losing the gum on them.
I'm too often such a perfectionist and hated that thought.
I'd wondered about a gentle soaking of just that part, and when I say that, I mean the area, besides the hinge itself, that's stuck to the paper pages, is pretty small - less than the size of a "B-B", maybe 1/8" (or 1 mm or so)
I did try to gently use a really sharp knife to put between the stamp and the page on a stamp I had really nice versions of already - and even that tended to distort things a bit.

I like that Minkus album - not that I'd use it directly, but the information they supply about some of the stamps is far better than what is in the albums I use for myself.
it will likely never have stamps put back into it again.

Guess I just have to grit my teeth and snip sections of the pages out and soak carefully.

Try steaming them off the pages.

Years ago I some success getting mint stamps off album pages where my
grandfather had used too much spittle and got more on the gum than on
the hinges.

I haven't used steam since I first started collecting. Pretty much forgot about it. Worth a shot. Your description is a good fit for what I'm seeing - the hinges are small and she went a bit over the hinge. All of the stuck areas are adjacent to the hinge areas.
More good ideas.
Again thanks to all..
I know it's not a big money collection, but she spent a lot of time, and was extremely generous in just giving all of this to me. I want to try............

Have you ever used a product called "Stamp Lift"?
Has anyone else had any luck with this product?
Can it be used without much damage to gum, stamp, or album pages?

Steaming can make a mess.

Before you launch into soaking or steaming a large number of stamps, consider the value of your time Vs the value of hinged/disturbed gum/no gum US stamps from this time period. edited to add (such stamps are worth less than face value).

It's a matter of - they are stuck in just small spots to the book pages she put them in. Not concerned about the hinges - they come right off leaving just a mark on the gum. It's the tiny spots next to the hinge that's stuck to the paper.

So, it's either trash them because "they have no value"/leave them in the book on a shelf - still with little to no value because they are stuck in tiny places, or remove them somehow.

I experimented with a product I bought years ago that is supposed to loosen the gum. I used a small brush and applied it to the backside of the page where the stamp was stuck, and it actually let me remove the stamp without damage, other than the small spot of gum on the stamp. Is the gum disturbed? Yes. But the paper is undamaged, and only a small part of the gum is changed - it's a win for me as they are still better than I had, in many cases, didn't have them at all.

Being a rank amateur, not a pro, having nothing of REAL value, I'd bet 90% of those here would look at what I have and shake their heads, or maybe chuckle. I've nothing of real value other than the supplies, binders and pages. I have more in supplies than the whole collection would be worth, is my bet.
I'm trying - but............

Came here to learn.
So far, I'm seeing that I've got pretty much nothing compared to most.

Don't get me wrong - still appreciate the comments/thoughts!!

I see most here totally dislike mounts, but this is the very reason I went this way - when I find a better stamp, I slip one out, put the other in. And I can't mess-up and get a new stamp stuck to the page accidentally.

Thanks.

Still learning this different forum software, so unsure how to directly respond...
>>Have you ever used a product called "Stamp Lift"?
Has anyone else had any luck with this product?
Can it be used without much damage to gum, stamp, or album pages?lt;<
I have a product called "Stamp Lift Fluid" I bought years ago.
Worthless for self-adhesive, but I tried it on a couple of the new/unused stamps that got stuck to the paper when the lady used a bit too much spit on the hinges - I brushed a small amount on the back of the page right behind the stuck spot, waited a few seconds, and the stamps came right off.

I have yet to see how the pages dry and turn out when done.
and, as pointed out, the gum is still disturbed a bit, not mint, but what else could be done? Anyone wanting them off for any reason in the future was going to run into the same thing.

If there's better ideas - still listening.

"I experimented with a product I bought years ago that is supposed to loosen the gum. I used a small brush and applied it to the backside of the page where the stamp was stuck, and it actually let me remove the stamp without damage, other than the small spot of gum on the stamp. Is the gum disturbed? Yes. But the paper is undamaged, and only a small part of the gum is changed - it's a win for me as they are still better than I had, in many cases, didn't have them at all."

So this sounds far better than soaking or steaming them.

I've had some luck with this using Bestine Solvent and Thinner for Rubber Ink. I use this primarily for removing the adhesive from modern self-adhesive stamps, but I've also had a few instances in which it worked to remove mint stamps that had adhered to the page.

I'm going to cherry-pick one snippet from eyeonwall and run on that tangent.


While you may want to make your own collection from these particular stamps, It may be cost and time effective to use any gum-damaged stamps on mail with whatever gum they have left and to buy replacement stamps with undisturbed gum. Soaking them in water will result in something difficult to use on mail and won't be "mint" stamps in any album. Also, if you try to save some of the gum, how much wlll the solvent cost versus the face value of stamps treated? In other words, sometimes it becomes a salvage operation rather than a collecting pleasure.

Based on your description of the general age and acquistion method, it should be noted the vast majority of stamps issued since WWII are readily available at modest cost. If I were wanting to have a mint U.S. 1940-2000 collection, I would buy one already assembled so start with (likely at significantly less than face value!), and then fill in whatever gaps there were.

As for mounts, one will find various opinions (some very strong), particularly with mint stamps and depending on factors like the country, era, catalog value, consistency within a page, etc. Each collector has to make their own album and mounting decisions.

I must be the odd-man-out here as for me, it's the "thrill of the hunt" more then "I want a perfect collection at minimal cost".
My wife and I are the same, and I'm the same with my cars - once one is done, sure it's fun to drive and show, but then I'm ready to move on to the next project. I could buy a car at 20% of the cost in real hard cash and time, but there's little fun in that.

But I don't want to get stupid about it, either...........
I get what's being said. For now, those I have salvaged (and the numbers aren't large, maybe a dozen) will fill spots in my books - until I find or buy something better.
I slipped paper between the stamp and the page they were stuck to to protect the unstuck parts, and applied the chemical to the back of the page only where the stamp was stuck and yeah, you guys will shake your heads, but it's not horrible......... not great, but until I find better, they look good in the books.

I've never heard of buying "collections" and have no idea how one would even do such a thing. I buy things here and there - found a nice full sheet, mint, in an antique mall that was pretty much what I figured market value for it would be. I was there, it was there, it's now in my book. But to buy a whole collection?
I don't trust such things over the internet, and in Iowa, there's really so little of this sort of thing (unless I've just not noticed??!)

We've got so many many forever stamps and only send out real mail maybe once or twice a month tops, so we have enough stamps to last us 10 years. So it would be an idea if I needed postage or would otherwise buy, but when I went through this batch from the friend, there were complete booklets and more - and I bet I stuck 30 stamps in our drawer to use for postage after I took blocks for my collection.

This is one example, later stamps I knew I could replace if they turned out a total loss - please don't laugh, but do give an honest opinion.......... I am trying to learn even if I seem "resistive".

I've made worse messes - much worse!

If you're collecting worldwide, or a big area such as the British Empire, country or area collections at auction are a good way of getting stamps at volume, with the fun of sorting. I sell swaps on ebay, but don't buy there.

If you are in Iowa, here is a list of some stamp clubs that may be nearby. Call ahead if you can to make sure the clubs are still active.
https://www.linns.com/community/loc...bs/iowa.html

There is a stamp show and bourse (CERAPEX) coming up in April in Cedar Rapids. The Cedar Rapids Stamp Club lists some other stamp clubs, shows, and dealers:
http://www.crsc.mysite.com

The stamp dealers at these shows often have used albums and collections of all price ranges that may be able to give you a good framework to start from, or to help fill in the spaces in your current albums.