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Another short timer lesson learned in a recent Newfoundland small collection

john o'neiljjohn o'neil
in Chatter 0 LikesVote Down
I won an Ebay auction for a small collection of "mint" 1800s- early 1900s stamps. They were all mounted on album pages, and every page was photographed, so you got a good look at the front. Obviously, you could not see the rear as they were hinged to the page,They are really fine stamps, bright, clean colors, decent centering etc. When I received them, I started listing stamps a page at a time. The earliest stamps in the first few pages were hinges over an older hinge remnant. I can usually remove a hinge pretty easily. If I'm having any difficulty, I stop and leave the remnant there. However, I found it damn near impossible to remove the original hinge rem, after removing the top one. I thought this would be an issue only with older stamps. However, it now appears that most in the collection are like that. As soon as I saw the first several stamps like this, I should have contacted the dealer and requested I be allowed to return for a full refund. I think I'm too far in now, and will have to the list maybe all the stamps as hinge rems. The ad described the collection as "mint", and mounted on Harris pages. I realize the term "mint" is kinda freely used, But I think the seller should have indicated the stamps were "remounted". The seller is not new....thousands of positive reviews. Going forward, I need to pay further attention. I'm hoping the Hinge Remnant in my description doesn't hurt value greatly. Honestly, I almost don't feel listing any more of them. Damn!

Comments

  • 8 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Dennis JorgensenDDennis Jorgensen
    0 LikesVote Down
    There are a lot of older colelctions that have hinges that should never have been manufactured and never used on stamps, and many Newfoundland and Canadian collections can have them. If the stamps look good and have not been thinned to me they are still something that can be sold as long as they are described as having a hinge remnant, For those that seem to have an obsession with gum the backside can be scanned. In a perfect world all the collections that I buy would all be mint never hinged, but it's not going to happen, especially with Newfoundland. Newfoundland stopped issuing stamps when it became part of Canada about the time that hingeless albums started being available in the late 1940's. Collectors used hinges, some well and some not so well. At least the collection John bought was not mounted using Scotch Tape
  • Michael AlmondMichael Almond
    0 LikesVote Down
    John:
    Would the seller have known that the stamps had been remounted? Would they have had to remove the stamps from the page to know that?
    Mike
  • john o'neiljjohn o'neil
    0 LikesVote Down
    I believe they could have seen this. There are even instances where original hinge was on the side vs the top. Would have taken extra work...sure, but when you are describing stamps as "mint" I think going the extra yard is appropriate. Obviously, in the end....Caveat Emptor. ( This may be one of the few times in my life I've used Latin after taking 4 years of it in HS).

    Hopefully, the stamps will sell for their pretty darn nice front side and centering.
  • john o'neiljjohn o'neil
    0 LikesVote Down
    Update....I'm up to the Tale of the Caribou Issue. To my relief, some single hinges are showing up. I'll stop whining and just proceed. I must admit, if you could ignore the back, these are beautiful stamps.
  • Dennis JorgensenDDennis Jorgensen
    2 LikesVote Down
    John - The Caribou issue is really hard to find well centered. On that issue I would worry more about the centering than the hinging as long as the stamp is sound.
    The word "mint" seems to have changed sinnce I started in the stamp world in the 1950's. What was considered mint back then is now sometimes called unused. This oldtimer still calls a stamp with no cancel mint, and if no hinge mark, mint never hinged, no gum mint no gum, etc.
  • Phil Merrill_Phil Merrill_
    edited August 2022 0 LikesVote Down
    Hua, Dennis. I would love to say more but I would just express my own opinions, and we all have opinions.
  • Bill O'MalleyBill O'Malley
    0 LikesVote Down
    John,

    I went to a Jesuit College Prep High School and we only had to take Latin for 2 years but I still had to take a language for 2 more years which was Spanish and German. I have not had to use any of it since, LoL.
  • Bob WoodburyBBob Woodbury
    1 LikesVote Down
    Bill. German is useless. I have been to Germany a dozed times. Spoke German to at least a hundred people. Always got English back. Useless. Spanish, on the other hand is very useful. Speak 5 words of Spanish and you get a flood back.
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