Stamp hinges are small, folded, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum. They are used by stamp collectors to affix postage stamps A postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery. Postage stamps are the most popular way of paying for retail mail; alternatives include postal stationery such as prepaid-postage envelopes, onto the pages of a stamp album A stamp album is a book, often loose-leafed , in which a collection of postage stamps may be stored and displayed. The short end is moistened and affixed to the stamp, the long end is likewise affixed to the page. The hinge keeps the stamp on the page while still allowing it to be lifted to examine the back (for instance to see the watermark A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light , caused by thickness variations in the paper. There are two main types of watermark, the Dandy Roll process, and the more complex Cylinder Mould process. A watermark is very useful in the examination of or expert marks).
The best stamp hinges are also designed to be "peelable", meaning that the stamp may be removed from the page, and the hinge from the stamp, without any damage to either. Not all makes of hinge have this property, and the backs of many stamps have "hinge remnants", where the hinge has torn away rather than letting go of the stamp. This is especially common for mint stamps, where the stamp's own gum adheres tightly to the hinge. Some old stamps may actually have multiple hinge remnants layered on top of each other. Conversely, careless removal of a hinge may take away a layer of the stamp's paper, resulting in a type of stamp thin known as a "hinge thin".
Multiple hinge remnants are visible on this stamp backEven with the use of peelable hinges and care taken to minimize the moisture used, the hinge will leave a visible disturbance in the gum of an unused stamp. While this was formerly a matter of indifference, since about the middle of the 20th century many collectors have come to prefer "unhinged stamps" showing no trace of hinging. In some cases, the price differential is 2-to-1 or more, resulting in the quip that the "gum on the back of a stamp is the most valuable substance in the world". Collectors preferring unhinged stamps typically use pocket-like or sleeve-like stamp mounts.
Since the time that unhinged stamps became popular, considerable numbers of old stamps with intact gum have appeared on the market, raising suspicion that many of these have been regummed; some experts have asserted that there are no stamps surviving from the 19th century that have not been hinged.
Nevertheless, stamp hinges remain popular as a mounting method.
References
- Richard McP. Cabeen, Standard Handbook of Stamp Collecting (Collectors Club, 1979), pp. 37-40.
Categories: Stamp collecting | Philatelic terminology
