Condition
The condition of stamp collectibles is a description of a stamps paper, gum (when dealing with mint stamps), and ink characteristics. The most adequate description of a stamp should be concise but still use as many words as necessary to properly describe the stamp. For example, a early British colonial stamp issued from the tropics might have many faults that need addressing, and the stamps description may be as long as a paragraph to note this. Despite this, old issued stamps with faults may still yet be very valuable due to price or rarity of pristine examples, or their possible lack of existence.
Positive Conditions -
- The stamp collectibles should have a crisp and clear printing impression that is on a line-engraved issue,
- The stamp should possess wide margins between the separations and the design itself,
- The stamp collectibles should possess rich colors as if it were hot off the press,
- There should be selvage that is attached to the stamp, especially when it comes to older issued stamps,
- Used stamps with rare or usual cancellation,
Faults -
A fault is anything that has damaged, altered or otherwise changed the stamp or the appearance of the stamp since the point in time where it was printed, except for postal marks such as a cancellation, pre-cancels and overprints.
- Gum faults include mint copies that have been re-gummed, or uncancelled copies that do not have any gum. If there is something stuck on the gum, like a fingerprint or dirt, this is also considered to be a fault for stamp collectibles.
- Paper faults include pieces that are missing, tears or holes, creases or folds or stains on the paper. If the paper has thinned because the stamp back has been peeled away in part or completely, this is a paper fault. Another paper fault involves heavy hinge remnant in stamp collectibles.
- Color faults on stamp collectibles include chemical changes in the stamp color or stains. Attempting to remove a cancellation may also change the color of a stamp.
- Perf faults include shortened perforations or perf tips that have been cut off in order to create a straight edge which indicates that the stamp was cut with a scissors. Other perforation faults include perforations that are notably shorter than others or perforations that were clearly pulled off.
- Face faults include when something is stuck on the stamp, or when the stamp is scuffed or has non-postal marks on it such as crayon marks, pencil marks or pen marks.
Stamp conditions can vary significantly from one country to the next, and the standards are not typically the same across the board based on printing technologies and region. Sometimes you will buy a stamp that is not in high condition with a note that mentions that it is very fine for the country, which explains that it will be hard to find stamps of the same high quality in that region.
Photo credits: karen horton
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