Kimberly, kidding a bit. You might see under magnification some evidence of difference in texture, some discoloration, or replacement of paper fibers. It's usually pretty evident. But there might be cases where it is done so well that it would take an expert to tell if it is subtle and well done.
Anyway, I'm asking because thus far, I have mostly only dealt with modern stamps and haven't come across this issue. I am attempting to branch out a little, and am currently looking at a MNH Austria B116 with a crease at the minimum, but looks to have been a tear. Obviously I want to describe it properly, so I thought I would ask all you experts for some guidance.
I have a daughter named Kimberly. I tried to teach her early on that there are no dumb questions....just the occasional dumb answer (and I am an expert on those kind of answers). You're cool. Do you have a way to magnify the subject well so you can see the issue?
I'm actually working on some Austria Semi-Postals as I write this. Just as an aside, those WWII era S/P's were very often favor cancelled so take note of the Scott notes on these issues regarding postally used examples.
Kimberly, This is a great question. This is really a sub-topic of "fault finding", so I will approach Fault Finding at a higher level, which will address this, and many other aspects to be aware of.
Let me start with some general tips first, and then I'll dig into some rather advanced methods. 1. Always be suspicious of stamps that have "hinges" on them. Used or Unused doesn't matter. A hinge can be used to hide faults (tears, things, regumming). 2. Cancels may be faked to help hide repairs and alterations (tears, pin holes, added margins, added perforations [and I don't mean "reperf", but adding on an entire real perforation cut from another stamp]), scraping of designs to remove design elements to make it appear as a different design, painting in of design elements that were either missing before a repair, or in an attempt to fake an item so it appears to be something else).
As a first step you can always apply magnification. The "Good old days" it was suggested, grab a loop at 10x power, and look at the stamp under strong light condition. That is still sound advice, however with modern USB camera technology, overhead cameras and USB microscopes makes this process much easier, and you can get a wider field of view. This can be important, because some "lines" won't appear unless you're looking at "the big picture".
It is important to examine any "adhesions" on the back of a stamp to understand if they are a legitimate attempt to repair the stamp. Repaired stamps are fine, so long as repairs are described if selling them.
One of the leading tests for faults (let's not limit it specifically to repaired tears), is to check the stamp in fluid. When looking for repairs, this step is crucial, and for many types or repairs are the only thing that will reveal their existence.
Checking in fluid is usually face down, but there are times when you'll want to check face up (cancels) or both face and back. This requires removing the stamp from fluid, allowing it to dry complete (see note on this), and the turning it over, and placing it back into fluid. If you're not familiar with checking for faults in fluid, there are really 3 stages to the examination process:
1. Initial placement into fluid. This is a good time to observe if there are any irregulates in the absorption of the fluid. If the stamp doesn't absorb fluid uniformly (i.e. some areas take longer to become saturated than others) then this is usually the result of a variation in thickness or density of the paper. This can be the result of a repair, or some other adhesion that you might have missed until it went into fluid. 2. Emersion in fluid. Depending on the type of faults you are looking for, generally speaking you're looking for darkened areas on the stamp. Small faults will appear is little more than dots the size of a pencil lead, but in the case of tears, you may see evidence of longer lines. If you can magnify this (this is where imaging cameras are more useful than the traditional loop), it may be clear as to the extent of the tear and repair. 3. The Flash. While all stages can be important, this stage seems to be the least known, and frequently overlooked stage of checking a stamp in fluid. When the stamp is removed from the fluid, it will dry. As it dries, a stage known as "the flash" occurs. Areas where there are faults (particularly where fibers have been broken) will "flash" white compared to the still damp background. This can happen VERY fast, and it's sometimes necessary to reintroduce the stamp to fluid, and watch the process again.
A NOTE about the FLASH: This process can be accelerated, and drying of the stamp in general after placed in fluid, by having on hand a small pad of clean, white paper. Grab a few sheets, place the stamp onto the paper, press down, pull it out, and it will instantly start to flash. It will be dry within 3 - 5 seconds, instead of waiting 20 - 30 seconds it takes if just pulled out of fluid.
I have a few stamps like this some with obvious repairs others with tape or hinge to keep it together luckily it's less then a dozen stamp I consider these junk unless old n rare I'll keep it the other stuff I'll throw in as a Bonus!
Comments
Anyway, I'm asking because thus far, I have mostly only dealt with modern stamps and haven't come across this issue. I am attempting to branch out a little, and am currently looking at a MNH Austria B116 with a crease at the minimum, but looks to have been a tear. Obviously I want to describe it properly, so I thought I would ask all you experts for some guidance.
I'm actually working on some Austria Semi-Postals as I write this. Just as an aside, those WWII era S/P's were very often favor cancelled so take note of the Scott notes on these issues regarding postally used examples.
This is a great question. This is really a sub-topic of "fault finding", so I will approach Fault Finding at a higher level, which will address this, and many other aspects to be aware of.
Let me start with some general tips first, and then I'll dig into some rather advanced methods.
1. Always be suspicious of stamps that have "hinges" on them. Used or Unused doesn't matter. A hinge can be used to hide faults (tears, things, regumming).
2. Cancels may be faked to help hide repairs and alterations (tears, pin holes, added margins, added perforations [and I don't mean "reperf", but adding on an entire real perforation cut from another stamp]), scraping of designs to remove design elements to make it appear as a different design, painting in of design elements that were either missing before a repair, or in an attempt to fake an item so it appears to be something else).
As a first step you can always apply magnification. The "Good old days" it was suggested, grab a loop at 10x power, and look at the stamp under strong light condition. That is still sound advice, however with modern USB camera technology, overhead cameras and USB microscopes makes this process much easier, and you can get a wider field of view. This can be important, because some "lines" won't appear unless you're looking at "the big picture".
It is important to examine any "adhesions" on the back of a stamp to understand if they are a legitimate attempt to repair the stamp. Repaired stamps are fine, so long as repairs are described if selling them.
One of the leading tests for faults (let's not limit it specifically to repaired tears), is to check the stamp in fluid. When looking for repairs, this step is crucial, and for many types or repairs are the only thing that will reveal their existence.
Checking in fluid is usually face down, but there are times when you'll want to check face up (cancels) or both face and back. This requires removing the stamp from fluid, allowing it to dry complete (see note on this), and the turning it over, and placing it back into fluid. If you're not familiar with checking for faults in fluid, there are really 3 stages to the examination process:
1. Initial placement into fluid.
This is a good time to observe if there are any irregulates in the absorption of the fluid. If the stamp doesn't absorb fluid uniformly (i.e. some areas take longer to become saturated than others) then this is usually the result of a variation in thickness or density of the paper. This can be the result of a repair, or some other adhesion that you might have missed until it went into fluid.
2. Emersion in fluid.
Depending on the type of faults you are looking for, generally speaking you're looking for darkened areas on the stamp. Small faults will appear is little more than dots the size of a pencil lead, but in the case of tears, you may see evidence of longer lines. If you can magnify this (this is where imaging cameras are more useful than the traditional loop), it may be clear as to the extent of the tear and repair.
3. The Flash.
While all stages can be important, this stage seems to be the least known, and frequently overlooked stage of checking a stamp in fluid. When the stamp is removed from the fluid, it will dry. As it dries, a stage known as "the flash" occurs. Areas where there are faults (particularly where fibers have been broken) will "flash" white compared to the still damp background. This can happen VERY fast, and it's sometimes necessary to reintroduce the stamp to fluid, and watch the process again.
A NOTE about the FLASH: This process can be accelerated, and drying of the stamp in general after placed in fluid, by having on hand a small pad of clean, white paper. Grab a few sheets, place the stamp onto the paper, press down, pull it out, and it will instantly start to flash. It will be dry within 3 - 5 seconds, instead of waiting 20 - 30 seconds it takes if just pulled out of fluid.