Postage Stamp Gum - Philately

Philately

For collectors, gum is mostly a problem. It is rarely of use in differentiating between common and rare stamps, and being on the back of the stamp it is not usually visible. Nevertheless, many collectors of unused stamps want copies that are mint, never hinged which means that the gum must be pristine and intact, and they will pay a premium for these. While not so much of a problem for modern issues, the traditional way of mounting stamps in an album was with the use of stamp hinges, and some experts claim that very few unused stamps from the 19th century have not been hinged at some point in their existence. This means that old unused stamps are inevitably under suspicion of having been regummed, and the detection of regummed stamps is an important part of philatelic expertisation.

Stamps printed on the gummed side by mistake have become valuable varieties.