Advice sought on my old collection - foxing or acid burn ?

Hello all,

I was an avid collector in my teens, keeping any used stamps (world)
that fell my way. Due to work and family circumstances, I let my
collection habits lapse, and left my old less-valuable stamps to be
stored for a number of years in some cheap old chinese stockbooks
circa 1980s. The stamps are now showing signs of either foxing or acid
burn from the acidic pages (yellow spots and in some cases these are
dark brown edges around the stamps). The stamps are all used, and
probably hold no significant resale value, but I hate throwing
anything away !

Is this foxing or more likely to be acid burn ? Can the stamps be
salvaged, or should I just sort through the lot and keep only those
that appear unaffected ? I have removed the stamps from the stockbooks
now, any advice on what should do ?

Thanks

Mark

G'day Conan,
If you use the link here
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...stamps.discuss

(Make sure link is one line across page)
type in an appropriate search word .....foxing etc
There should be oodlies of posts to refer to.

In short, I think it a widely held belief that foxing
migrates, so best to "grin and tear it" unless
the issue is reasonably scarce.

Or, perhaps, take a chance on giving them a bath
in a suitable wash described on those posts.
Sounds like you have a few to test with.

Those Chinese Stock books are terrors for that
in humid atmospheres. Another large problem
is failing to keep Albums in Slip Cases.

Good Luck


--

(Remove gum to reply)


Conan wrote in message ...
| Hello all,
|
| I was an avid collector in my teens, keeping any used stamps (world)
| that fell my way. Due to work and family circumstances, I let my
| collection habits lapse, and left my old less-valuable stamps to be
| stored for a number of years in some cheap old chinese stockbooks
| circa 1980s. The stamps are now showing signs of either foxing or acid
| burn from the acidic pages (yellow spots and in some cases these are
| dark brown edges around the stamps). The stamps are all used, and
| probably hold no significant resale value, but I hate throwing
| anything away !
|
| Is this foxing or more likely to be acid burn ? Can the stamps be
| salvaged, or should I just sort through the lot and keep only those
| that appear unaffected ? I have removed the stamps from the stockbooks
| now, any advice on what should do ?
|
| Thanks
|
| Mark
|

Thanks for the quick response - I had done some research and that's
when I found the terms foxing and toning. I guess I should bathe all
from the stockbooks, even if they show no signs of foxing yet ?

And what sort of slipcases should I use for my Lighthouse and Ka-Be
stock albums? And I'm impressed with my Hagner sheets, no sign of
damage on those stamps !



On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 19:01:03 +0800, "Rodney"
wrote:

G'day Conan,
If you use the link here
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...stamps.discuss

(Make sure link is one line across page)
type in an appropriate search word .....foxing etc
There should be oodlies of posts to refer to.

In short, I think it a widely held belief that foxing
migrates, so best to "grin and tear it" unless
the issue is reasonably scarce.

Or, perhaps, take a chance on giving them a bath
in a suitable wash described on those posts.
Sounds like you have a few to test with.

Those Chinese Stock books are terrors for that
in humid atmospheres. Another large problem
is failing to keep Albums in Slip Cases.

Good Luck

| Thanks for the quick response - I had done some research and that's
| when I found the terms foxing and toning. I guess I should bathe all
| from the stockbooks, even if they show no signs of foxing yet ?

Well, no Conan,
I had the sense that all were toned on the perfs,
(You can always get a good idea of the std of your stamp
when scanned at about 200-300dpi)
If random scans of the good ones look good at the perfs
I would take a chance and put them into Hagners.

The rest I would put aside, until you get a feel for stamp values
in general. When you consider one can purchase say 10,000 mixture
for $400-$500, and your toned stamps (in general) are really worthless
then it may influence you to part with them.


| And what sort of slipcases should I use for my Lighthouse and Ka-Be
| stock albums? And I'm impressed with my Hagner sheets, no sign of
| damage on those stamps !

This is out of my area, I am reasonably new to the hobby, others would
be better suited to advise. If you're in the budget range, then any slip
case would be sufficient, as long as it protects the pages from
air borne nasties ,dust etc, the very beginning of toning IMHO.

HTH

Slipcases - don't forget that they not only keep undesirables (dust, smoke
etc) out but can also keep undesirables (notably damp) in. If you use an
album in a humid room, don't bung it back in a slipcase or you will be
giving the mould and rust a perfect breeding ground.

--
Cheers - John Mycroft
coryton_at_cobbsmill_dot_com


"Rodney" wrote in message
...
| Thanks for the quick response - I had done some research and that's
| when I found the terms foxing and toning. I guess I should bathe all
| from the stockbooks, even if they show no signs of foxing yet ?

Well, no Conan,
I had the sense that all were toned on the perfs,
(You can always get a good idea of the std of your stamp
when scanned at about 200-300dpi)
If random scans of the good ones look good at the perfs
I would take a chance and put them into Hagners.

The rest I would put aside, until you get a feel for stamp values
in general. When you consider one can purchase say 10,000 mixture
for $400-$500, and your toned stamps (in general) are really worthless
then it may influence you to part with them.


| And what sort of slipcases should I use for my Lighthouse and Ka-Be
| stock albums? And I'm impressed with my Hagner sheets, no sign of
| damage on those stamps !

This is out of my area, I am reasonably new to the hobby, others would
be better suited to advise. If you're in the budget range, then any slip
case would be sufficient, as long as it protects the pages from
air borne nasties ,dust etc, the very beginning of toning IMHO.

HTH