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A dealer complains about self-adhesive stamps
Frank von Hausen, owner of FvH Stamps on Cordova Street in Vancouver,
yesterday sent the following e-mail to customers on his mailing list: In the current issue of Canada Stamp News as well as in the current issue of Canada Post's Details Magazine is the annual poll of 2003 Canadian Issues. Favorite, least favorite, etc. *Most interestingly however is the 3rd section of the questionnaire which reads: 'All U.S. Stamps are now self-adhesive. Should Canada Post do the same, or should some stamps always be issued traditional gummed ?' We, as dealers, constantly hear the complaints about the self-adhesives. Please take this opportunity to make your feelings known by writing to CSN, and in so doing, making your feelings known to Canada Post. The address to write to, as given in both publications is: Canada Stamp News P.O. Box 28103 Lakeport Post Office 600 Ontario Street St. Catharines, ON L2N 7P8 My feelings on the subject are as follows: Positives: One only.... on the business aspect, the general, non-collecting public likes the convenience of self adhesives and will usually choose them given the choice. Negatives: 1. Separating, storing, mounting, displaying are all much more difficult with self-adhesives. 2. For anyone who keeps a quantity of issues on hand, the storage space required for self-adhesives is substantially higher. 3. Questionable long-term life of the mint stamps. You know what happens to tape and other self-adhesive labels over a number of years, the gum either dries out & stains, or the gum breaks down, comes loose from the backing paper and/or bleeds into the paper creating that translucent look. In the years ahead, it will be likely that most of the self-adhesives will be collectible, only in used condition, the mint ones having deteriorated into a non-collectible state. I often run across mint Canada #1191 (38c Large self-Ahesive Canada Flag, Issued 1989) and #1615-1616 (45c Cinema In Canada Set of 10 stamps in two souvenir sheets, issued in 1996) in a deteriorating state. These stamps are only 15 & 8 years old respectively !!!!! 4. Cost of production for self-adhesive stamps is substantially higher than for traditional water activated sheets of stamps. 5. Waste of Paper & Garbage. I would estimate 3-4 times more paper is used in producing self-adhesive stamps. With self-adhesives there is much more paper in the backing and surrounding selvedge than there is in the stamps themselves. All this goes into the garbage !! For years collectors have complained about self-adhesive stamps. Every dealer has customers who have either quit collecting modern issues or have scaled their collecting back dramatically because of self-adhesives. It is obvious there are no true, traditional stamp collectors at the decision-making levels of Canada Post or many of the other countries following the trend to more self-adhesives. The Post Offices around the world sure want our money when it comes to production & sales of collectible stamps, but on the other hand, they are not listening to what collectors want. The pioneers of self-adhesive stamps were the countries of Sierra Leone and Tonga. You will note that it has now been many years since either of these countries has produced self-adhesives. Both have gone back to issuing traditional water-activated stamps. Why????? Most likely a dramatic loss of revenue from stamp collectors. Will it take the same here, or might somebody out there be listening ? PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO SEND A NOTE TO THE ADDRESS ABOVE giving you feelings on the subject. ALSO, pass this message on to other collectors, stamp club members, etc. LET'S HAVE A SAY !" --- Frank implies but does not state specifically that the silicone-coated backing paper from self-adhesive stamps cannot be recycled. And it cannot be recycled, or so I was told by a recycling company rep.So, on top of the damage to stamp collecting, self-adhesive stamps are a colossal environmental stupidity. Bob Ingraham |
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"Albumen" wrote in message ... Forgot to mention one thing, he can't charge extra for never hinged. Wonder if that is the real reason? -a Why not? If I wanted to, I could mount my self-adhesives using hinges, just like any other stamp. The only difference is that there would be no gum to disturb - and that therefore it would sometimes be easy to remove all traces of that hinge afterwards. I am inclined to the view that conventionally gummed stamps are declining rapidly in economic significance (even without taking into account the increasing importance of electronic communication), especially for standard rate postage items. Moreover in the UK at least (and no doubt elsewhere), it is normal for postal staff in all but the smallest offices to print labels for packets presented for stamping, and perhaps genuinely and contemporaneously postally used higher values will become real collectors items. I do not think there is any point in regretting or applauding this development - it is progress and we just have to adapt our hobby as a consequence. For some of course this development is an ideal excuse for ceasing to collect this modern "junk" and concentrate their resources on "real" stamps - but they can decide this at any time in full knowledge that the more gaps that they fill, the more that they will create. I am sure that I am not the only one to experience this. Roger |
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