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

Forgot to mention one thing, he can't charge extra for never hinged.

Wonder if that is the real reason?

-a

--

Send Replies to:


"Bob Ingraham" wrote in message
om...
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

"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