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Post by orpilorp on Jan 10, 2016 19:09:53 GMT
Last week I mailed a small package to Canada, and was excited because I was FINALLY able to used two stamps that had been sitting in my drawer for 35 years. (The $2 and $5 stamps from 1979, Scott US #1611 and Us #1612.) I always feared they might get damp.
After the package was weighed and I was told the cost, I told the postal worked I was going to use some old stamps. As I was affixing the stamps she asked, "Are you actually licking them?!"
I said, "Yes, I have to wet the gum."
She asked, "They're gummed?!" And then she challenged their authenticity, showing them to a fellow worked.
I told her the post office sold stamp collecting books, and she could look them up if she wanted. Neither person had ever heard of a $5 stamp. Shesh.
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Post by Mia on Jan 10, 2016 19:13:18 GMT
A young post office clerk then?! The UK still has some gummed stamps, but the Machin make up values and certain stamp issues are sticky.
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Post by MrAndersen on Jan 11, 2016 7:37:11 GMT
Japan has both, but certainly gummed stamps are more common. It is my opinion that modern stamps taste much better than the stamps I knew as a child. Maybe they changed the seasoning.
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bruce
Crayons
Posts: 32
Looking for Penpals?: Yes. Global penpals welcome
Country I live in is: Canada
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Post by bruce on Mar 4, 2016 16:44:23 GMT
I recently came across a post office here in Canada with a small hoard of 'older' gummed stamps valued at 1,2,3,6,7,9,and22 cents respectively. They aren't actually that old but I have been combining and using them recently. I have had a couple of letters returned for what appears to be improper postage. I suspect it has to do with machine readabiliy but am not absolutely sure. I wish to continue searching out and using older stamps as the current generation of canadian stamps have been pretty shabby and some I'm downright embarrassed to send. Let me know how it works out please. (thanks for bringing this subject up)
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2016 4:29:59 GMT
I recently came across a post office here in Canada with a small hoard of 'older' gummed stamps valued at 1,2,3,6,7,9,and22 cents respectively. They aren't actually that old but I have been combining and using them recently. I have had a couple of letters returned for what appears to be improper postage. I suspect it has to do with machine readabiliy but am not absolutely sure. I wish to continue searching out and using older stamps as the current generation of canadian stamps have been pretty shabby and some I'm downright embarrassed to send. Let me know how it works out please. (thanks for bringing this subject up) Oh dear, I have been a bit worried about that happening when using the low value postage. Or of them being returned due to my adding on old cancelled stamps from Canada or other countries as decoration. Nothing returned yet though! Though I often don't put a return address... hmm
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Post by MKB on Mar 10, 2016 1:39:18 GMT
I received a letter with some Apollo space program stamps. I was thrilled to receive them.
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jbb
Crayons
Posts: 18
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Post by jbb on Mar 12, 2016 14:39:40 GMT
You can buy old, unused U.S. postage stamps on ebay for under face value....so, of course I had to buy a mountain of them. I wonder if someone at the post office has to add them up to make sure they have the right amount each time. So far my letters have all gotten to their destination.
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Post by ritak on Mar 12, 2016 16:06:38 GMT
You can buy old, unused U.S. postage stamps on ebay for under face value....so, of course I had to buy a mountain of them. I wonder if someone at the post office has to add them up to make sure they have the right amount each time. So far my letters have all gotten to their destination. I've wondered about that too whenever I use some of the older stamps. jbb, those envelopes are a work or art. That 3¢ purple Statue Of Liberty stamp brought back so many memories. Just one of those would get a letter mailed when I was a little girl .
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Post by distractedmom on Mar 12, 2016 19:09:18 GMT
Japan has both, but certainly gummed stamps are more common. It is my opinion that modern stamps taste much better than the stamps I knew as a child. Maybe they changed the seasoning. I lol'd!
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Post by distractedmom on Mar 12, 2016 19:15:46 GMT
You can buy old, unused U.S. postage stamps on ebay for under face value....so, of course I had to buy a mountain of them. I wonder if someone at the post office has to add them up to make sure they have the right amount each time. So far my letters have all gotten to their destination. I can never unsee this, can I? Oh, the temptation...
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Post by MKB on Mar 12, 2016 19:34:22 GMT
No temptation, it's cheaper than purchasing from USPS online and more convenient than going to the post office, plus the coolness factor makes it a win, win, win. Thanks a bunch!
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jbb
Crayons
Posts: 18
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Post by jbb on Mar 12, 2016 19:43:33 GMT
I can never unsee this, can I? Oh, the temptation... It's FREE money to buy stamps under face value. YOU'd be making money that you can spend on paper & pens. It's the RIGHT THING TO DO. This seller is good www.ebay.com/sch/jewelryandtreasure/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from= --- you can find even better deals if you hunt around or want to spend more. Make sure you're getting U.S. stamps if you're in the U.S. this seller sells pretty stamps from other countries too.
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Post by MKB on Mar 13, 2016 2:58:00 GMT
Whoa, a 1/2 cent stamp! You're going to need a bigger envelope to use all of those.
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Post by PhotoJim on Feb 14, 2019 17:15:04 GMT
I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd post that Canada's low-value definitive stamps (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 25 cents) are still gummed today.
Fun fact: Canada's self-stick stamps have gum on them, too. When you soak the stamps, the gum dissolves, separating the self-stick adhesive from the stamp, so the stamp comes off the paper just as well as it did in the lick-and-stick days.
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Post by DJW1066 on Mar 4, 2019 18:29:34 GMT
I've learned the hard way to not trust the "stickiness" of the vintage MNH stamps that I buy on EBay; too many letters were reported as arriving with stamps barely clinging to the envelope. So now I use a glue stick for all stamps, apart from the very few that I buy from Canada Post.
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