philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

, a mint stamp is one which is unused, has never been mounted and has the original gum, (if issued with gum). Mackay, James. ''Stamp Collecting: Philatelic Terms Illustrated''. 4th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003, p.88. Youngblood, Wayne L. ''All about Stamps''. Iola WI: Krause Publications, 2000, p.109. The term applies equally to

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the ...

and

revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s. In practice, the term is used within philately to refer to any stamp that appears to be unused with gum. It also includes those without gum but only when they have been issued without gum. To avoid confusion the various states of mint can be distinguished in the abbreviations stated under "Variations".

Variations

Variations of the term ''mint'' include: *Mint hinged (MH) – the stamp is unused but has been previously hinged. Remains of the hinge or gum disturbance are visible. *Mounted mint (MM) – the same as Mint hinged. *Mint no gum (MNG) – the stamp is as has been issued without gum. *Unmounted mint (UM) – the stamp is unused and appears never to have been mounted. *Mint never hinged (MNH) – the same as unmounted mint but with an assertion that the stamp is not a formerly mounted stamp that has been tampered with to remove traces of mounting. The hinging referred to in these terms is mounting of the stamp in a

stamp album Stamp albums are books used to house a collection of postage stamps. Overview Albums are a popular means of storing and displaying stamp collections for both beginners as well as accomplished collectors. They range from simple bound volumes int ...

by the application of a

stamp hinge In philately, stamp hinges, or mounts, are small, folded, transparent, rectangular pieces of paper coated with a mild gum. They are used by stamp collectors to affix postage stamps onto the pages of a stamp album. Mackay, James. ''Stamp Collecting: ...

to the back of the stamp. The highest grade is ''unmounted mint'' or ''mint never hinged''. The term ''mint never hinged'' has developed to provide reassurance to buyers that the stamp has not been tampered with to remove traces of mounting, as the term ''unmounted mint'' was thought to be ambiguous. In practice only the terms MNH and MH are used, but in some cases the term MNG when there are no, or hardly any stamps are known with gum.

Value

Mint stamps are often more valuable than used stamps as in many cases fewer mint stamps survive. A mint stamp may also be in better condition than a used stamp which has passed through the mail. Sometimes, however, used stamps may be more valuable than mint ones where higher numbers of mint stamps have survived, perhaps because large numbers of mint stamps were bought by collectors but few used on letters.Robert Murray
"Are Used or Unused Stamps Worth More?"

Tampering

Differences between mint and used values for the same stamp have led to a small industry in removing, or adding, postal cancellations to stamps. Another common practice is to attempt to remove fiscal cancellations, which are often

pen cancels A pen cancel on a Russian postage stamp In philately, a pen cancel – symbol – is a cancellation of a postage or revenue stamp by the use of a pen, marker or crayon. Usage In the early days of stamps, cancellation with a pen wa ...

, in order to change a stamp used fiscally (for tax purposes) to one apparently unused. Stamps available for both postage and revenue (fiscal) purposes are usually worth more unused or with a postal cancellation.

Madame Joseph Madame Joseph (c.1900 – after late 1940s)"Madame Joseph - The Origin?" by Brian Cartwright in ''The London Philatelist'', No. 1344, Vol. 116, April 2007, pp. 102–104. Year of birth approximate. was a stamp dealer active in London in the early ...

specialised in the addition of forged cancels to stamps that were worth more used than unused.

References

{{Reflist Philatelic terminology

Variations

Value

Tampering

See also

References