The value of a

postage stamp 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 f ...

in the

stamp collecting Stamp collecting is the collecting of postage stamps and related objects. It is an area of philately, which is the study (or combined study and collection) of stamps. It has been one of the world's most popular hobbies since the late nineteenth ...

market depends on various features of its condition. Among the features assessed are centering, margins, and gum.

Centering and margins

The following grades convey how well centered the stamp is and the width of the stamp's margins. *Superb is sometimes used for a perfect stamp. *Extra fine (EF) or extremely fine (XF) is a perfectly centered stamp with wide margins. *Very fine (VF) is a well centered stamp with ample margins. *Fine (F) is a stamp that is significantly offset but still has four margins. *Average (Avg.) is a stamp that has no margin on at least one side with a portion of the design trimmed off or cut into by

perforation A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

s. Except for rare or very old stamps average stamps are not collected or sold except as space-fillers or reference copies. Heavy cancellations which obliterate the design can also be considered. *Poor is a stamp which is heavily canceled, soiled, cut to shape. Only great rarities such as the

British Guiana 1c magenta The British Guiana 1c magenta is regarded by many philatelists as the world's most famous rare postage stamp, stamp. It was issued in limited numbers in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1856, and only one specimen is now known to exist. It is the ...

are collected in poor condition. Rare or unusual stamps can be submitted for

Philatelic expertisation Philatelic expertisation is the process whereby an Expert, authority is asked to give an opinion whether a philatelic item is genuine and whether it has been repaired or altered in any way. Forging and faking, Regummed stamp, regumming and Posta ...

. The opinions of experts differ and have evolved over time. Conflicting expert opinions on stamp grading can have a huge effect on a stamp's value.''A Sharp Eye on collecting US Classics'' (Sharp Photography Publications, 2021) ASIN B091MBTGJ7 (read online)

Gum

Another key factor in the case of

mint stamp In philately, a mint stamp is one which is unused, has never been mounted and has the original postage stamp gum, gum, (if issued with gum).James A. Mackay, Mackay, James. ''Stamp Collecting: Philatelic Terms Illustrated''. 4th edition. London: ...

s is the presence or absence of

postage stamp gum In philately, gum is the substance applied to the back of a stamp to enable it to adhere to a letter or other mailed item. The term is generic, and applies both to traditional types such as gum arabic and to synthetic modern formulations. Gum is ...

and whether the gum has been disturbed. *Mint never-hinged (MNH or Mint NH, NH, u/m) is an unused stamp that has full original undisturbed gum with no trace of damage done by 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: ...

. Stamps sell at a considerable premium if they are in this condition. *Lightly hinged (LH) is a mint stamp which was hinged but only slightly disturbed. *Heavily hinged (HH) is a mint stamp which was hinged and damaged in the process. *Hinge remaining (HR) is a mint stamp which has part of a stamp hinge on the back. *Original gum (OG): A stamp with its original gum, yet deteriorated by age. *No Gum (NG): Stamp's gum has been washed off. Rarely, stamps are issued with no gum. *Regummed (RG): Fresh gum has been applied to the stamp. Poor regumming can be detected by examining the end of the perforations under a microscope. The fresh gum may interfere with the small strands of torn paper or even form small droplets.

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and phila ...

uses the following to describe stamps with disturbed gum: * large part o.g.: mounted mint (mint hinged) with the majority of original gum * part o.g.: mounted mint (mint hinged) with less than 50% of original gum Postally used stamps usually have no gum and these terms do not apply. An apparently used stamp with gum, for example from the former

Soviet bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

, may be "cancelled to order" ("CTO") and have little or no value to collectors.

Notes

{{reflist Philatelic terminology Conditions of collectibles