Hinges

I have the old ones from the 60s (Dennison 1000 for 25¢)  - they do not stick that much and leave just a Light Hinge remnant - but I do not hinge stamps in 2023

René

I've read a number of places that all hinges today are made by one manufacturer in Europe. They're sold under various brands but they are all supposedly from the same factory which makes them all the same hinges. To test this claim out, I purchased a packet of every major stamp hinge I could find for sale, even obscure brands, and mounted stamps using a dozen or more of each brand on an album page. After a few days, I then removed each of them.

Verdict: All hinges sold today not only look the same, they behave the same. All the hinges -- every single one -- tore the album page or left a very obvious hinge mark in exactly the same way. And they tore the back of the (old, cheap) stamps I used them on. There was no "better" brand among all of them. So, it does seem as if all modern brands of stamp hinges are the same hinges. And they are very aggressive, doing damage to album pages and to stamps.

Older hinges (like Dennison's which are no longer made) used a less aggressive adhesive which removed much more easily and did not tear the stamp or the album page. Too bad they're no longer made.

If you must use modern hinges, I suggest two things:

1. Consider cutting them in half vertically as you use them. A bit tiresome, but this reduces the damage if you need to remove them. And since the glue is aggressive, they will still hold the stamp on the album page well. AND you get more hinges that way!

2. Try to use less moisture. It's not easy to do, and I haven't mastered this very well, but if you can moisten lightly or moisten less of the hinge, it will be at least a little less damaging if you need to remove it later. Doing #1 above is one way to use less moisture on a hinge, of course. One technique I use with hinges is after moistening (licking, usually), I wait a bit and maybe wave it in the air for a few seconds to dry it a little. That might help by evaporating some of the moisture -- but I haven't really tested this to be sure. And, yes, you will look silly, but what can you do . . . ?

Stamp mounts which most collectors use today cost at least $0.06 each (or slightly more) to use. That's a package with 22 strips from which you cut 4 mounts from each strip (88 mounts, perhaps a little more) for about $6.00 a package.

On the other hand, a packet of 1,000 modern hinges costing about $4.00 works out to less than 1/2 a cent per hinge ($0.004) per stamp, a fraction of the cost of stamp mounts. BUT if the hinges damage your stamps, what is the point? I mean, you might as well use scotch tape if you're cheap and don't care about damaging your stamps.

(Don't tell anyone, but there now is Scotch removable double-sided tape that might be worth experimenting with. I wonder . . . .  In fact, I'm currently experimenting with a page of cheap stamps mounted with this tape over a year ago to see if the adhesive migrates into the page or into the stamp, or if the tape stains or otherwise damages the stamp, and if the tape really removable after a few years, and so on. We'll see, but so far, so good. However, no, I do not recommend this. Tape is generally very bad for stamps. And who knows how "neutral" the adhesive is? But you might also want to try your own test page of stamps mounted this way to see what you find. If you do, be very sure you use the "removable" version of this tape, not the "permanent" type. They look similar but one you can't remove later. Imagine doing that to your stamps!)

Finding old Dennison's on Ebay is not impossible, but expect to pay $25-30 currently for just one package, as unbelievable as that is. That's close to $0.03 a hinge which isn't so much less than the cost of a stamp mount. And it's a great deal more than modern stamp hinges. But the mount will protect the stamp a lot better and may make your album pages look better, as well.

In my albums, I hinge early stamps that have already been hinged. That's usually to "around" the 1920s or 1930s. But I use stamp mounts for all later stamps -- and for all mint unhinged stamps of whatever year. Any really valuable stamps, including really early ones, also go into a mount just to be a good caretaker. So most of my country collections are about 25% hinged at the beginning of the album and then all the rest are in mounts. In fact, sometimes I feel as if I'm personally keeping mount-manufacturers in business! 

Cheers! Have fun.

Thank you all for this information. I hinged for many years without thinking of the damage they may cause. When I started buying old collections, I found out. Some hinges from the past held up well, many did not. I have even found the use of selvedge for a hinge. I was lucky that my father in the 60's stopped hinging Mint stamps, and that practice stuck with me. I have even stopped hinging stamps with a CV of over £5 and use mounts for my albums. I had an old dealer tell me never remove a hinge from a mint stamp or I will cry. Only took one mistake for me to learn. For my non valuable stamps I use 'Dennisen' brand. If you have to remove they come off fairly easily when dry, off of used stamps. For older stamps with hinges I will soak, make sure the stamp does not have fugitive ink, or use my stamp lift. I use the stamp lift on Mint stamps with hinges; there is an art to it so best to practice on stamps of little or no value. I have found in old collections packs of "Dennison" hinges and they are still the best I have found. But will try the Prinz to see how they are. Similar price to the Dennisen, note the slight change in spelling, maybe that was done on purpose.....

DENNISON HINGES    CANADA
Be aware the genuine Dennison hinges, appear in a least 5 differing packaging designs from their factory in Bowman Ontario

Canada Revenue Perfin of the Dennison Company
(Dennison Manufacturing Co)

I use mounts for my collections, I have seen old collections with mounts that had accid in the gum and damagede the stamps. I know today the hinges is acid free. I always had trouble with hinges espicially when buying stamps on papper, collectors seems to place the hinges which make no sense to me, that means sometime i tear the stamp instead of getting it of the pages they are attached to.

Hinges is smart when setting up sales pages as long as the stamps is postmarked, do not use hinges at MNH stamps it is a no go.

Among my dad's philatelic materials (in storage since 1957) is a carton of about 60 unopened packages of these hinges. I haven't opened a package to try out the hinges yet, but I do plan to eventually mount at least a few stamps in a display case or two for wall mounting. I'm still deciding about how to deal with a collection in an album, if I decide to go that route as well. Clearly, I will have packages of hinges to get rid of. I'll post here again if they are still good.

doug534 As Terri mentioned these older hinges are in demand. I just looked on eBay and I see this brand in the yellow envelopes are selling in the 20.00 to 40.00 Canadian range. I still hinge a lot and I am using up opened packages like you have. Dennison is the popular one but yours are great as well.

I'm using a pack of Fold-o-Hinges these days and I like them quite a bit. Alas, it's my last pack. The recent pack (different brand) I bought last year are brutal. They stick so much I can't separate the hinges from each other before I weld them onto a stamp!

the effect that salentin describes - "stains, like spots of grease and unrepairable etc., moving into the stamp" - is a very similar effect that is produced when using Sellotape instead of a proper hinge. Albums belonging to young adults - who have used Sellotape in place of real stamp hinges  - usually have a few stamps that have ended up looking like this, with spots and stains that appear much like a heavy grease mark, and it's true indeed that this totally ruins the stgamp.

Wow, such a lot of replies to my post. Thank you for all the advice and tips.  Sorry I didn't get back sooner to read and reply to them. I have been very busy with family stuff, which has left me little time for phiiately-related activity. The problem I had with my hinges at one point was that they were sticking together and hardening, making it impossible to separate them, but i was able to prevent that happening with other hinges by storing them in an empty After Eights tin. Since sending my post I found some more hinges in an envelope, which so far are ok. Although there are not as many stamps coming my way, following the passing of my husband two years ago, there are still a lot waiting to be removed from their envelopes, which will keep me busy for a long time to come.

Gillian