What Causes Stamps to Become Discolored?
Oct 9, 2023 17:08:07 GMT
philatelia, hrdoktorx, and 6 more like this
Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 9, 2023 17:08:07 GMT
Since this thread has been reinvigorated a bit by recent contributions from stainlessb and rod222 (thanks, guys!), I wanted to mention something that I learned during my recent trip to Montreal.
While I was in the offices of City Stamp Montreal (CSM), I noticed a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide on Robert Cooperman's desk. Robert is the principal at CSM. I asked him if he encounters much sulfuretting in his business there, and he told me that he has found a reasonable amount of it. But the odd thing is that he told me that he often finds that he needs to re-apply peroxide to the same stamps, sometimes just a year or two after the original treatment. He said that on more than one occasion, the discoloration due to sulfuretting returned after some time.
I was very surprised to hear this, and it made me wonder if there is an air quality issue with sulfur in downtown Montreal? I did a web search this morning, but I couldn't find anything linked to sulfur. Linda, have you ever heard of anything in this regard?
I used 3% peroxide successfully on a discolored, sulfuretted Cape Triangle about 18 months ago while we were living in the UK. I just checked it again, and it still looks good. I will keep checking to see if it ever starts to discolor again.
COGH, SG4 4d Blue on Paper More or Less Blued (SG: Slightly Blued). Left: The discolored stamp due to sulfuretting. Right: The same stamp after a 1-minute soak in fresh 3% hydrogen peroxide. This treatment was done in the spring of 2022 in Oxford, and the stamp has now been relocated to southern California. This image was originally created for my article (see below) and included again in the recent TSF Newsletter article on soaking.
Source: Dorn, Christopher. “Cape of Good Hope Triangles: The 4-Pence Blue De La Rue Issues, 1863-1864”. Cape & Natal Philatelic Journal (CNPJ), Vol. 26, No. 3 (103), September 2022. www.capenatalstamps.com/
While I was in the offices of City Stamp Montreal (CSM), I noticed a bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide on Robert Cooperman's desk. Robert is the principal at CSM. I asked him if he encounters much sulfuretting in his business there, and he told me that he has found a reasonable amount of it. But the odd thing is that he told me that he often finds that he needs to re-apply peroxide to the same stamps, sometimes just a year or two after the original treatment. He said that on more than one occasion, the discoloration due to sulfuretting returned after some time.
I was very surprised to hear this, and it made me wonder if there is an air quality issue with sulfur in downtown Montreal? I did a web search this morning, but I couldn't find anything linked to sulfur. Linda, have you ever heard of anything in this regard?
I used 3% peroxide successfully on a discolored, sulfuretted Cape Triangle about 18 months ago while we were living in the UK. I just checked it again, and it still looks good. I will keep checking to see if it ever starts to discolor again.
COGH, SG4 4d Blue on Paper More or Less Blued (SG: Slightly Blued). Left: The discolored stamp due to sulfuretting. Right: The same stamp after a 1-minute soak in fresh 3% hydrogen peroxide. This treatment was done in the spring of 2022 in Oxford, and the stamp has now been relocated to southern California. This image was originally created for my article (see below) and included again in the recent TSF Newsletter article on soaking.
Source: Dorn, Christopher. “Cape of Good Hope Triangles: The 4-Pence Blue De La Rue Issues, 1863-1864”. Cape & Natal Philatelic Journal (CNPJ), Vol. 26, No. 3 (103), September 2022. www.capenatalstamps.com/
