I bought a couple of ounces of Australian and French kiloware. The French self-adhesives are not soaking very well. I am planning on not soaking these anymore and just keep them on paper. My question is do other collectors do the same thing? If I was to use these in trades (I have a few duplicates) would a collector want them this way? Any suggestions on removing the paper on these stamps?

The Australian stamps come off fairly easy. What I notice though is that they seem to about half the thickness of other stamps. I am pretty sure that this is normal for these issues as I don't see any thinning (missing paper). I just want to be sure I am not doing something wrong.

Thanks,
Bob

Hi Bob:

I've also had problems with removing some of the French stamps from paper.

I'm under the impression that some of those issues just aren't meant to be removed once they are stuck on paper.

My suggestion would be is to neatly cut out the paper around the stamps in question and trade them on paper. I would also put a note in with the stamps saying that you have had problems in the past trying to remove these particular issues from paper. This would help the other collector in that he/she may not decide to soak in water. Sometimes we just do not know how difficult the stamps are to remove until we actually try it ourselves.

Another good example is the Olympic stamp issued by the USA. It has a tendency to 'crack' when soaked in water. This doesn't happen all the time with this issue, but most of the time it does.

The same goes for a lot of the recent Canadian souvenir sheets. The stamps on the sheet have a tendency to fall out of the sheet when soaked in water.

Liz

Bob,

The Austrailian self-adhesives always feel much thinner than other stamps after soaking but I have never had a problem with them.

Never try to soak anything self adhesives from Brazil! They disintergrate faster then any other stamps I have seen.

Cheers
Scott

please note that the Australian stamps aren't made of paper; they're really plastic, much like the ATM stamps sold in the US.

David
Checked the date - it doesn't say April 1. Please tell me when this development occurred. Or have you perchance confused Australian stamps with Australian polymer bank notes?
Jill (in Australia)

Thanks all for the advise. I just got some stamps from Brazil. Scott, I will heed your warning.

Bob

Australian and all other self adheasive stamps can be removed from paper with watermark detection fluid.With no damage to stamp or cancelations.it desolves any adheasive glues,including scotch tape and labels and the adheasive used to attach it.
I wouldnt recommend it for soaking thousands of stamps,just the ones important to you,or in small amounts.The fluid isnt cheap,but lasts for a long time.Also remember it is a flamable fluid.dont use near open flame,no smokeing,and no prolonged use.fumes can be a little toxic--make you light headed.well ventilated or short time useage is recommended.Otherwise,a good solution to removeing selfadheasive stamps and such.
TOM