Mounts

Mounts, or stamp mounts are used to preserve gum on MNH stamps and stamps overall.

Original types
With the rise of collecting MNH stamps, alternatives to stamp hinges were created. These are in the "good idea that turned out to be very bad" category. Any unused packages found old collections should be destroyed, preferably by shooting them into the Sun so that they can never be used. Do not buy the eBay offerings of "vintage" stamp mounts if you care about your stamps at all. The explanation below is intended to keep you from even imagining you could use these old mounts to save a few pennies.

Crystal Mounts are flat tubes of thick acetate with a gummed strip on the back, to be trimmed to stamp width. They came in several sizes and instructions were given to fold the bottom sides to better fit stamps. The problems came with stamps easily slipping out of the tube ends, solved by some collectors by sealing the sides with cellophane tape. Over time, that eventually stained stamps with a sticky brownish mess. Some other collectors were determined to make sure the mounts would never fall off an album page by wetting the gummed strip well enough that moisture would slop inside the mount – so much for MNH. Folding Crystal Mounts would also result in the mounts warping/shrinking though some would distort all on their own. Even if you avoided those problems, cut mounts would clash with each other on worldwide album pages, damaging stamps that slipped out, plus your album would immediately become several times thicker. PM mounts are/were acetate fronts backed with black paper. with cut tabs to be folded under the mount. The backs are/were self-adhesive. Individual mounts existed in common US stamp sizes, but custom ones could be cut down from larger mounts. Unfortunately, the black paper was porous and would absorb moisture – goodbye MNH stamp. The mounts would also eventually bleed adhesive inside the mount. The acetate was again subject to warping/shrinkage over time. And like using Crystal Mounts, you would have to buy extra binders because of the thickness of PM mounts.

When buying collections using either mount, don't expect MNH stamps to be within.

Stamp mounts today
Today's stamp mounts are made of inert polystyrol. They are sold as pre-cut in specific stamp sizes (mostly US), or in strips that can be cut to size. There are a range of sizes. Most come with either "dark" (nearly full black) or clear backs. They are gummed on the backs with "water-activated" gum. There are two major styles, top-loading or split back.

With the proper size used, mounts with split backs allow a more secure hold on stamps. Measurements given for the split back types are for the internal part; allow perhaps a millimeter or so extra for some wiggle room. Too tight a fit and the mounted stamp will not lay flat and you can put waves or a crease in stamps with a bad fit. The problem comes when you have older stamps of varying sizes. You'll have to decide if you want mounts fitted to individual size or use mounts all the same size to fit the largest stamp in a set to look "aesthetic".

Top loading mounts depend on the seam part of the mount front and back to hold stamps in place. So more careful turning of album pages is needed. They allow trimming of the top to provide even framing all around rather than requiring a different mount size.

There are many brands including Hawid (top-loading), Showgard (split back), Scott (split back), etc. It seems to be a matter of personal preference so perhaps you can buy a pack of each for comparison. You might come across old Harco mounts (top-loading) that are definitely usable but are thinner with a much less black background so will not match the look of your other mounts.

Buying mounts require that you have an appropriate cutter unless you enjoy seeing crooked and randomly shaped mounts on an album page. Some collectors want close margins all around, some prefer large margins that may or may not exceed the size of the box provided for a stamp in an album. It's your choice. See: Mount cutters

There are tricks or tips to properly use either style of mount. See: How to use mounts 



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