I Muse...On Soaking Results

Several weeks ago I wrote a blog describing my successful win of two Tunisia 1953 airmail stamps. One of these two stamps, the 1,000f value was designed and engraved by Albert Decaris. The 500f value was designed and engraved by Rene Cottet. The catalogue value of these stamps was quite high, but I managed to win them for just a couple of dollars. You may recall that the condition of the stamps wasn't 100%. They both had quite a bit of toning, the 500f more so. Of course, this is my Albert Decaris blog so I will only deal with the 1,000f stamp here. The 500f I will deal with in my French Stamp Engravers! blog (when it is done I will insert a link to it here). 

The stamp arrived a couple of weeks ago, and the other day I finally got round to giving it a peroxide bath. I have already written a blog detailing the method I use for soaking stamps in peroxide. You can check it out HERE. This time round I had to give the stamp (both stamps actually) two longer soaks than normal. And even then not all of the toning was removed. But it did freshen the stamps up quite a bit, and of course, it killed any and all mould present. That being said, I am still very happy with the results. Below is a 'before and after' for you to judge for yourselves.

So what do you think?

Until next time...

I Muse...On Breaking News

We interrupt our regular blogging schedule to bring you this special report!

This news just in: it has been discovered  that the stamp collector who has been identified as Albert Decaris Stamps! has just managed to defy the odds and secure, through and stealth and a decent dose of luck, a great bargain. We have managed to secure an exclusive interview with the happy buyer!

All jokes aside, this morning when I woke up I got quite the surprise. It all started a little over a week ago when my Decaris catalogue by Bernard Gontier arrived (a review of said book will be coming soon). I noticed in it that Decaris had designed and engraved a 1,000f airmail stamp for Tunisia in 1953. This stamp has a rather hefty SG catalogue value of £47 mint and over double that for genuine used. A glance at eBay and Delcampe yielded rather expensive results. What a shock! But I did spot one item up for bid on eBay that was still on the minimum bid of $0.99. The stamp was not alone it came with the 500f value stamp. Both have some toning, the 500f more so. But I thought that if on the off chance I could get them cheap, the toning could be reduced, if not completely removed by a good peroxide bath. Taking all this into account, I threw on a cheap snipe bid. Pretty certain I'd have no chance. But hey, gotta be in it to win it.

Then... Lo and behold I did win it! And for just $2.28 Aust.

So I guess now we are at that point where I show you what I got. The images ain't that great, but it gives you an idea of the toning levels. In honesty, the 500f stamp may be a ride-off, but that doesn't bother me. It's the 1,000f on the right that I'm most interested n. As you can see, the toning is considerably less on this stamp.

When they arrive I'll give them the peroxide treatment and post up the results!

Now back to our regular blogging schedule!

Until next time...